Egypt - Newcomers on the TrailO map

Egypt made history last summer. For the first time ever an African country took part in the World Trail Orienteering Championships (WTOC), and Ahmed Shabaan - along with Tamer Mehanna, Aytham Ahmed and Mohamed Abdelbaky - was one of ‘the magnificent four’ in the unforgettable Swedish journey. He tells us his story.

Ahmed Abd El Latif Shabaan was born in Shobra El Khima, Kalyobia, Egypt, 23 years ago. For many years he was a successful sportsman in Martial Arts, getting the bronze medal in the Youth World Championships in 2012. Graduating from the Egyptian Military Academy in 2015, Ahmed became part of the Army’s Special Forces and lost a leg whilst on a mission. The accident didn’t prevent him from continuing his sporting career, however, and he started training hard again.

– I felt the need to encourage not only myself, but everyone in an identical situation, he says.

How did you discover Trail Orienteering?

– Tamer Mehanna, the pioneer of Egyptian Orienteering, has supported me from the

beginning of my sporting career and also after my accident. He asked me to try Orienteering, and especially TrailO. He showed me the basics and started to teach me about maps, control descriptions, symbols, everything. I really liked it and I saw it as a way towards becoming a hero again. I became so interested in participating in WTOC that a new life started for me, really.

An unforgettable week

So Ahmed headed to Strömstad in August, and his first ever TrailO event couldn’t have been more exciting. The memories he keeps from those days are still fresh:

– Wow! I was so proud to be part of the Egyptian TrailO Team and so excited to attend a top-level event like WTOC. It was a really fantastic experience and I learned a lot from it. Some of my strongest feelings are about the courses in the forest, something we’re not used to in Egypt. The hardest part was when the kites were really close to each other, making it quite confusing and difficult to choose the right one, Ahmed recalls.

When Ahmed started learning TrailO, he thought it would be easy. Step by step, however, he found how demanding and difficult TrailO can be, requiring hours and hours of training and experience. So not reaching the top placings in the Paralympic class wasn’t unexpected:

– I believe that my results were very good, considering it was my first participation ever in an official TrailO event. On the second day, I managed to get 18 right answers out of 24 and I think it was a super result for someone who only had three months of training, he says.

Now he feels able to share his acquired experience, and is inviting other Egyptians to learn more about TrailO.

Towards the Olympics

More motivated than ever, Ahmed Shabaan wants to keep on going on the front line, at a time when Orienteering is growing exponentially in Egypt and TrailO is part of the process.

– We are starting to build our TrailO National Team and we will be at the “Egypt International Orienteering Championship 2017” events, which will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh. We hope to have a TrailO event in the Mediterranean Orienteering Championships in Alexandria in February 2018, Ahmed says.

As for himself, the goal is to keep on improving his TrailO skills while looking forward to another great occasion, the next World Trail Orienteering Championships:

– We’ll meet in Lithuania, Ahmed assures.

Ahmed’s last words are both an invitation and a wish:

– I would like to see all orienteering-lovers come to Egypt to participate and support us in our events, and help Tamer Mehanna and the Egyptian Orienteering Federation in making our wonderful Orienteering into a really global sport, on its way towards the Olympics, he concludes.

Text and photo: Joaquim Margarido

[See the original article at http://orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/orienteering-world-webb.pdf. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Two or three things I know about it...

1. Simone Niggli is the latest star of the World of Orienteering entering for the Portugal O' Meeting 2017. Having achieved 23 World titles, 10 European titles and 9 World Cups, she is unanimously considered the best orienteer of all time and a true ambassadress of the sport of the forest. Privileging Portugal in the winter season, Simone Niggli is back at the POM to remember “the good old days” and, we are certain, to spread her class through the terrains of Alter do Chão, Crato and Portalegre. It's recalled that Simone Niggli won the competition for six times, firstly in 2002 and, more recently, for five times in a row, in the editions from 2010 to 2014. At this moment, the number of entries is about to surpass the one-thousand's barrier. In addition to Simone Niggli, the Swedish Helena Jansson is a strong presence in the Women Elite. In the men's side, Gustav Bergman and Albin Ridefelt (Sweden), Lucas Basset and Thierry Gueorgiou (France), Baptiste Rollier (Switzerland) and Milos Nykodym (Czech Republic) are the greatest names so far. More information at http://pom.pt/2017/en/.

