What are the best multiday orienteering events of 2008? It is not always easy to find all the interesting orienteering events out there - and to choose between them when you singled out your main favorites. World of O Calendar, and lately the World of O Wall Calendar, has made it easier for you - but still there is room for something more. In a series of short feature articles the coming month, World of O is planning to put focus on some of the top multiday o-events of 2008 by allowing event organizers to present their events at World of O (for free). World of O will act as an editor, and make sure the content is well balanced.

Event presentations with a special twist

When I am deciding about going to a multiday o-event, what I am looking for is usually:

Will there be interesting technical orienteering…?

• What kind of orienteering will I meet? Will there be interesting technical orienteering and/or challenging route choice problems.
• What kind of terrain is there? Preferably I want something else than what I am used to from my home terrain.
• Are there good recreational possibilities? A multiday o-event is holiday - and there should be other interesting things to do in the area - like for example nice nature, good hiking possibilities, magnificent mountains, swimming, or …

You can see which events I choose in 2006 based on these criteria here.

A map sample with a typical long route choice leg from a map in the area

The answers to these questions is also what I want to have highlighted in the event presentations. This will give event presentations with a special twist - and require a bit more work for event organizers who want their event highlighted at World of O. From all event organizers who want their event presented, I need the following:

• Event name and dates
• Link to event in World of O Calendar
• A short introduction about the event - why should somebody choose YOUR event! Max 150 words.
• A map sample with a short leg from one of the most technical/difficult areas in one of the competition maps / a typical map in the area. Accompanying the map sample, there must be a discussion (max 200 words) about how to manage the technical orienteering in this type of terrain, vegetation, undergrowth and other specialties about the terrain. Map sample will be scaled to width 590 pixels.
• A map sample with a typical long route choice leg from a map in the area - possibly from one of the event maps. Accompanying the map sample, there must be a discussion (max 200 words) of the route choice alternatives and how to think when doing route choices in this type of terrain. Map sample will be scaled to width 590 pixels.
• Two pictures from the terrain and two pictures from the nature/surroundings/recreational activities, including a presentation of recreational activities in the area (max 150 words).

The content should be sent in plain text in an e-mail to jan@kocbach.net with the pictures as attachment (no word/pdf files!). Max size of the e-mail should be 10 MB.

To be included in the event presentations, the following must be fulfilled:

• The event must be at least a 3 day event - between March 2008 and December 2008.
• The event must be included in World of O Calendar with geographic position, map sample and picture.
• The event should have at least 500 participants.
• The event must be an International event open to anyone - that is not an elite-only event, a national championships or similar.

All events who fulfill the above and send an e-mail with all requested details, will get their event presented at World of O. Please do as written in the instructions: No PDF/Word files! I hope to hear from many events - like for example French 6 days, O-Ringen, Nordvestgaloppen, WOC spectator races, EOC spectator races, Sørlandsgaloppen, OO.cup, and all the ones I forgot now ….

The first Kenyan Sprint Orienteering Championships has been relocated to an alternative competition terrain due to the political unrest in the country - but now everything is ready for the race. It is now only three days away! The Bushtrekkers-Kenya orienteering club is organizing the first Kenyan Sprint Orienteering Championships and is looking forward to welcoming as many competitors as possible.

… an ideal area has been found at Kikyu – 20 km west of Nairobi – in the grounds of the Kenya Forest Research Institute

The intended terrain of Uhuru Park in the centre of Nairobi is still closed and after an intensive search for an alternative venue, an ideal area has been found at Kikyu – 20 km west of Nairobi – in the grounds of the Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI).

The map of the area is having to be made in the very short time available and the race preparations are hectic, but everything is going according to plan. In addition to the numerous competitors from the organising club, Bushtrekkers-Kenya, lots of youngsters are also expected to take part from the schools in Nairobi that have been contacted. We would of course love to welcome competitors from Europe too!

The A4 map will be at a scale of 1:5 000 and the area has been mapped in accordance with the Sprint ISSOM Norm. Competitors can choose between four different categories and a special course for children: M Elite, W Elite, M up to 18, and W up to 18.

About the first Kenya Sprint-O-Champs

Orienteering without borders is the motto of the Thermenland Open orienteering event which was initiated three years ago as a cross-border cooperation project between three orienteering clubs in Slovenia, Hungary and Austria. An additional element to this project was the participation of athletes from Kenya at this year’s Thermenland Open event organised in Lenti in Hungary.

