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 international orienteering competition which has been organized by the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) since 1966. The World Orienteering Championships is considered to be the most prestigious competition in competitive orienteering. The races are contested between members of the IOF, which are each aligned to a National Olympic Committee.
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).
Daniel Hubmann is a Swiss orienteering competitor. Hubmann is the most successful male Swiss orienteer of all time, with 9 Gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships. In 2023, with his victory in the relay at the 2023 World Orienteering Championships, Hubmann became the oldest competitor to win a gold medal at the World Orienteering Championships, at the age of 40 years and 61 days. Hubmann is currently the third most successful male orienteer of all time, behind Thierry Gueorgiou and Olav Lundanes, and has won more medals in total than any other male orienteer.
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.
Mårten Boström is a Finnish orienteering competitor and long-distance runner. He won a gold medal in sprint at the 2013 World Orienteering Championships in Vuokatti. He reached the podium in the junior race at the Nordic Cross Country Championships in 2001, taking the bronze. He received a bronze medal in sprint at the 2004 European Orienteering Championships in Roskilde. He received a silver medal in the classic distance at the 2001 Junior World Orienteering Championships, and a bronze medal in the relay event in 2000. He won Jukola in 2004 and 2005.
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, ski mountaineer and skysnow runner. Alexandersson has won gold medals at world championships in five different sports plus a silver medal in a sixth sport, and has won a total of 21 gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships, making her the second most successful orienteer in history by number of gold medals at World Championships, behind Simone Niggli-Luder. 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.
Matthias Kyburz is a Swiss competitor in orienteering and athletics. In orienteering, Kyburz has attained gold medals in the Junior World Orienteering Championships, European Orienteering Championships and the World Orienteering Championships. In athletics, Kyburz is a long-distance specialist; Kyburz attained the world record in 50 km on a treadmill of 2:56:35 on 16 April 2020, breaking a record held by Florian Neuschwander. On 7 April 2024 Kyburz ran 2:07:44 in his Marathon debut, becoming the third fastest Swiss athlete of all time over the distance after Tadesse Abraham and his coach Viktor Röthlin, and achieving the qualifying standard for the 2024 Olympic Games. In the Olympic Marathon, Kyburz finished in 30th place.
Gustav Bergman is a Swedish orienteering competitor. Bergman has won five gold medals for Sweden in relay events at the World Orienteering Championships, and four medals in individual events.
Natalia Mikhailovna Gemperle is a Russian-born Swiss orienteering competitor. She competes for the clubs Alfta-Ösa and OLK Aargus
Eskil Kinneberg is a Norwegian orienteer. In addition to winning individual gold medal at the Orienteering World Championships and individual silver medal at the European championships, he has won eight medals with Norwegian teams in the relays at the world and European championships, including several victories.
Andrine Benjaminsen is a Norwegian orienteer and ski orienteer.
The 2018 Orienteering World Cup was the 24th edition of the Orienteering World Cup. The 2018 Orienteering World Cup consisted of 11 individual events and 9 relay events. The events were located in Switzerland, Latvia, Norway and Czech Republic. The European Orienteering Championships in Ticino, Switzerland and the 2018 World Orienteering Championships in Riga, Latvia were included in the World Cup.
Simona Aebersold is a Swiss orienteering competitor. She is the daughter of Christian Aebersold, who won the World Orienteering Championships 3 times.
Emil Svensk is a Swedish orienteering competitor. His achievements include winning gold medals both in the World Orienteering Championships and the European Orienteering Championships.
Kasper Harlem Fosser is a Norwegian orienteering competitor who represents Norwegian club IL Heming and Swedish club IFK Göteborg.
The 2022 Orienteering World Cup is the 27th edition of the Orienteering World Cup. The 2022 Orienteering World Cup consists of six individual events and four relay events. The events are located in Sweden, Estonia, and Switzerland. The 2022 World Orienteering Championships in Denmark are not included in the World Cup. But the European Orienteering Championships in Estonia are part of the world cup, and non-European Orienteers can hence participate in the European Championships as well. By winning the fifth race, middle distance in Davos, Tove Alexandersson secured her eight total world cup win. Later the same day, Kasper Fosser secured his second total world cup win.
The 2023 Orienteering World Cup is the 28th edition of the Orienteering World Cup. The 2023 Orienteering World Cup consists of seven individual events and three relay events. The events are located in Norway, the Czech Republic, and Italy. The 2023 World Orienteering Championships in Switzerland are not included in the World Cup, but the European Orienteering Championships in Italy are part of the World Cup program. Non-European Orienteers can hence participate in the European Championships as well. Russian and Belarusian competitors are still banned, but this season saw Natalia Gemperle returning to the world cup, now competing for Switzerland.
Løten, Norway 
Le Brassus, Switzerland 
Truskavets, Ukraine 
Sümeg, Hungary 
Roskilde, Denmark 
Otepää, Estonia 
Ventspils, Latvia 
Primorsko, [2] Bulgaria 
Falun, Sweden [3] 
Palmela, Portugal 
Jeseník, Czech Republic 
Verona, Italy [5] 
TBA, Belgium 
