The route choice for leg 1-2 split the field in the men's knockout final

There was live tracking of the Sprint Relay at Euromeeting

Freddie Carcas just missed out on the knockout stages. He was tied in the final qualification spot in heat 3 and lost out because he has fewer ranking points than the other runner.

Nathan Lawson running leg 2 for GB in the International Sprint Relay at Soave 6th October 2023, photo: Rob Lines

Ralph Street made the podium but not a medal in the European Champs Sprint 2023: 5 seconds off gold, 2 seconds off silver, 1 second off bronze, photo: On The Red Line

Cecilie Andersen is one of 14 GB athletes in Northern Italy for the European Champs, Cecilie photo: by Rob Lines at the previous round of the World Cup this year.

Chloe Potter, first leg for South Yorkshire "Killer Bees" team, British Sprint Relays 2023, Brunel University London, photo: Rob Lines

Peter Molloy, running in 2023 World Cup Round 2, photo: Rob Lines

The 2024 World Orienteering Champs are in Edinburgh

In July 2024 (very probably 12th-16th) the World Championship Orienteering Races in Individual Sprint, Sprint Relay, and Knockout Sprint will be decided. They're in Edinburgh. Although that is a long way away for many people it is not so far for prospective competitors, so it may be fun to look at possible stepping stones for GB athletes. They will surely have done this already.

Let's name the recent World Cup Races in Czechia as the first stone. There there were both forest and sprint races; the sprints being the first at this level since last year's World Champs, whilst the forest races were the last ones at that level until after Edinburgh.

Rachel Brown finishes in the World Cup Sprint Relay in Česká Lípa, photo: Rob Lines

Ralph Street won the World Cup Sprint Race in Česká Lípa, photo: Rob Lines

Česká Lípa is the location for World Cup Round 2

Close to where the 2021 World Champs races were, and like then with both sprint and forest races on the programme, Česká Lípa in Czechia hosts World Cup Round 2. It's the third of the four big international competitions in the year. World Cup Round 1 (Norway) and the World Champs (Switzerland) have passed and the European Champs in Sprint (Italy) are ahead in early October.

Will Gardner (L), Nathan Lawson (R), of Octavian Droobers (OD) after the Sprint Race in Armagh where they were 2nd and 1st respectively (photo: OD Twitter)

The 10 Day Emerald Isle Orienteering Festival culminated in the British Sprint Champs on Saturday 6th May, and the British Middle Distance Champs on Sunday 7th. The sprints were a qualifier and final pair of races, held in Armagh. The middles were at Drumkeeragh Forest, just inside the Mourne Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Thanks to the clubs of the Northern Ireland Orienteering Association, and indeed all the volunteers who put on the extensive programme of events.

Nathan Lawson won both men's titles, and Fiona Bunn, returned from international duty the previous weekend, won both Women's.

Full Results - British Sprint and Middle Champs

Team GB, The World Games 2022: Cecilie Andersen, Ralph Street, Jonathan Crickmore and Charlotte Ward

Early Sunday morning 17th July, on the last day of The World Games, the GB Team won the bronze medals in the Sprint Relay.

The racing was in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. It was the third day of racing. On Friday it had been individual sprint and on Saturday a forest middle race. Both had been in hot and humid conditions. It was not quite as hot for the relay, but still many of the runners poured water over themselves before running.

There was free internet TV. Using that, with the kind permission of the IOF, we have made a five minute summary video of the race from a GB perspective.

After the race the GB team talked about the race.

Team GB, The World Games 2022: Cecilie Andersen, Ralph Street, Jonathan Crickmore and Charlotte Ward

On 15th, 16th and 17th July there are three top-notch international orienteering races as part of the World Games in BIrmingham, Alabama.

The races are a sprint, a middle and a sprint relay. The races are on internet TV (free.) Birmingham is about the same latitude as Tunis and at this time of year it is hot and humid, with a risk of storms later in the day, so races are early local time. First starts: 3pm UK-time.