• More info about the race in woO Calendar

How to get to the competition:

• From Nairobi follow the Nakuru Highway to Zambezi, then turn left, through Nderi and follow the road approximately 3 km to Kari (past the entrance gate and turn right at roundabout). If travelling by Matutu, take the no. 131 (Nairobi bus station – Kari).
• Entries will be accepted at the race. Entry fee for M/W Elite (19+) is 200 Ksh. Entries for competitors in the younger classes and for children is free. Entry fee for non-African runners is € 10. Please contact +254 – (0) 710 – 717019 if you need more information or have any questions.

Source: Press Release / Thomas Krejci

The World of O Wall Calendar 2008 - “12 runners - 12 countries” - is now ready for download! Compared to the preview version from December, more than 80 new competitions are included - including all WRE competitions. Thanks a lot for everybody contributing to making World of O Calendar what it is!

The download is available as a PDF file:

• World of O Wall Calendar 2008 - version 1.0 (Powerpoint - 10 Mb download)
• New! After a request I have also made a high quality JPG of all 12 months in one file which can be printed as one sheet on a large format printer. (JPG-file - 7 Mb download)

  Please send corrections to jan@kocbach.net in addition to doing the corrections directly online in World of O Calendar. To get more information about the competitions in World of O Wall Calendar, check out the competition details in World of O Calendar at cal.worldofo.com.

  About WoO Wall Calendar 2008

  World of O Wall Calendar 2008: 12 runners - 12 countries is a calendar of all major orienteering events in 2008 - taken from World of O Calendar. The pictures in the calendar are selected from World of O Runners - choosing 12 runners from 12 different countries to show the spread of orienteering around the world. The calendar will be available for free download as a high-quality file in January 2008.
  

The runner chosen for November is Anne Margrethe Hausken from Norway. Hausken was a very promising junior - but overstrained her body after her first international season in 1998 and was completely without training for two years. In 2001 she did her comeback very carefully, focusing on the short races and coming back to international racing better than ever in 2002 with a bronze medal in the EOC-sprint. Since then, Hausken has belonged to the international orienteering elite - her silver medal at the World Orienteering Champs sprint in Japan 2005 being the highlight of her career so far.

Sprint is where it seems like Hausken has really the potential to beat Simone Niggli …

Hausken’s speciality is sprint - or at least it was sprint. Hausken won PWT overall in 2003, NOC sprint 2005 and a World Cup race in sprint in 2005. Then it seems like her new speciality became the long distance ; her best WOC results the last two years being her 4th place at WOC 2007 in Ukraine over the long distance and the 6th place at WOC 2006 in Denmark over the long distance. Actually, according to Hausken’s homepage, she did not win a sprint race for 2 years between 2005 and 2007!

Still, sprint is where it seems like Hausken has really the potential to beat Simone Niggli and the other women in the world elite - and get home a gold medal from the Czech Republic in 2008 if everything goes Hausken’s way. Maybe it is time to try to specialize on sprint again to achieve it?

[…] has made her a popular target for questions about doping and several other topics.

Among Norwegian orienteers, Hausken is the one most popular with TV and other media. She has performed consistently over several years, has a positive attitude - and is in addition leader of the athletes committee in the Norwegian Olympic committee. The latter has made her a popular target for questions about doping and several other topics [See e.g. here or here].

Finally - if you understand Norwegian - you should take a look at Anne Margrethe Hausken’s homepage to get to know her better. Articles have less focus on maps and pictures than other elite orienteer’s pages - instead you’ll find articles which often have an interesting twist.

See full statistics and pictures for Anne Margrethe Hausken in World of O Runners.

Click here to add competitions to World of O Wall Calendar / World of O Calendar!

About WoO Wall Calendar 2008

This is a preview of World of O Wall Calendar 2008: 12 runners - 12 countries. It will be available for free download as a high-quality PDF-file in January 2008. The preview of the calendar is shown to give organizers time (and motivate them) to add their competitions to World of O Calendar. All international orienteering competitions inside World of O Calendar at January 5th will be included in World of O Wall Calendar 2008. The pictures in the calendar are selected from World of O Runners - choosing 12 runners from 12 different countries to show the spread of orienteering around the world.

Please help by adding all relevant competitions in World of O Calendar before January 5th using this link!

Today will be your last chance to add events to the WoO Wall Calender 2008! More than 50 events have been added the last 10 days since the preview of the WoO Wall Calender 2008 started - but there is still room for more! Especially September (only 3 events!), October, November and December (only 1 event!) are quite empty!

