Kainuu Orienteering Week (KOW) is an annual Finnish, international, orienteering event held in the Kainuu region. Kainuu Orienteering Week is organized by Kainuun Rastiviikko Association. Measured by the number of participants, Kainuu Orienteering Week is one of the top-15 sports events in Finland and it is also one of the main events of The Finnish Orienteering Federation.[1]
Kainuu Orienteering Week is the second oldest orienteering week in the world and the first event was arranged in 1966. Since then the event has been held every year, except 1974. The event attracted 315 orienteers in the first year and the participant record is from 2007 when there were 4,884 orienteers in Kainuu Orinteering Week.[2] In 2011 the first city orienteering sprint, organised through the KOW, was run.[3]
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.
Kainuu, also historically known as Cajania, is one of the 19 regions of Finland. Kainuu borders the regions of North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and North Karelia. In the east, it also borders Russia.
Rogaining is an orienteering sport of long distance cross-country navigation, involving both route planning and navigation between checkpoints using a variety of map types. In a rogaine, teams of two to five people choose which checkpoints to visit within a time limit with the intent of maximising their score. Teamwork, endurance, competition and an appreciation for the natural environment are features of the sport. Championship rogaines are 24 hours long, but rogaines can be as short as two hours.
Especially For Youth is a week-long youth-oriented seminar focused on fellowship and teaching the principles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is run by Brigham Young University's (BYU) Division of Continuing Education (CE) and is the largest church-oriented summer camp, attracting over 50,000 attendees every year at locations around the world.
The Jukola Relay is an orienteering relay race held annually in Finland since 1949. Jukola is the biggest orienteering relay event in the world. The race takes place on a Saturday between 13 and 19 June in sites around Finland. The northernmost location has been 50 km north of the Arctic Circle. The name Jukola is a family name in the classic Finnish novel, "Seven Brothers". The women's relay, known as the Venla Relay, is a daytime race on the Saturday afternoon. It is named after the main female character from the novel.
The O-Ringen is an orienteering competition that takes place annually in different areas of Sweden. Orienteers from all over the world come to the competition. For orienteers around the world a trip to the O'ringen 5-days is their Mecca. This race attracts significant media coverage in Sweden and winning O-Ringen is often considered second only to the World Championships in prestige. The competition takes place in July, and takes place over 5 days, where every active day is a competition stage. Competitors are assigned start times for the first four stages of the race, but on the fifth and final stage a "chasing start" is used. In a chasing start the overall leader in each class starts first and the remaining competitors start according to the total time they trail. This means that the first runner over the finish line on the final stage is the winner.
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.
Kari Sallinen is a Finnish orienteering competitor. He was the first Finn who won the Individual World Orienteering Championships. The competition was held in the year 1985 in Bendigo, Australia. He was also part of the Finnish team that obtained bronze in the 1981 Relay World Championship in Thun, Switzerland.
Sinikka Kukkonen was a Finnish orienteering competitor. She is World Champion in both orienteering and ski orienteering. She became the first World Champion in ski orienteering, in 1975.
The British Orienteering Federation Limited, generally known and branded as British Orienteering, is the national sports governing body for the sport of orienteering in the United Kingdom.
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.
Mats Haldin is a Finnish orienteering competitor and two-time European champion with the Finnish relay team. He received a silver medal with the Finnish relay team at the 2003 World Orienteering Championships in Rapperswil/Jona, and again in 2006 in Aarhus. He received a bronze medal in relay at the 2007 World Championships in Kyiv. At the 2009 World Orienteering Championships in Miskolc he won a bronze medal in the relay, together with Topi Anjala and Tero Föhr.
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.
The history of orienteering begins in the late 19th century in Sweden, where it originated as military training. Over the course of the late 19th and early 20th century, orienteering emerged first as a military competition in Nordic countries and then as a mass participation sport, before becoming a competitive sport with an international governing body.
The Jan Kjellström International Orienteering Festival or "JK" is the premier domestic orienteering competition in the United Kingdom along with the British Orienteering Championships, usually held over the Easter Weekend.
Raila Kerkelä is a Finnish orienteering competitor. She received two medals at the 1966 World Orienteering Championships in Fiskars, a bronze medal in the individual contest, and a silver medal in the relay with the Finnish team. She received a bronze medal in the relay event at the 1968 World Orienteering Championships in Linköping, together with Pirjo Seppä and Tuula Hovi.
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.
The World Masters Orienteering Championships (WMOC) (formerly the Veteran World Cup) is an annual orienteering competition organized by the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).
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