2. O-Ringen, in cooperation with the IOF and the PWT Travel, is presenting a new model of O-Ringen Academy. The goal is to attract young orienteers all over the world, helping their development and competitor skills. The organization is based on a professional leader-team to secure the idea of O-Ringen Academy and to offer to all participants a fantastic week full of positive experiences and knowledge. The invitation is addressed for all federations’ “young runners” in the age between 15 – 25 as well as young runners/leaders in different ages. In this first step, the organizers are inviting one male and one female from each federation, asking for an answer as soon as possible. “There might be possible to send more persons from a nation but we will try to get as many countries as possible represented”, they say. The O-Ringen Academy will take place in Arvika, Sweden, from 20th to 29th July. Entries should be submitted by 31st January 2017 to Jaroslav Kacmarcik, IOF Regional Youth Development Committee, jkpwt@hotmail.com.

3. For the fifth time in its history, the Clube de Montanha do Funchal is organizing the Madeira Orienteering Festival, a Foot Orienteering event scoring for Madeira Cup of the Portuguese Orienteering Federation. Four Municipalities with excellent conditions for Tourism and Nature Sports (Funchal, Porto Moniz, Machico and Santa Cruz) will be joined in an effort to create an unforgettable event. From 9th to 12th February, the Madeira Orienteering Festival has to offer a Night Sprint (9th Feb) at Funchal, a Sprint race (10th Feb) at Porto Moniz and three Middle Distance races (10th, 11th and 12th Feb), respectively at Fanal, Poiso east and Poiso West. All information at http://oricmof.wixsite.com/mof17-ingles.

4. Larger and stronger! So it is the new NORD, Regional Group that includes the four Nordic orienteering federations - Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden -, now reinforced by the three Baltic federations, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. “It was an inspiring meeting in Copenhagen. We got to know each other better and we do hope to contribute to develop orienteering within our seven countries. I look forward to meeting again”, chairwoman Astrid Waaler Kaas said. As well as the admission of the three Baltic countries to the NORD group, the meeting was about exchanging good ideas and cooperating on different projects. It included discussions about regional development, map scale, anti-doping, TV-broadcasting and International Championships. The full article can be seen at http://orienteering.org/nord-group-extended-with-three-new-members/.

Joaquim Margarido

Kadir Yildiz and the 2017 World Orienteering Day: "I think that we will set a new record of participants in Turkey”

With the 2017 World Orienteering Day on the horizon, it's time to look back on WOD's last edition, meeting Turkey and the amazing movement around the initiative. Coordinating the whole project in that country, Kadir Yildiz remembers the strongest moments of an exciting day.

“Think globally – Act locally”. On 11th May 2016, the first ever World Orienteering Day took place all over the world. It proved to be a great success, with 252.927 participants at 2013 locations in 81 countries and territories taking part in an orienteering event. Somewhat surprisingly, the biggest contribution for this outstanding number came from Turkey with 49.408 participants, just ahead of Sweden (35.754) and Norway (20.368).

When finalizing the official event calendar for the Turkish Orienteering Federation back in August 2015, WOD was set as one of the officially recognised orienteering activities. Then, the chair of the committee devoted to developing orienteering in schools, Kadir Yildiz, was appointed as the person in charge of the project. He remembers the first steps: “I was assigned for this project by the Turkish Orienteering Federation and every arrangement we did was based on the International Orienteering Federation and its documents/promotion kits for WOD. Then, we formed a group trying to reach all the sports clubs, athletes, coaches and teachers. We also took a good advantage of the internet, specially the social networking sites.”

A secret called team spirit

To overcome the language barrier, guidelines on how to register were developed in Turkish and distributed along with other material. Letters were written to all other Federations to raise awareness and ask for their involvement, as well as to the Ministry of Sports to ask not only for their support, but also their help in getting the Ministry of Education involved. The WOD website was closely monitored and any activity was advertised on the Federation’s Facebook page, thus creating an atmosphere of excitement throughout the country. Along the process, Kadir recognizes “the lack of financial resources and the accessibilities” as major difficulties. But, “if you know a thing or two about Event Management and Organization in Sport management, you are able to solve problems like planning, organization, coordination, communication, control and, most importantly, how to induce the right spirit in the team. Thus, we had a good, cooperating and hardworking team. Without it, the project would have failed”, he says.

- How did you manage the whole process?

“We managed it through the Turkish Orienteering Federation. The Federation gave us all all the means we needed, such as printed documents, flags, punchers, IT systems and so on. I think our strength lied on the fact that we were all volunteers and orienteering fans. This was really important to the whole process. All people worked voluntarily.”