• Add event to calendar. (You may add events even if you don’t know their exact geographical position)
• Check content of calendar at World of O Calendar.

About WoO Wall Calendar 2008

This is a preview of World of O Wall Calendar 2008: 12 runners - 12 countries. It will be available for free download as a high-quality PDF-file in January 2008. The preview of the calendar is shown to give organizers time (and motivate them) to add their competitions to World of O Calendar. All international orienteering competitions inside World of O Calendar at January 8th will be included in World of O Wall Calendar 2008. The pictures in the calendar are selected from World of O Runners - choosing 12 runners from 12 different countries to show the spread of orienteering around the world.

Please help by adding all relevant competitions in World of O Calendar before January 8th using this link!

The runner chosen for December is Klaus Schgaguler from Italy. Back in 2005, Schgaguler made his best international result until now with his 19th place over the middle distance at the World Orienteering Championships in Japan. After being in at least one A-final in the WOC every year since 2003 (41th Long 2003, 25th Sprint 2004, 19th Middle 2005, 37th Sprint 2006), Schgaguler missed the A-final in Kiev, Ukraine in 2007. Maybe this is what it takes to get out the little extra in 2008? Read more about Schgaguler’s preparations (and here, here and here )for WOC 2008 in Czech Republic at his excellent homepage.

Maybe this is what it takes to get out the little extra in 2008?

The first time Klaus Schgaguler really impressed me with his abilities, was also in Czech Republic - like the World Orienteering Champs will be later this year - but the challenges will be a bit different this autumn than they were back at the Bohemia 5-days in 2003. Schgagulers abilities at the special accompanying relay were quite remarkable (picture below).

See full statistics and pictures for Klaus Schgaguler in World of O Runners. See also this short interview with Klaus Schgaguler at woO-TV made in June 2007 after the World Cup round at the Norwegian O-Festival:

Click here to add competitions to World of O Wall Calendar / World of O Calendar!

About WoO Wall Calendar 2008

This is a preview of World of O Wall Calendar 2008: 12 runners - 12 countries. It will be available for free download as a high-quality PDF-file in January 2008. The preview of the calendar is shown to give organizers time (and motivate them) to add their competitions to World of O Calendar. All international orienteering competitions inside World of O Calendar at January 5th will be included in World of O Wall Calendar 2008. The pictures in the calendar are selected from World of O Runners - choosing 12 runners from 12 different countries to show the spread of orienteering around the world.

Please help by adding all relevant competitions in World of O Calendar before January 5th using this link!

The runner chosen for September is Leif Bader from Germany. Leif has improved steadily the last years - even if he had to fight with some injuries. His best WOC results until now is the 22nd place at the Long distance at the World Orienteering Champs in Kiev, Ukraine in 2007. Leif had even higher hopes for the Sprint distance after a 7th spot in the qualification, but his sprint final in Kiev unfortunately ended in a disqualification.

Leif was the best German runner in 2007 - will he manage to fight his way up towards top 10 in 2008?

Leif lives in Dresden - not far from the German border to Czech Republic - and should be able to prepare well for the World Orienteering Champs in Czech Republic in 2008. After Ingo Horst and Karin Schmalfeld retired from Elite Orienteering in 2006 - both top-10 aspirants, German orienteering has been searching for somebody to take over where those left. Leif was the best German runner in 2007 - will he manage to fight his way up towards top 10 in 2008? Leif seems to be the only German who can take this step in 2008 - but who knows, maybe Karin Schmalfeld will try for a comeback in Czech Republic?

See full statistics and pictures for Leif Bader in World of O Runners.

Click here to add competitions to World of O Wall Calendar / World of O Calendar!

About WoO Wall Calendar 2008

This is a preview of World of O Wall Calendar 2008: 12 runners - 12 countries. It will be available for free download as a high-quality PDF-file in January 2008. The preview of the calendar is shown to give organizers time (and motivate them) to add their competitions to World of O Calendar. All international orienteering competitions inside World of O Calendar at January 5th will be included in World of O Wall Calendar 2008. The pictures in the calendar are selected from World of O Runners - choosing 12 runners from 12 different countries to show the spread of orienteering around the world.

Please help by adding all relevant competitions in World of O Calendar before January 5th using this link!

The runner chosen for October is Vyacheslav Mukhidinov from Ukraine. Vyacheslav was one of the big surprises at the World Orienteering Champs in Ukraine in 2007, with his very strong 5th spot on the though and hot Long distance race.

