World Games Orienteering 2022: All You Need To Know

Jan Kocbach July 14, 2022 Orienteering News Comments Off on World Games Orienteering 2022: All You Need To Know

The World Games Orienteering (TWG) 2022 consists of three races – Sprint, Middle distance and Sprint Relay – organized on July 15th – July 17th 2022 in Birmingham, USA. All races will be broadcast live on webTV. Most of the world’s top orienteers are on the start line, although some of the top athletes from the recent World Orienteering Championships (WOC) in Denmark are missing.

The number of participants at TWG is limited to a maximum of two from each nation, in addition to the 2021 individual World Champions, following a complex 11-point scheme. This has lead to 39 men and 39 women being registered for TWG 2022 – see all registered runners here. Notably missing among athletes finishig in the Top-6 individually at WOC 2022 are Gustav Bergman (Sweden), Megan Carter Davies (Great Britain), Alice Leake (Great Britain), Kris Jones (Great Britain), Andrine Benjaminsen (Norway), August Mollen (Sweden), Jonas Gustafsson (Sweden), Loic Capbern (France), Sarah Hagström (Sweden). Still, even if TWG is placed right between WOC 2022 and the European Championship (EOC), the start fields are very strong.

Program

Friday July 15th: Individual Sprint
- Men: 9 AM local time (16:00 CET)
- Women: 10 AM local time (17:00 CET)
Saturday July 16th: Individual Middle distance
- Men: 9 AM local time (16:00 CET)
- Women: 10:40 AM local time (17:40 CET) – Note, changed from the Bulletin
Sunday July 17th: Sprint Relay
- 9 AM local time (16:00 CET)

Links & how to follow live

The races can be followed via the IOF Live Centre, where live webTV, GPS-tracking (by TracTrac) and live results will be available,

Map and terrain

Three different areas are used for the three races.

The individual sprint offers a university campus with some elevation changes. The campus is typical for North American campuses, with a variety of different buildings and pathways. The running surfaces are primarily paved streets and grass.
The middle distance offers some real forest orienteering. Continental forest terrain with deciduous trees and little undergrowth. Some mountain bike and horse trails wind through the area and hillsides are often steep. Altitude 165m-250m. Both visibility and runnability is very good – see an old map of the area below.
Finally, the Sprint Relay terrain is probably the least interesting terrain: City streets and park in downtown Birmingham. The area is almost completely flat. This is an urban environment with paved streets, sidewalks, and some grass.