Aug 5, 2006

WWN, Vol. 1, No. 3: It’s All About the O

CONGRATS, WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ORIENTEERS! Cheers to all 40 teams at the World Orienteering Championships being held in Aarhus, Denmark through today. An estimated 5,000 spectators have descended on the burgh of about 300,000 for sport on courses described by the city’s mayor, Nicolai Wammen, as “continental terrain, internationally neutral but both technically and physically challenging.”

Many spectators see orienteering action up close thanks to innovations like arena layouts that promote good views, spectator-accessible finish arenas and hi-tech tracking. Currently among those top-ranked (as of Friday) are Holger Johansen of Norway and Simone Niggli-Luder of Switzerland.

Although we regard orienteering as part of the Walktopia WALKmix, elite athletes in international competition are called RUNners and navigate courses at high speed.

Go there: official World Orienteering Championship site
Go there: where’s Aarhus, Denmark (select for display in your language)

WHO TOOK A WRONG TURN? You can see live orienteering action and analyze route choices made by the athletes along Aarhus forest’s orienteering courses, If you’re used to looking at GoogleEarth you’ll feel right at home with a viewer that makes route scoping possible--TracTrac Live.

Go there: see who made the winning shortcuts. Click the hypertext word “TracTrac” and adjust readability to your own taste with the options button.

WALK AND ORIENTEER. Orienteering, often described as “running while playing chess”, is a sport where you use a map and compass to find control points along a course—often in a wooded area. Recreational orienteering offers all walkers a way to get outdoors, take a walk in the forest (or along some other route of interest), and practice map and compass reading.

It's an inclusive sport. Wendy Bumgardner, the About.com Guide to Walking, includes orienteering in her definition of ten different styles of walking. And, even at the elite level, orienteering involves all ages. At 92, Erkki Luntamo of Finland is this years M90 class World Masters Champion.

Go there: International Orienteering Federation

ORIENTEERING CHAMPS BLOG THE COMPETITION HERE
Australia
Bulgaria
Denmark
Spain
Great Britain
Hong Kong
Ireland
Israel
USA

Instant refresher: What’s my country’s orienteering resource?

Visual Credits: World Orienteering Federation

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