World Orienteering Championships

World Orienteering Championships
World Orienteering Championships
Status	active
Genre	sporting event
Date(s)	July–August
Frequency	annual
Location(s)	various
Inaugurated	1966
Organised by	IOF

The World Orienteering Championships (or WOC for short) is an annual orienteering event organized by the International Orienteering Federation. The first World Championships was held in Fiskars, Finland in 1966. They were held biennially up to 2003 (with the exception of 1978 and 1979). Since 2003, competitions have been held annually. Participating nations have to be members of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).

Originally, there were only two competitions: an individual race and a relay. In 1991, a short distance race (roughly 20–25 minutes) was added and a sprint race was added in 2001. The middle distance (roughly 30–35 minutes) replaced the short distance in 2003. In 2014, a sprint relay was added with two men and two women participating and with starting order woman-man-man-woman.

History

The IOF was founded on 21 May 1961 at a Congress held in Copenhagen, Denmark by the orienteering national federations of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.^[1] Their main goal was to standardize the sport and streamline international competition rules. A group of people work with these tasks, and at the 1963 IOF Congress, the work was approved and a technical committee was created. This led to the first international orienteering competition; the 1962 European Championships in Løten, Norway. The first European Orienteering Championships (EOC) consisted of only one competition; individual. In the following EOC, in Le Brassus, Switzerland, the relay event was added to the competition program. These two EOCs are considered forerunners to the first World Orienteering Championships in 1966.

Change of concept

Starting from 2019, the World Orienteering Championships will be split into two events: Urban WOC in even-numbered years (consisting of sprint events only) and Forest WOC in odd-numbered years (consisting of forest events only).

Format

The competition format has changed several times. From the beginning in 1966, the World Championships consisted of only two competitions: an individual race and a relay. In 1991, a short distance race (roughly 20–25 minutes) was added and a sprint race was added in 2001. The middle distance (roughly 30–35 minutes) replaced the short distance in 2003. On IOF's 23rd congress in Lausanne in 2012, it was decided that a sprint relay event would be added in the 2014 World Championships in Italy.^[2] The sprint relay is competed in urban areas and consists of four-orienteer mixed-gender teams with starting order woman-man-man-woman.

Current competition format

The current championship events are:

Forest WOC (odd years)
Distance	Winning Time	Notes
Long distance	90–100 min	Previously called classic distance
Middle distance	30–35 min	Replaced short distance (20–25 min) in 2003
Relay	3 × 40 min	Three-person teams

Urban WOC (even years)
Distance	Winning Time	Notes
Sprint	12–15 min
Knock-out sprint	5–8 min	First held in 2020
Sprint relay	4 × 12–15 min	Four-person teams, two men and two women.

Event timeline

Venues

Year	Days	Location^[3]
1966	October 1–2	Fiskars, Finland^[4]
1968	September 28–29	Linköping, Sweden^[5]
1970	September 27–29	Friedrichroda, German Democratic Republic^[6]
1972	September 14–16	Staré Splavy, Czechoslovakia^[7]
1974	September 20–22	Viborg, Denmark^[8]
1976	September 24–26	Aviemore, Great Britain^[9]
1978	September 15–17	Kongsberg, Norway^[10]
1979	September 2–4	Tampere, Finland^[11]
1981	September 4–6	Thun, Switzerland^[12]
1983	September 1–4	Zalaegerszeg, Hungary^[13]
1985	September 4–6	Bendigo, Australia^[14]
1987	September 3–5	Gérardmer, France^[15]
1989	August 17–20	Skövde, Sweden^[16]
1991	August 21–25	Mariánské Lázně, Czechoslovakia^[17]
1993	October 9–14	West Point, United States^[18]
1995	August 15–20	Detmold, Germany^[19]
1997	August 11–16	Grimstad, Norway^[20]
1999	August 1–8	Inverness, Scotland, Great Britain^[21]
2001	July 29 – August 4	Tampere, Finland^[22]
2003	August 3–9	Rapperswil/Jona, Switzerland^[23]
2004	September 11–19	Västerås, Sweden^[24]
2005	August 9–15	Aichi, Japan^[25]
2006	August 1–5	Århus, Denmark^[26]
2007	August 18–26	Kiev, Ukraine^[27]
2008	July 10–20	Olomouc, Czech Republic^[28]
2009	August 16–23	Miskolc, Hungary^[29]
2010	August 8–15	Trondheim, Norway^[30]
2011	August 13–20	Savoie, France^[31]
2012	July 14–22	Lausanne, Switzerland^[32]
2013	July 6–14	Vuokatti, Finland^[33]
2014	July 5–13	Trentino-Veneto, Italy^[34]
2015	August 1–7	Inverness, Scotland, Great Britain^[35]
2016	August 20–28	Strömstad-Tanum, Sweden^[36]
2017	July 1–7	Tartu, Estonia^[37]
2018	August 4–11	Riga, Latvia^[38]
2019	August 13–18	Østfold, Norway
2020	July 7–11	Vejle/Kolding, Denmark
2021	July 4–8	Doksy, Czech Republic
2022	TBA	Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Multiple winners

Men

Boldface denotes active athletes and highest medal count among all athletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Rank	Athlete	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Thierry Gueorgiou	2003	2017	14	5	4	23
2	Daniel Hubmann	2005	2018	8	11	8	27
3	Olav Lundanes	2010	2018	8	4	3	15
4	Øyvin Thon	1979	1989	7	1	0	8
5	Andrey Khramov	2005	2015	6	3	3	12
6	Petter Thoresen	1989	1997	5	1	2	8
7	Valentin Novikov	2004	2013	4	5	2	11
8	Matthias Kyburz	2012	2018	4	4	0	8
9	Bjørnar Valstad	1991	2004	4	3	3	10
10	Tore Sagvolden	1979	1987	4	3	1	8
11	Rolf Pettersson	1972	1979	4	2	0	6
12	Jonas Leandersson	2012	2018	4	0	3	7
13	Morten Berglia	1981	1987	4	0	1	5
13	Jørgen Rostrup	1999	2005	4	0	1	5
15	Thomas Bührer	1991	2003	4	0	0	4
16	Egil Johansen	1976	1979	3	2	0	5
16	Magne Dæhli	2012	2018	3	2	0	5
18	Emil Wingstedt	2003	2007	3	1	3	7
19	Bernt Frilén	1970	1974	3	1	1	5
20	Søren Bobach	2014	2016	3	1	0	4
21	Åge Hadler	1966	1972	3	0	3	6
22	Christian Aebersold	1991	1995	3	0	0	3
	Arne Johansson	1972	1976	3	0	0	3
	Karl Johansson	1966	1970	3	0	0	3
	Eskil Kinneberg	2017	2018	3	0	0	3
26	Jörgen Mårtensson	1981	1997	2	6	2	10
27	Jani Lakanen	1999	2013	2	5	1	8
28	Janne Salmi	1995	2001	2	4	1	7
29	Carl Godager Kaas	2010	2016	2	4	0	6
30	Matthias Merz	2005	2012	2	3	4	9

Women