Kainuu Orienteering Week (KOW) is an annual Finnish, international, orienteering event. 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 require navigational skills 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.
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) 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 the 13th and 19th of June in different 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 has won more than 20 gold medals in international competitions, including the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) middle distance event eight times: 2003–2005, 2007–2009, 2011 and 2017. In November 2016 it was announced he will become the Swedish national team head coach following the 2017 World Championships.
Yvette Baker is Britain's most successful orienteer. At the 1999 World Orienteering Championships in Inverness she won the short distance event.
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.
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).
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.
Rolf Koskinen was a Finnish orienteering competitor and European champion. He won a gold medal with the Finnish relay team at the 1964 European Orienteering Championships in Le Brassus. He was also member of the Finnish team that won the relay at the 1962 European championships, while not part of the official program.
Ada Kuchařová is a Czech orienteering competitor. She received three silver medals and two bronze medals at the 1983, 1987, 1989 and 1991 World Orienteering Championships.
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.
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.
Tove Alexandersson is a Swedish orienteer, ski orienteer, skyrunner and ski mountaineer. She has won a total of 17 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. 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.
Tim Robertson is a New Zealand orienteering competitor. He won the gold medal in the sprint course at the Junior World Orienteering Championships in 2014, and 2015.
The World Masters Orienteering Championships (WMOC) (formerly the Veteran World Cup) is an annual orienteering competition organized by the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).
