World of O News
The first ever Sprint World Orienteering Championships (WOC) starts in Denmark on Sunday June 26th with the Sprint Relay. The championship continues with the first ever WOC Knock-Out Sprint on Tuesday June 28th – and rounds of with the traditional Sprint on Thursday June 30th.
With this being the first year with a pure sprint WOC, several top runners have increased their sprint focus, and we could get the highest level in sprint competitions in the history of the sport. WOC 2022 was originally set to be organized in 2020, but was postponed two years due to the Covid-situation.
Program
Three medal races are included in this year’s WOC:
- Sprint Relay, Sunday June 26th
- Start 17:30, Finish around 18:30 (WebTV from 17:15)
- Knock-Out Sprint, Tuesday June 28th
- Qualification 09:30 – 11:10 – No WebTV
- Quarter Finals 16:00 (Men) and 16:36 (Women) – No WebTV
- Semi Finals 17:45 (Men) and 18:21 (Women) – WebTV from 17:30
- Final 19:02 (Men) and 19:22 (Women)
- Individual Sprint, Thursday June 30th
- Qualification 09:30 – 11:10 – No WebTV
- Men Finals 17:40 – 18:50 – WebTV from 17:45
- Women Finals 18:51 – 19:50
All times are CET.
Links & Live: How to follow the races
Use these links to follow the championships:
- Orienteering.sports live page – here you can also buy a LIVE pass for EUR 6 per competition or EUR 12 for all competitions to follow the competitions live on WebTV with English commentary.
- The TV-production is also broadcast in eight countries: Denmark (TV2 Sport), Sweden (SVT), Norway (NRK), Switzerland (SSR SRG), Finland (YLE), Czech Republic (CZ-TV), Austria (ORF), France (TV 8 Mont Blanc).
- WOC webpage & WOC Eventor page
- WOC Bulletin 4 – detailed information
- WoO results archive which includes both EOC and WOC (via WorldofO.com results archive)
Race overview
The races will be organized around Kolding and Vejle in Denmark – see the embargoed areas below (open separate map here).
Race details and reigning champions
Sprint Relay
Terrain
The central part of Kolding dates back to around year 1200. In this part, the castle of Koldinghus rises 20 metres above the surroundings. The old town is characterised by an asymmetrical street plan with town houses, shops, café and dining areas, backyards, and narrow passages. Except for the grassy castle park area, the ground surface is hard and sometimes paved with cobblestones. North-east of the castle area, recreational park areas with grass lawns, playgrounds, gardens, and picnic facilities occur. The area south of the old town is cut by a stream and a railway. This area is partly dominated by public buildings and schools, but apartment buildings and office blocks are also common.
Reigning Champions
Knock-Out Sprint
Terrain
Fredericia was built as a military fortification 400 years ago with huge ramparts, now covered by grass and forest. The ramparts are hilly, often with very steep slopes, but in some areas also gentle and flat. They are mostly covered with grass. Inside the fortification, the town has a distinct symmetrical road network with quadrants, often embracing intricate backyards behind the facades. The ground surface here will be hard. The embargoed area to the north comprises a modern residential area with separate family houses, public buildings, and apartment buildings. Here, the ground surface will mainly be hard, but minor areas with grass occur.
Course details and qualification scheme
First there is a qualification race with three heats for each gender. 36 women and 36 men will qualify for the finals in the afternoon 12 from each heat. The start interval is 1 minute. Late changes in the terrain have forced the course setter to extend the lengths of the courses with about 1 min. The courses are therefore slightly longer than specified in the rules (8-10 min).
The heat allocation for the knockzone area approximately at 12:00. If a competitor is not present at the time of the heat selection, the competitor will lose her/his right to select the heat.
Knock-Out Sprint Finals (quarter-final, semi-final and final): For the elimination rounds, the courses may incorporate forking/splitting systems:
1) No forking
2) Forking with loops.
There will be no announcement in advance which method is used in which round.
Reigning Champions
First time organized.
Individual Sprint
Terrain
The embargoed area includes a complex old town area with shopping streets, backyards and narrow alleyways. Modern residential areas with apartment buildings and areas with public buildings and schools are also present. The northern part of the embargo consists of a 90-meters high slope, cut by deep ravines and partly vegetated by deciduous forest. The southern part is nearly flat. The area is cut by two railways and two water courses, both with several bridge passages. The railways can also be passed through tunnels at several places. The eastern part of the embargoed area reaches the harbour area, in which many new apartment buildings have recently been constructed.
Course details and qualification scheme
Sprint distance with 1 minute start interval. The 15 best ranked in each qualification participate. The starting order is determined by the qualification results.
Reigning Champions
Kasper Fosser is still struggling with his injury and may not compete in all vents – as originally planned. He was entered in the Norwegian Sprint Championships two days ago, but did (could?) not start …
Maybe that’s leveling out the playing field a little. I have a feeling that a Kasper Fosser in full shape could crush the rest in these competitions…
What the hell was going on at the second leg with Switzerland, Norway and others by the railway?
I just see two possibilities – 1) They were running along something that wasn’t on the map, an underground tunnel, that eventually became blocked. Or 2) They ran on a forbidden area (yellow-green) by the railway tracks, and should then be disqualified. Or maybe 3) The GPS was too fucked up to tell.
But it seems they clearly turned around! Why?
Option 2)!! Confirmed by Lukas Liland on Norwegian TV.
IOF rules are flexible:
“A competitor who breaks any rule, or who benefits from the breaking of any rule, MAY be sanctioned.
The sanctions that MAY be applied are:
• A time penalty for jumping the start in a mass start format race
• Disqualification
• Suspension from competition for a defined period (only by the Disciplinary Panel)
The event organiser, or (as a result of a Protest) the jury, has responsibility for imposing sanctions during an event, defined as the event programme in the event bulletin. Outside of an event, the Disciplinary Panel has responsibility for imposing sanctions”
Ok, thanx!
So, yeah I remember Daniel Hubman the other year being champion despite running into a forbidden area. But he backed out the same way he came, and was not disqualified. Similar situation here then I guess – ’they didn’t benefit from the action’.
But really strange choice anyhow from such high class runners as Hadorn, Krivda, Liland and Kirmula. The whole area on and around the railway tracks, inbetween the houses and soforth looks super forbidden to me. And sharp barriers as high fences and shrubberies blocking off any exit from whatever pathway they experienced they had access to there.
Really strange mass mistake…
FYI:
After the relay, protests were lodged for some teams running into a forbidden area and then returning. The jury decision was that the teams were “acquitted” because they did not earn any time on it. According to information, the same type of decision has been made at previous competitions in the event of a similar offense.
Kasper Fosser won’t start the knockout sprint … injury problems …
Tim Robertson might be the sprint favorite now, he ran the third leg in the relay half a minute faster than Kasper who had the second-best time of all the men.
Real sad to realise that Hanna Lundberg doesn’t come to start tomorrow. I think she’s one of the few that would be able to really put Tove to the test in these championships.