Trail orienteering

Trail orienteering

Trail orienteering logo
Highest governing body	International Orienteering Federation
Nicknames	Trail-O, Pre-O
Characteristics
Contact	No
Team members	Individual
Mixed gender	Yes, with paralympic and open classes
Type	Outdoor
Presence
Olympic	No

Trail orienteering (trail-O, also precision orienteering or Pre-O) is an orienteering sport that involves precise reading of an orienteering map and the corresponding terrain. Trail orienteers must identify, in the terrain and in the presence of decoys, control points shown on the map. Trail-O involves navigation skills but unlike most other forms of orienteering, it involves no point to point racing and little or no route choice. It is conducted usually on trails and because the objective is accuracy, not speed, the sport is accessible to physically disabled competitors on equal terms as able-bodied.

Trail-O is one of four orienteering sports sanctioned by the International Orienteering Federation (IOF). European Championships in trail orienteering have been organised every year since 1994. The first ever World Cup in trail orienteering was held in 1999, and the inaugural World Trail Orienteering Championships were organised in 2004. The World Championships are now organised every year and were held in Vuokatti, Finland in 2013.

Trail-O has been developed to offer everyone, including people with limited mobility, a chance to participate in a meaningful orienteering competition. Because control points are identified from a distance, and competitors are not allowed to leave the designated course, participants with and without physical disabilities compete on level terms.

PreO is the traditional form of trail orienteering. Competitors are given a map at the start. The locations of the controls, the start and the finish are marked on the map, as in traditional orienteering. At each site, there are a number of control flags, but only one or none correctly represent the control marked on the map. The competitors have to stay on trails as shown on the map and look at the control at a specified location on the trail, which is called the decision point (DP). Decision points are marked on the ground, but not on the map. Competitors are allowed to move along the trail to observe, but need to choose the answer at the decision point. Each correct answer scores one point, and wrong answer scores zero point.