Chris Smithard, World Cup Relay, April 2023

The final races of The World Cup Round in Østfold, Norway were forest relays. On Sunday April 30th the men started at 1pm, the women at 3pm. It was a grand occasion as the sun shone, and the arena was laid out to bring the athletes close to the crowd, most of whom had run their own races (finishing in the arena) in the morning. The changeover and an arena passage were right next to the crowds, and with quarantine only closing 15 minutes before first start many of the national team athletes mingled with the crowd in the arena. The relays were close, exciting races, with both having several teams close together throughout, and there was a particularly spectacular sprint finish in the men's race.

The nine athletes of the Great Britain Team for the 2019 World Champs. Credits: Matt Speake by Karl Orud, Jo Shepherd by WOC2018 Latvia, Charlotte Watson and Megan Carter-Davies by South London Orienteers (from the "Get up to Speed" videos), others by On The Red Line

The "Test Races" for the World Orienteering Championship (WOC) are Friday 5th and Sunday 7th July. WOC is in South-East Norway in mid-August and the test races are also, in similar terrain and with offset printed maps. Many countries use the races as part of the selection process. There are over 250 entries each day with countries split between parallel D21 and H21 races. There will be GPS tracking after the last runner starts - please see the bulletin.

Photo: Charlotte Watson, WOC2018 Middle Race, by Maprunner

Charlotte has moved to Oslo. She is already a member of the Oslo club Lillomarka OL - being one of seven Lillomarka runners at the recent World Champs.

Round 3 of the 2018 World Cup takes place in Østfold, Norway on 31st August and the 1st and 2nd September. It is "pre-WOC" as the 2019 World Orienteering Championships are in the same south-eastern part of Norway. 2019 is a year for a forest championships.

Description of how to follow the races live

The round includes a shortened long distance race, a prologue + pursuit, and a relay.

More detail in World Cup Round 3, Bulletin-3.

Photo: Sasha Chepelin, at the European Championships in Switzerland, May 2018.

On May 31st several team selections were published by British Orienteering.

The GB team for the World Championships in Latvia announcement was reported in our news item yesterday.

The teams for round 3 and round 4 of the 2018 World Cup. (World Cup Round 1 was the European Champs, World Cup Round 2 is the World Champs.)

The team for the World Universities Championships.

The team for Euromeeting in Denmark.

How do these fit with the 2018 international calendar and the twenty-four squad athletes?

Squad member Ralph Street won a bronze medal with Bækkelagets Sportsklub in the Norwegian Sprint Relay Championship Race in Stavanger yesterday.

Bronze medal in the Norwegian Sprint Relay Champs with Bækkelagets SK 🥉Live center with results and GPS: https://t.co/dGUIJnG5vR NOF: https://t.co/UklUQrktjQ pic.twitter.com/mym67Lb3XF

— Øystein K. Østerbø (@Kvaal_Osterbo) 27 May 2018

The winners were Nydalens SK, with whom Ralph won a bronze last year. After the four legs and an hour's running they finished 20secs ahead of NTNUI, with Bækkelagets SK a further 19 seconds back.

Matt Speake has joined Bækkelagets Sportsklub. They announced his arrival with a website article.

Matt, who lives and works in Oslo, is changing from one Oslo club to another, having been with Lillomarka OL for seven years. Most recently he was planner for well-received courses at the Norwegian Test Sprint Race at Akershus Fortress, which we wrote about last month.

Fellow GB Squad member Ralph Street also joined Bækkelagets Sportsklub this year. Matt and Ralph are by no means their first British members - Yvette Baker, Dan Marston and Sarah Rollins are notable British athletes associated with the club.

Photo: Peter Hodkinson in evening sunshine, World Ranking Sprint, Akershus Fortress, Oslo. From Lillomarka OL Facebook.

The Norwegian and Swiss Test Races for European Championships selection are this weekend, with several British runners taking advantage of quality races. This item will be updated as they happen.

Charlotte Ward writes about "the most well-organised technical camp I have taken part in" - a Sprint Camp in Bergen, in her blog Finding Flags.

Squad member and first-year senior Sasha Chepelin has moved to Halden and joined the well-known local club.

Halden Skiklubb published a great introduction article. Sasha had a terrific Junior World Champs last year with top ten results in all three individual disciplines.

Ralph Street has joined Bækkelagets Sportsklub. They announced his arrival with a website article.

Bækkelagets SK are an Oslo club, and Ralph has been living and working in Oslo for a year. He is not their first British member - Yvette Baker, Dan Marston and Sarah Rollins are notable British athletes associated with the club. Ralph is a TioMila winner with the Swedish club Södertälje-Nykvarn Orientering (he ran leg 8 in the winning team of 2016) and will still run with them in TioMila and Jukola this year.