2018 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 (WOC) were first held in 1966. They were held biennially up to 2003 (with the exception of 1978 and 1979). Since 2003, competitions have been held annually.
Originally, there were only two competitions: an individual race and a relay. In 1991, a short distance race (roughly 25 minutes) was added and a sprint race was added in 2001. In 2014, a sprint relay was added with two men and two women participating and with starting order woman-man-man-woman.
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 middle/long events only).
The current championship events are:
This event was called "Individual" from 1966 to 1989 and "Classic distance" from 1991 to 2001. Since 2003 it is called "Long distance".
This event was held from 1991 to 2001, before it was abandoned and the middle distance replaced it.
This event was first held in 2003
This event was first held in 2001
2009 Note: ^ In the 3rd leg Martin Johansson (Sweden) was in the lead when he suffered a serious injury; Thierry Gueorgiou (France), Anders Nordberg (Norway), and Michal Smola (Czech Republic) gave up their lead positions and rescued him. Interpretation of International Orienteering Federation (IOF) competition rules was at issue: rule 26.13 states "The organiser must void a competition if at any point it becomes clear that circumstances have arisen which make the competition unfair or dangerous for the competitors." After much deliberation on whether or not to void the relay, the organizers declared that it stood.
The first event was held in 2014.
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