Gaining ground in pursuit of Olympic spot
THE World Orienteering Championships return to Scotland next week for the first time since 1999. The sport has changed in the interim and new technology and innovation may help the event find its way to Olympic recognition.
More than 350 athletes from 49 countries will gather in Inverness for three individual races for both sexes, plus one single-gender and one mixed relay. Concurrently during the championships (July 31 to August 8), some 5,200 athletes will contest the Scottish 6 Days series – legacy of the first world championships staged in Scotland 39 years ago.
North Berwick-based Brian Porteous is president of the International Orienteering Federation. He says the sport was “disappointed, but not really surprised” to be among 18 sports recently rejected for the 2020 Olympics in Tokio.
However, he believes they can make a strong case for inclusion in future Summer and Winter Games. “Orienteering is already in the World Games and the ski version is in the Asian Winter Games. Kazakhstan, who are bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics, are very good at it.
“We’ve already had 30 countries competing at the World Ski Orienteering Championships. At the World Military Winter Games, more countries competed than in downhill skiing.
“We’ve been trying for years to be in the Olympics. With just seven sports, we are more optimistic about the Winter Games. Ski orienteering is a smaller discipline than the summer version, but in terms of size and scale, it has a better opportunity. The Summer Olympics will be a harder journey, we think.
“We have a lot to do. We already have a footprint on every continent, but need to continue growing, reach a bigger audience. We need to look good to spectators, but also on television. We now have a really good TV product that looks exciting, and very different. Set against the background of the Scottish Highlands we have a very compelling product.”
Next week, he believes, will be an outstanding opportunity to showcase the sport.
“We have worked really hard on TV coverage,” adds Porteous. “Every athlete has a satellite tracker on their back. You know where they are all the time – not just looking at pictures of the start and finish. You can look at the map and see where people are, and live on TV, and tell the story that’s unfolding as they get lost or take faster route choices. You can play them back like a computer game – see which choice was faster. The product is pretty good, and really appeals to the younger generation.
“It’s even easier with ski orienteering which uses a network of pre-ploughed trails.”
This is not just a smart wheeze to gain Winter Games status, but has history on its side. The ski version may have pre-dated the running discipline, in the Scandinavian military at about the start of the 20th century.
Olympic status would improve funding almost everywhere with the exception of Scandinavia, Denmark and Switzerland where there is already excellent government backing. “Orienteering used to be quite well funded by UK Sport,” says Porteous, “but there is no elite support, just development funding from Sport England and sportscotland, despite being medal contenders and ranking around sixth in the world. Olympic status would mean more money in most countries, which would grow the sport as well.”
The International Orienteering Federation is on course during the championships to admit its 80th country as a member. But delegates will have one eye on Kuala Lumpur next Friday, for that’s where the IOC vote on the 2022 Olympic venue. Beijing are bidding to become the first city to host Summer and Winter Games. Almaty, in Kazakhstan, are their only rivals. The hosts are entitled to add sports not on the core programme, and both have an orienteering history.
Events will be held in Keppernach, Darnaway, Glen Strathfarrar, and Glen Affric, while Nairn and Forres provide a mixed urban landscape of roads and alleyways, parkland, ornamental gardens, and community woodlands which deliver a spectator-friendly location for the urban sprint.
The championships will be televised live in Scandinavia and the Czech Republic, with as-live coverage in the US. BBC Alba will have live coverage on August 1 (6-7.25pm), August 2 (4.457.10) and August 5 (4-6.10). BBC Scotland will feature it later on the Adventure Show. And it will be live on the sport’s own digital channel.
The GB team includes five Scots all with an Edinburgh University background: Murray Strain, Scott Fraser, Alasdair McLeod, Hector Haines, and Hollie Orr. Fraser is a performance psychologist in Stockholm where his club is sponsored by his employer. He went there to pursue his sport. Originally from Dalkeith, he once played a trial for Celtic with his pal Darren Fletcher. But Fraser was told he was too small. Now six feet, he was a world silver medallist in the sprint two years ago. In 2012 he was Scotland’s top-ranked 10k runner and he has twice represented Scotland in the World Mountain Running Championships.
Strain, a former Great Scottish Run 10k winner and prolific hill-race winner, has been into orienteering since his parents took him to events in his push-chair as a baby. And Haines’s father competed in the world event at Darnaway in 1976.
We now have a really good TV product that looks exciting. Set against the Scottish Highlands we have a very compelling product