I competed in this elite race, and while i despise what the IOF has done to orienteering in recent years (including the sprint relay) I think the courses were excellent and made to produce exciting racing with lead changes and all that stuff.
How did they do it? simple! they just set 4 seperate courses and each team ran them in a different order.
at WOC of course, you could only randomise them into 2 sets of 2 (for men and women)

“I would prefer more distinct forkings to demand more initiative from the runners and to separate them more. To make it look less like a road race, would also make it more interesting for the spectators and at the same time it would decrease the number of disqualifications. This was only the beginning of the sprint mixed relay, so I hope the discipline will develop further towards WOC.” http://www.martinhubmann.ch/news/102-weltcupauftakt-in-der-tuerkei

Whether the format was based on gender stereotyping or not, it doesn’t seem to be fair. It should alternate.

Re: the tennis reference given was not really relevant but mixed doubles features in all grand slams. Both genders get roughly equal chances to serve and receive. It is usually pretty entertaining to watch and has less prestige than singles.