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Events in the year 1968 in Sweden .
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.
Linköping is a city in southern Sweden, with around 165,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping and is well known for its cathedral. Linköping is the center of an old cultural region and celebrated its 700th anniversary in 1987. Dominating the city's skyline from afar is the steeple of the cathedral.
Sven Anders Gärderud is a Swedish former track and field athlete, winner of the 3000 m steeplechase event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Sport is considered a national pastime in Sweden, and about half of the population actively takes part in sports activities. The most important all-embracing organisations for sports in Sweden are the Swedish Sports Confederation, and the Swedish Olympic Committee. In total over 2 million people are members of a sports club.
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.
Åge Hadler is a Norwegian orienteering competitor, winner of the 1966 and 1972 individual World Orienteering Championships, relay champion from 1970, and individual bronze medalist from 1968.
Anders Morelius is a Swedish orienteering competitor. He is Relay World Champion from 1966, as a member of the Swedish winning team in the very first World Orienteering Championships, held i Fiskars, Finland. He also earned a bronze medal in the 1966 Individual World Orienteering Championship. Han also won 10-mila representing OK Malmia in 1965.
Anders Nordberg is a Norwegian orienteering competitor. He received a bronze medal at the 2004 World Orienteering Championship, and again a bronze medal in 2007. He finished second in the overall World Cup 2007.
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
The history of orienteering begins in the late 19th century in Sweden, where it originated as military training. The actual term "orienteering" was first used in 1886 at the Swedish Military Academy Karlberg and meant the crossing of unknown land with the aid of a map and a compass. The competitive sport began when the first competition was held for Swedish military officers on 28 May 1893 at the yearly games of the Stockholm garrison. The first civilian competition, in Norway on 31 October 1897, was sponsored by the Tjalve Sports Club and held near Oslo. The course was long by modern standards, at 19.5 km, on which only three controls were placed. The competition was won by Peder Fossum in a time of 1 hour, 47 minutes, and 7 seconds.
The Swedish Orienteering Federation is the national orienteering association in Sweden. It is recognized as the national federation for Sweden by the International Orienteering Federation, of which it is a member.
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.
Bo Engdahl is a Swedish ski-orienteering competitor. He competed at the 1990 World Ski Orienteering Championships in Skellefteå, and won a gold medal in the relay for Sweden, together with Jonas Engdahl, Stig Mattsson and Anders Björkman. He placed overall second in the World Cup in Ski Orienteering in the 1991 season.
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.
Anders Holmberg is a Swedish orienteering competitor. He won a silver medal in the sprint at the 2011 World Orienteering Championships Chambéry.
Events from the year 1989 in Sweden.
The 2nd World Orienteering Championships were held in Linköping, Sweden, 28–29 September 1968.
The 36th World Orienteering Championships were held in Østfold, Norway in August 2019.