The new orienteering season just around the corner!
The first major IOF event of the season 2018 – the European Trail Orienteering Championships – is about to begin this weekend. The first medalists of the season will be decided on Sunday when the new European Trail Orienteering Champions in PreO will be known.
The European Trail Orienteering Championships will take place in Bratislava, Slovakia. Five sets of medals will be distributed after 4 days of competition: PreO and Relay medals in Paralympic and Open classes, and the medals in the TempO event.
Foot Orienteering season
The Foot Orienteering season 2018 will begin with the European Orienteering Championships in Ticino, Switzerland.
A tough competition week awaits the athletes. The altitude of the race areas is between 300 and 1100 m above sea level, sometimes with steep slopes and variable runnability in the forest.
More than 170 men and 140 women from 33 countries are entered for EOC2018.
The first races of the championships – Sprint Qualification and Final – will be held in less than two weeks’ time, on Sunday the 6th of May.
EOC2018 will also be the IOF Orienteering World Cup Round 1. All finals will be live streamed on the Live Orienteering.
At the end of June, Bulgaria will host the European Youth Orienteering Championships.
Athletes will face a traditional 3-day EYOC program with Sprint, Long and Relay races in Veliko Tarnovo. The sprint race in Tsarevets medieval stronghold will open the championships and should be a real highlight of EYOC2018.
Just a few days after the end of youth championships, the masters will start their fight for the World Masters Orienteering Championships medals. This year, WMOC will take place in and surrounding Copenhagen, Denmark. A Middle distance race was added to the program of the WMOC this year, and the championships will consists of two qualification and three final races: sprint and “forest” qualifications and Sprint, Middle and Long finals.
Almost 4000 masters from all around the world have entered so far. Entries are open until the 1st of June.
At the same time as the masters, the juniors will gather in Hungary for the Junior World Orienteering Championships.
Kecskemét will be the host city of JWOC. This year’s JWOC promises exciting races in a very detailed sand dune terrain.
On the 4th of August, the most important event of 2018 – The Nokian Tyres World Orienteering Championships – will begin with a sprint race in the heart of Riga, Latvia. It will be the last World Orienteering Championships with both sprint and forest races on the same programme. Starting from 2019, the WOC program will be split into “sprint” and “forest”, and next year’s WOC in Norway will consist only of Middle (qualification + final), Long and Relay races.
WOC2018 will also be the IOF Orienteering World Cup Round 2.
The final two rounds of the IOF Orienteering World Cup will be held in Norway and the Czech Republic.
The IOF Orienteering World Cup Round 3 will begin on the 31st of August in Østfold, Norway, and will consists of 4 races: Long, Middle prologue, Middle pursuit and Relay. It will be a good training in similar terrains as next year’s WOC in Østfold.
Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, will host the final round of the IOF Orienteering World Cup 2018. For the first time ever, a 3rd sprint format race (exact name to be decided) will be held at the major IOF event. The 3rd Sprint race will open the World Cup Final on the 4th of October. The following races will be Sprint Relay, Middle Distance and Sprint.
Regional championships
Three regional championships will be held during 2018.
Whitehorse in Yukon, Canada, will welcome the North American Orienteering Championships. The Yukon is a wilderness environment, with wild animals such as bears, coyotes, wolves, and foxes, stinging/biting insects. Luckily, there are no snakes or poisonous plants. Anyway, a great adventure and tricky orienteering guaranteed!
The championships will start with a Long distance on the 18th of August. The North Americans will fight for the medals in Middle, Relay and Sprint on the consecutive days.
On the 6th of November, the South American Orienteering Championships will begin in Uruguay. The championships will consist of 3 races: Sprint, Long and Middle.
Just before the end of 2018, the Asian Orienteering Championships will take place in Hong Kong. Sprint Relay, Sprint, Middle and Relay events are planned for these championships.
Foot Orienteering event calendar
06 May – 13 May European Orienteering Championships Switzerland
28 Jun – 01 Jul European Youth Orienteering Championships Bulgaria
6 Jul – 13 Jul World Masters Orienteering Championships Denmark
9 Jul – 14 Jul Junior World Orienteering Championships Hungary
04 Aug – 11 Aug Nokian Tyres World Orienteering Championships Latvia
18 Aug – 21 Aug North American Orienteering Championships Canada
31 Aug – 2 Sep World Cup Round 3 Norway
4 Oct – 7 Oct World Cup Round 4 Czech Republic
7 Nov – 10 Nov South American Orienteering Championships Uruguay
22 Dec – 27 Dec Asian Orienteering Championships Hong Kong
Mountain Bike Orienteering
The Mountain Bike Orienteering season will start at the end of June, with the European Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The program of the championships will be shortened to only 3 races: Long, Middle and Mixed Relay.
EMTBOC will also count as the IOF Mountain Bike Orienteering World Cup Round 1.
Beside the elite riders, the juniors will also fight for the medals of the European Junior Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships. Juniors will have a slightly different program than senior athletes: Sprint, Long, Middle and Relay.
The World Masters Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships will share the same venues as EMTBOC and EJMTBOC. The Masters’ programme will consist of Mass Start, Sprint, Long and Middle distance.
On the 7th of August, the World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships and Junior World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships will begin in Waldviertel, Austria. Riders will compete for the medals in Mass Start, Middle, Relay, Long and Sprint races.
WMTBOC also will count as the IOF Mountain Bike Orienteering World Cup Round 2.
Also in Waldviertel, youth riders will have the European Youth Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships with Middle, Relay, Long and Sprint races on the program.
The MTBO season will finish at the end of September in Odemira, Portugal. The final round of the IOF Mountain Bike Orienteering World Cup will have only 3 races. The World Cup final will start with Middle distance on the 21st of September, with Long and Sprint races on the consecutive days.
Mountain Bike Orienteering event calendar
27 Jun – 1 Jul European MTB Orienteering Championships Hungary
27 Jun – 1 Jul European Junior MTB Orienteering Championships Hungary
27 Jun – 1 Jul World Masters MTB Orienteering Championships Hungary
5 Aug – 12 Aug World MTB Orienteering Championships Austria
5 Aug – 12 Aug World Junior MTB Orienteering Championships Austria
5 Aug – 12 Aug European Youth MTB Orienteering Championships Austria
21 Sep – 23 Sep World Cup Round 3 Portugal
Trail Orienteering
Daugavpils, Latvia, will host the World Trail Orienteering Championships in August. The TempO competition will be an open championships on the 6th of August. PreO champions will be decided on 9th August after two competition days. The championships will conclude on 10th August with Relay event.
Trail Orienteering event calendar
28 Apr – 1 May European Trail Orienteering Championships Slovakia
4 Aug – 10 Aug World Trail Orienteering Championships Latvia