“An exciting and colourful day”

The results of this hard and well-coordinated preparative process were a beautiful surprise, representing a good example of what one can manage while getting the support from the Federation, the government bodies and the local communities. Even Kadir recognizes that final numbers were not expected. “Clearly, I didn't expect such high participation level, but I believe that Orienteering is a sport that's easy to join”, he says.

- How was your 11th May? What did you feel?

“My 11th May was exciting and vivacious. We organized an event with our university students, attended by nearly 250 participants. It was an exciting and colourful day for us because, you know, Orienteering is fun and orienteers are enthusiastic.”

“2017 will be an Orienteering year in Turkey”

Nuri Dağdelen will coordinate the WOD 2017, but Kadir Yildiz will remain connected to the project. “We completed the WOD's organization successfully last year and this year I will only be participating with my university students.” But he leaves the door open to a more effective participation: “If the International Orienteering Federation or the Turkish Orienteering Federation asked for my collaboration, I would think about it”, Kadir says.

Kadir's expectations for the 2017 World Orienteering Day are even higher: “I believe that we can do well again. If people get involved and support the project, I think that we will set a new record of participants in Turkey”, he says. Kadir's last words stress the same point: “2017 will be an Orienteering year in Turkey and I believe that, with the collaboration of every person involved, we'll achieve something great.”

Photo courtesy of Kadir Yildiz.

Joaquim Margarido

15th Centre Orienteering Meeting: Maps

Joaquim Margarido

15th Centre Orienteering Meeting: Victories for Rafael Miguel and Filipa Rodrigues

Rafael Miguel and Filipa Rodrigues were the winners of the 15th Centre Orienteering Meeting, the first round of the Portuguese Orienteering League Vitalis 2017. ADFA – Associação de Deficientes das Forças Armadas got a comfortable win in the Team competition.

The 15th Centre Orienteering Meeting took place last weekend, at Lagoa da Ervedeira, kicking-off the Portuguese Orienteering League Vitalis 2017. Organized by COC – Clube de Orientação do Centro, the event offered two Middle Distance stages, which were attended by 589 participants, according to the organization's numbers.

Giving her first steps in the Elite, Filipa Rodrigues (ADFA) couldn't had a better start, being stronger than Carolina Delgado (GD4C) in this particular two-stage duel. Carolina Delgado won the inaugural stage with a fifty-five-second advantage over Filipa Rodrigues, taking benefit of Filipa’s three-minute mistake on her way to the first control. In the decisive stage, however, the ADFA’s athlete would improve her performance, leading the race from the start and being able to clear the disadvantage to Carolina Delgado. This first victory ever of Filipa Rodrigues in the Elite proved to be doubly tasty, since it also allowed her to reach the highest place of the podium of the 15th Centre Orienteering Meeting, with the overall time of 1:21:34. Carolina Delgado spent more 1:11 than the winner, while Magalie Mendes (COC) finished in the third place with the time of 1:27:57.

Like what happened in the previous edition of the Portuguese Orienteering League, Tiago Gingão Leal (GD4C) started the season with a victory. Showing a good physical condition, Leal took the lead from the start, being faster in 19 out of 25 controls of the first stage’s course and finishing with an eight-minute advantage over Rafael Miguel (Ori-Estarreja), second placed. Leal didn’t start for the second stage, thus “offering” the victory to Rafael Miguel, who recorded the overall time of 1:31:38, with his team-mate Rafael Ramos finishing nearly ten minutes after the winner. Luis Leite (GD4C) closed the podium with more 17:30 than the winner. With five victories and six second places in the competition classes, the ADFA – Associação de Deficientes das Forças Armadas won the Team competition, followed by Ori-Estarreja – Clube de Orientação de Estarreja and Grupo Desportivo dos Quatro Caminhos.

Results

Men Elite

1. Rafael Miguel (Ori-Estarreja) 1:31:38 (+ 00:00)

2. Rafael Ramos (Ori-Estarreja) 1:41:09 (+ 09:31)

3. Luis Leite (GD4C) 1:49:08 (+ 17:30)

4. Luis Barreiro (NADA) 1:54:15 (+ 22:37)

5. Nuno Evangelista (COA) 1:55:18 (+ 23:40)

Women Elite

1. Filipa Rodrigues (ADFA) 1:21:34 (+ 00:00)

2. Carolina Delgado (GD4C) 1:22:45 (+ 01:11)

3. Magalie Mendes (COC) 1:27:57 (+ 06:23)

4. Joana Fernandes (.COM) 1:31:02 (+ 09:28)

5. Inês Pinto (GD4C) 1:35:21 (+ 13:47)

All information at http://eventos.coc.pt/15moc/.

Joaquim Margarido