Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to find control points. Originally a training exercise in land navigation for military officers, orienteering has developed many variations. Among these, the oldest and the most popular is foot orienteering. For the purposes of this article, foot orienteering serves as a point of departure for discussion of all other variations, but almost any sport that involves racing against a clock and requires navigation with a map is a type of orienteering.
The World Orienteering Championships is an annual orienteering event organized by the International Orienteering Federation. The first World Championships was held in Fiskars, Finland in 1966. They were held biennially up to 2003. Since 2003, competitions have been held annually. Participating nations have to be members of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).
Thierry Gueorgiou is a French orienteer who holds the record for gold medals won at the World Orienteering Championships for a male athlete, with 14 gold medals between 2003 and 2017. Gueorgiou has won more than 20 gold medals in international competitions, including the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) middle distance event a record eight times: 2003–2005, 2007–2009, 2011 and 2017.
The Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) are an annual orienteering competition. They were first held in 1990. Entry is open to national teams aged 20 and below as of 31 December in the year of competition. Representative countries must be members of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).
Valentin Yuryevich Novikov is a Russian orienteering competitor. He is the brother of Leonid Novikov.
Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg is a Norwegian orienteering competitor, World champion and European champion. She took the overall victory in the 2008 World Cup.
Sigurd Dæhli is a Norwegian orienteering competitor. He became Relay World Champion in 1981, by participating on the Norwegian winning team in Thun, Switzerland. He obtained bronze in the 1983 Individual World Orienteering Championships in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary.
Annika Viilo is a Finnish orienteering competitor and world champion. She won a gold medal at the 1995 World Orienteering Championships in Detmold with the Finnish relay team. She received a silver medal on the Classic distance at the 1993 World Championships in West Point, and also a silver medal with the relay team, and she received a bronze medal with the relay team in 1989 (Skaraborg).
The European Orienteering Championships were first held in 1962. They have been held biennially since 2000. From 2020, the European Orienteering Championships will be held annually, with sprint events and forest events in alternate years.
Ski orienteering (SkiO) is a cross-country skiing endurance winter racing sport and one of the four orienteering disciplines recognized by the IOF. A successful ski orienteer combines high physical endurance, strength and excellent technical skiing skills with the ability to navigate and make the best route choices while skiing at a high speed.
Mari Fasting is a Norwegian orienteering competitor and ski mountaineer. She is two times Junior World Orienteering Champion. She represents the club NTNUI of Trondheim, and is related to the ski mountaineer Ola Berger.
The World University Orienteering Championships (WUOC) is a biannual orienteering competition organized by International University Sports Federation (FISU). Entry is open to athletes aged 17 to 25 who are enrolled in university either the year of or the year after the competition. Representative countries must be members of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).
Martin Johansson is a Swedish orienteering, ski-orienteering, and cross-country skiing competitor, a medallist at the orienteering world championships, and a 2004 Junior World Champion in relay. He received bronze medals in sprint at the World Orienteering Championships in Kyiv 2007 and Olomouc 2008. His brother, Lars, is a member of the Rockford Icehogs
Foot orienteering is the oldest formal orienteering sport, and the one with the most "starts" per year. Usually, a FootO is a timed race in which participants start at staggered intervals, are individually timed, and are expected to perform all navigation on their own. The control points are shown on the orienteering map and must be visited in the specified order. Standings are determined first by successful completion of the course, then by shortest time on course.
Tove Alexandersson is a Swedish foot orienteer, ski orienteer, skyrunner, trail runner and ski mountaineer. She has won a total of 19 gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships and 10 gold medals at the World Ski Orienteering Championships. In 2018, she won the Sky Marathon event at the Skyrunning World Championships, in her second skyrunning race ever. In 2021, she won the combined discipline at the World Championships of Ski Mountaineering, and in 2023 she won a silver medal in the up and down discipline at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. She competes for Stora Tuna OK in orienteering and Alfta-Ösa OK in ski orienteering. Alexandersson holds the record for the number of gold medals in a row at the World Orienteering Championships, winning 11 in a row between 2018 and 2022.
Venla Niemi is a Finnish orienteering competitor.
Maria Chiara Ramorino is an Italian orienteer and a former tennis player.
Simona Aebersold is a Swiss orienteering competitor. She is the daughter of Christian Aebersold, who won the World Orienteering Championships 3 times.
World Masters Orienteering Championships (WMOC) are annual international orienteering competitions and the official world championship for orienteering runners above the age of 35.
The North American Orienteering Championships (NAOC) is a biennial orienteering event organized by the International Orienteering Federation.
Lahti, Finland
Mysen, Norway
Åmål, Sweden
Körmend, Hungary
Tasmania, Australia
Strathspey, United Kingdom
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Murcia, Spain
Minnesota, United States [4] 
Novy Bor, Czech Republic [5] 
Aarhus, Denmark [6] 
Feilding, New Zealand [7] 
Nida, Lithuania [8] 
Asiago, Italy [11] 
Edmonton, Canada [12] 
Wiener Neustadt, Austria [13] 
Marinha Grande, Portugal [15] 
Neuchâtel, Switzerland [17] 
Bad Harzburg, Germany [19] 
Porto Alegre, Brazil [21] 
Tallinn, Estonia [23] 
Riga, Latvia [25] 
Košice, Slovakia