Back on home ground 7 years later, he surprised everybody…

There was not much in the WOC history of Vyacheslav Mukhidinov which made one believe that Vyacheslav should end among the top 6 at the WOC on homeground in Kiev in 2007. A 24th place at the Long distance in Rapperswil/Jona, Switzerland in 2003 was his best previous individual WOC results prior to WOC 2007, and his best World Cup result was an 11th spot - at the EOC in Ukraine in 2000. Back on home ground 7 years later, he surprised everybody! Get to know Vyacheslav better through this video interview with him by woO-TV prior to the WOC in Ukraine spring 2007:

See full statistics and pictures for Vyacheslav Mukhidinov in World of O Runners.

Click here to add competitions to World of O Wall Calendar / World of O Calendar!

About WoO Wall Calendar 2008

This is a preview of World of O Wall Calendar 2008: 12 runners - 12 countries. It will be available for free download as a high-quality PDF-file in January 2008. The preview of the calendar is shown to give organizers time (and motivate them) to add their competitions to World of O Calendar. All international orienteering competitions inside World of O Calendar at January 5th will be included in World of O Wall Calendar 2008. The pictures in the calendar are selected from World of O Runners - choosing 12 runners from 12 different countries to show the spread of orienteering around the world.

Please help by adding all relevant competitions in World of O Calendar before January 5th using this link!

The runner chosen for April is Kiril Nikolov from Bulgaria. In Norway Kiril Nikolov is known as “The flying Bulgarian”, due to Geir Nilsen of OPN.no winning the price “The Orienteering Picture of the Year” with a picture of Kiril Nikolov entitled “The flying Bulgarian”. See Asplövets version of the picture below.

Nikolov started orienteering late - in 1998. He tried many sports before that, his major sport was highjumping (!). His breakthrough was a 12.place on the sprint in WOC 2003, and he changed over in 3rd place at Tiomila 2005, just 2 seconds behind the leader. He did not succeed in the WOC in Denmark in 2006 - only 18th at his best. In Kiev in 2007 Nikolov got his best WOC result so far with a 10th place at the extremely hot long distance.

Original Image by Geir Nilsen / OPN.no - photomontage by Asplövet.

See full statistics and pictures for Kiril Nikolov in World of O Runners.

Click here to add competitions to World of O Wall Calendar / World of O Calendar!

About WoO Wall Calendar 2008

This is a preview of World of O Wall Calendar 2008: 12 runners - 12 countries. It will be available for free download as a high-quality PDF-file in January 2008. The preview of the calendar is shown to give organizers time (and motivate them) to add their competitions to World of O Calendar. All international orienteering competitions inside World of O Calendar at January 5th will be included in World of O Wall Calendar 2008. The pictures in the calendar are selected from World of O Runners - choosing 12 runners from 12 different countries to show the spread of orienteering around the world.

Please help by adding all relevant competitions in World of O Calendar before January 5th using this link!

The runner chosen for August is Mats Haldin from Finland. Mats Haldin has been a very important man in Halden SKs Tiomila and Jukola success the last years - and will be missed when he travels over the border to Sweden and IFK Göteborg next year.

Already in 2002 he was 3rd in the overall World Cup…

Mats Haldin has belonged to the absolute World Orienteering Elite for many years, but he is still fighting for his first individual World Championships medal. Already in 2002 he was 3rd in the overall World Cup, falling to a 5th and 6th spot in 2004 and 2005. He has one World Cup victory (2002, Long distance, Czech Republic), and 7 second spots in World Cup races.

Even if Mats has belonged to the World Orienteering Elite for many years - he got his best individual WOC result in 2007 with his 4th place at the WOC in Kiev, Ukraine in 2007. Maybe the change to a new club and a new country is what Mats needs to take that small but important step up to the podium in 2008? Mats Haldin will definitely be an exiting runner to follow in 2008!

See full statistics and pictures for Mats Haldin in World of O Runners.

Click here to add competitions to World of O Wall Calendar / World of O Calendar!

About WoO Wall Calendar 2008

This is a preview of World of O Wall Calendar 2008: 12 runners - 12 countries. It will be available for free download as a high-quality PDF-file in January 2008. The preview of the calendar is shown to give organizers time (and motivate them) to add their competitions to World of O Calendar. All international orienteering competitions inside World of O Calendar at January 5th will be included in World of O Wall Calendar 2008. The pictures in the calendar are selected from World of O Runners - choosing 12 runners from 12 different countries to show the spread of orienteering around the world.

Please help by adding all relevant competitions in World of O Calendar before January 5th using this link!