The Games has places for 80 orienteering athletes, 40 men and 40 women, and these go mostly to teams of 4 from leading countries, and partly to individual champions. Britain selected athletes (from those available) with an emphasis on the two sprint races rather than the forest middle, but the old map for the latter looks as if it will be a great area. All four, Cecilie Andersen, Ralph Street, Jonathan Crockmore and Charlotte Ward, like most British athletes, have higher world rankings in sprint than in forest. (In fact Charlotte, World ranking 21 in sprint, does not have a forest ranking.)

Megan Carter-Davies jumps on the World Champion's Podium, photo: On The Red Line

The GB Orienteering Team had a tremendously successful World Orienteering Championships 2022.

Megan Carter-Davies is the World Champion in the Individual Sprint. She also won the silver medal in the new Knockout Sprint format, and a silver medal in the Sprint Relay.

The other members of the silver medal winning relay team are Charlotte Ward, Ralph Street and Kris Jones.

Alice Leake won the bronze medal in the individual sprint.

Britain had won a medal at a World Orienteering Championship eleven times previously, most recently in 2013, by Scott Fraser. It was the most successful GB team performance ever.

The GB team who were "fourth nation" at World Cup Round 1, photo:Rob Lines

There are eight athletes, four men and four women, running for GB at this year's World Championships in Denmark. The races are the sprint disciplines: individual sprint, knockout sprint and sprint relay..

There are three race days.

• Sunday 26th June - Sprint Relay, in Kolding (where the Event Centre is)
• Tuesday 28th June - Knockout Sprint, in Fredericia
• Thursday 30th June - Individual Sprint, in Vejle

All the GB athletes raced in World Cup Round 1 in Sweden last month, and the photos below are from that competition. Thanks to Rob Lines for most of them. Rob's gallery of orienteering photographs is on Flickr.

Leeds Beckett University hosted the Sprint Relay at the Carnegie Sports Centre

On Saturday 11th June, Forth Valley Orienteers team of Scarlett Kelly, Chris Smithard, Kris Jones and Grace Molloy won the British Sprint Relay Championship Race. They won by just over a minute from Edinburgh University with last year's champions South Yorkshire Orienteers a further 15 seconds behind.

27 teams were on the start line, and when non-eligible runners, incomplete teams and mispunches were all taken into account, 12 teams were all complete in the results (representing 10 clubs).

On Sunday Megan Carter-Davies and Kris Jones won the Individual Sprint Championships in the two race qualifiers/finals format..

Nathan Lawson, Borås Stadtspark, photo: Rob Lines

The GB first team of Charlotte Ward, Jonny Crickmore, Nathan Lawson and Megan Carter-Davies, were sixth, fourth nation, in the Sprint Relay in the centre of Borås on Sunday 29th May.

The race was won by Sweden's second team. The favourites, Sweden-1, made noticeable mistakes on leg3 and leg4, causing them to finish third. Switzerland-1 was second. Norway-1 were fourth, so third nation. Switzerland-2 were fifth.

Official Results - Orienteering World Cup Sprint Relay May 2022. There are two lists: one for just the leading teams for each country and one for all teams, including up to four teams per country, plus the "mixed" teams.

The GB second team of Alice Leake, Chris Smithard, Will Gardner and Grace Molloy were twenty-second of the fifty-seven teams that started, just behind Czech-1.

Megan Carter-Davies leads a quarter-final

Megan Carter-Davies won the silver medal in the World Cup Knockout Sprint in Borås, Sweden.

The Knockout Sprint races took place on Saturday 28th May. They comprised a qualification early in the morning, and then quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals in the afternoon.

Ralph Street got through to the men's final coming 7th (the final had an extra runner after a protest). Charlotte Ward, Cecilie Andersen and Jonny Crickmore qualified for the knockout stages and were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Official Results - Orienteering World Cup Knockout Sprint May 2022.

The excellent photos here are the work of Rob Lines. You can find Rob's oeuvre of orienteering photographs on Flickr.

