Experience counts for a lot in orienteering. That was very evident in last year's results from the GB team.

We look forward to four major international foot-O meetings in 2023, and five in 2024, the latter including the Home World Championships in Edinburgh. The tremendous GB success at last year's sprint World Champs is evidence of real strength in the team. And this year there's an almost entirely unchanged group of athletes, with a great deal of experience amongst the older runners. One of the challenges for management and coaches is the differing needs of athletes. The many experienced athletes know what works for them, and they'll be the ones aiming at the target results (top 20, top 10, podium, medal.)

In our view it's likely the teams for this year's World Champs, and for next year's in Edinburgh, will comprise athletes who have nearly all run several World Champs before and are mostly over 30. The other international meetings though, where the teams are larger, will mix in runners with less experience at the top level..

Last year's World Champs Team

2023

The World Champs are in the forests of Flims Laax in Switzerland coordinating with the Swiss O-week - invitation - if you fancy a great orienteering trip.

• 27th April - LONG, Norway, World Cup Round 1
• 29th April - MIDDLE
• 30th April - FOREST RELAY
• *
• 12th July - MIDDLE QUALIFIERS, Switzerland, WORLD CHAMPS
• 13th July - LONG
• 15th July - MIDDLE
• 16th July - FOREST RELAY
• *
• 2nd August - SPRINT, Czechia, World Cup Round 2
• 3rd August - SPRINT RELAY
• 5th August - MIDDLE
• 6th August - LONG
• *
• 4th October - SPRINT RELAY, Italy, EUROPEAN CHAMPS
• 6th October - SPRINT
• 8th October - KNOCKOUT SPRINT

2024

• May - World Cup Round 1 - Switzerland (Knockout Sprint and Sprint)
• June - World Cup Round 2 - Italy (Sprint, Sprint Relay)
• July - WORLD CHAMPS - EDINBURGH - 3 SPRINT formats
• August - European Champs - Hungary (3 Forest Formats)
• September - World Cup Final - Finland (Sprint Relay, Middle, Long)

GB Selection

The first selection races are the JK Sprint, Middle and Long. The middle and long are the only 2023 selection races before the team for the first, forest only, World Cup round is picked.

We can therefore expect that as usual the JK Middle elite races on 8th April at High Dam will have the strongest fields of the year.

Results from 2022 international races are also taken into account.

• 2022 World Champs report - Sprint Formats
• 2022 European Champs report - Forest Formats
• 2022 World Cup Final - Forest Formats
• 2022 World Cup Borås Sprint Relay
• 2022 World Cup Borås Knockout Sprint
• 2022 World Cup Borås Individual Sprint
• 2022 World Games
• 2022 World University Champs
• 2022 Junior World Champs - Report on BOF website

GB Coaching

At the World Cup Final last Autumn we chatted with GB coaches Andy Kitchen and Tom Bray. The chats are on our YouTube channel - playlist for 2022 World Cup Final

Andy Kitchen with Fiona Bunn and Laura King after the World Cup Final long race in Switzerland

Moves

A couple of the younger squad runners are now studying in Scandinavia. Alastair Thomas is in Trondheim, and Laura King is in Uppsala.

Photos below: Alastair Thomas, 2021 photo: Fred Härtelt, Laura King, 2022 photo: Erling Thisted

International Rankings

Last year was pretty much "back to normal" regarding travel restrictions, and that allowed GB athletes (with two exceptions) to acquire sufficient scores to count a full set for the international rankings. As always though the more races they do, and the higher up the competition tree they are, the better for an athlete's position..

The exceptions being Peter Hodkinson, who was injured for the year, and Graham Gristwood (not part of the squad to exclude the chance of a conflict of interest with his volunteer role for WOC2024.) By the way Graham won the M21 course at the Senior Home International in November.

Sprint - Women. 8th Megan Carter-Davies; 17th Charlotte Ward; 20th Alice Leake; 33rd Grace Molloy; 61st Cecilie Andersen; 123rd Jo Shepherd; 124th Fiona Bunn; 165th Kirstin Maxwell.

Sprint - Men. 6th Ralph Street; 38th Jonathan Crickmore; 39th Kris Jones; 66th Chris Smithard; 78th Nathan Lawson; 102nd Will Gardner; 129th Sasha Chepelin; 171st Thomas Wilson.

Forest - Women. 26th Megan Carter-Davies; 52nd Grace Molloy; 64th Jo Shepherd; 80th Cecilie Andersen; 119th Fiona Bunn; 130th Laura King; 273rd Chloe Potter; 286th Rachel Brown.

Forest - Men. 40th Ralph Street; 61st Hector Haines; 116th Ben Mitchell; 143rd Joshua Dudley; 151st Will Gardner; 160th Peter Taylor-Bray; 164th Jonathan Crickmore; 176th Sasha Chepelin.