Charlotte Ward, interviewed after her terrific run

A GB team of 12 athletes, six men and six women, is in Borås, Sweden for three races forming World Cup Round 1. The races are the sprint disciplines: individual sprint, knockout sprint and sprint relay.

The individual sprint was on Thursday 26th May, and Kris Jones and Charlotte Ward both finished with a "top 10" result.

Official Results - Orienteering World Cup Individual Sprint May 2022.

Thanks to Rob Lines for the excellent photos.

GB has named a team of 13 athletes, seven men and six women, for 2022 World Cup Round 1 in Borås, Sweden at the end of May. The races are the sprint disciplines: individual sprint, knockout sprint and sprint relay.

Broadly, selection was made on two domestic sprint competitions earlier this year, Sprint Scotland and the JK Sprint, and last year's international races in Switzerland (European Champs), the Czech Republic (World Champs) and Italy (a sprint relay).

The team will be supported by Lasse Grøn, Jo Stevenson, Murray Strain, and Emil Wingstedt. All have recent experience with the team.

British Orienteering Announcement - Team for World Cup Round 1.

Part of the terrain for this year's JK Middle Race (mapper squad member Ben Mitchell)

The "JK", the biggest annual festival in the UK orienteering calendar, held every year at Easter, is back and upon us. We really missed it in 2020 and 2021. This year the Welsh Association are hosting, and some of the areas used are the same as in 2014 when they previously hosted.. How's the winter training gone? Have you got everything planned out and have you read through 37 pages of programme? How did you fare on your big weekends in the Winter and early Spring?

Event Programme (Version 6)

Our report on the most recent JK, in 2019.

Kris Jones at the finish, World Cup Sprint Race.

Kris Jones took the men's silver medal at the final day's racing of World Cup Round 3 in Laufen, Switzerland. It was a sprint race around the narrow streets and passageways of the Old Town. It was again a tremendously exciting day, brilliantly organised and planned with the courses having a lot of technicality.

The race was won by the Belgian Yanniock Michiels. Tove Alexandersson won the women's race.

Ralph Street on stage for the World Cup Knockout Sprint Flower Ceremony

The second day's racing of World Cup Round 3 in Laufen, Switzerland was Knock-Out Sprint. It was a tremendously exciting day, brilliantly organised and planned, as morning qualification and then quarter-finals setup a spectacular afternoon's racing. This was in and around the narrow streets and passageways of the Old Town, and there was great TV coverage for the large and noisy crowd gathered in the specially constructed arena.

Ralph Street finishing in an urban area at a Swiss World Cup race, 2017

The three days racing of World Cup Round 3 are in and around Laufen, Switzerland this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is televised with English language commentary on the internet at Live Orienteering.

• Friday is the Middle Distance.
• Saturday is a Knock-Out Sprint.
• Sunday is a regular sprint, with A and B races for both men and women.

Megan Carter-Davies

Megan Carter-Davies took the Women's British Sprint and Middle Distance titles last weekend. It has been a very successful 2019 for Megan in domestic races: she adds these titles to the British Long Distance, the JK Sprint and the JK Overall.

In the men's Kris Jones won the Sprint and Graham Gristwood the Middle Distance

Grace Molloy - winner JOK Chasing Sprint 2019

Two hours of orienteering was shown on BBC Scotland TV yesterday. It was a live broadcast of the chasing start races at the JOK Chasing Start Sprint in Callendar Park, Falkirk. It was this week's "Adventure Show" and the programme did a great job of showing sprint orienteering. It is available on replay via BBC i-Player for a month.

Sasha Chepelin

There was great sprint racing with a significant international presence in Scotland this weekend. Sprint Scotland, a mix of coaching, training and hard racing took place for four days around Bo’ness and Denny.

Hollie Orr, winner of the JOK Chasing Sprint at Birsemore in 2014

On The Red Line The World Orienteering Championships (WOC) come to Scotland in 2022 and, with forest and sprint championships alternating, they are for the sprint disciplines. Sprint Scotland (20th-23rd June) - see the impressive international startlist - and the JOK Chasing Sprint on June 28th in Callendar Park Falkirk, are both significant competitions on the way. The great appeal of the chasing sprint as a spectator event is the winner is the first to cross the line. And the name? "JOK" stands for Jesus Orienteering Klubb, the orienteering club for alumni of Oxford University. Their emblem is a pig with wings. Thanks to "Porky" for this preview.

Many of our top racers will be in action at this 25th year of the JOK Chasing Sprint, held in conjunction with the BBC Scotland TV programme The Adventure Show who plan to broadcast live.

JK2019 Middle Distance Prizewinners, credit: Iain Shepherd

Will Gardner on the run-in

The JK Sprint Champions are Will Gardner and Megan Carter-Davies. Both kindly shared their immediate thoughts - post-race interviews on Twitter.

Official results

The races were at Aldershot "Home of The British Army", which was a great venue and looking particularly lovely in the warm sunshine. Nearly all of each course was in the secure garrison area, with fast running mostly on tarmac or flagstones. There are many buildings, fences, and hedges, and interesting and fair courses weaving in and out set many short route choice decisions.

But, and this is a rather significant "but", the timing system fell short, both in regard to displaying the information to commentary and the audience, and runners being confident about reliably recording which controls were visited

Provisional results may be found at https://race-results.info/live/1660/class.pdf or at https://race-results.info/live/1660/

We are nervous about the timing system for the rest of the weekend.

Kris Jones, winner of the JK Sprint the last three years (and planner in 2014), is not running this year. He is currently recovering and training in Albuquerque, New Mexico. So we will have a new men's champion. Kris wrote about his injury for "Fast Running".

Kris provides his thoughts about the racing, and bravely predicts which of his fellow GB Squad athletes might take the wins.

Control Description Sheet, Knockout Sprint Final

Euromeeting in Denmark was a runup event for the 2020 World Championships.

Not all countries sent full teams but plenty did, with a lot taking the opportunity to build their experience of competition formats at this level. It was good to see GB represented in strength.

On Friday 21st there was a Sprint Relay in Kolding. GBR-1 were ninth, fifth nation. GBR-2 were thirteenth. GBR-3 including a Swedish guest runner were 26th.

On Saturday there was a knockout sprint. Alice, Charlotte and Jonny got as far as the semi-finals. Cecilie got to the quarter-finals.

On Sunday there was a regular sprint race in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Christiansfeld. Alice Leake was 4th - a really good result. Charlotte Ward was 23rd. The leading British men were Jonny Crickmore 26th and Matt Fellbaum 27th.

British Sprint Championships

Bath University, Saturday 1st September

Photo: The Prizegiving, by Steve Rush

Full Results

Women (Women Open A Final)

Image: from the special notes explaining the lower service area level at Bath University.

Followers of the GB Orienteers need to have their eyes in more than one place this coming weekend, with World Cup forest races taking place in Norway ( starting on Friday, preview - World Cup Round 3 ) and the British Sprint and the British Middle Distance Championships being hosted by the South West Orienteering Association, Bristol Orienteering Klub and North Gloucestershire Orienteering Club, near Bath.

Saturday is the sprints, Sunday the middle distance.

The 2018 World Championships took place in Latvia (celebrating 100 years) from 4th - 11th August. The event was based in Riga and Sigulda. The Championships were supported by Nokian Tyres.

This was the last all-disciplines World Championships. Next year it will be the Forest races (Norway), in 2020 the Sprint races (Denmark.)

Britain sent a team of 14 athletes. They achieved one podium place, in the men's relay.

Full results are in IOF Eventor - WOC2018 and results and photographs are also at the Latvia World Champs site. An index of our news reports and a summary of British results follows below.

See also the virtual arena (with links to many GB photos) at Maprunner WOC 2018

Photo: Alice Leake in the current leader's chair at World Champs Sprint Final, Riga 2018, by Maprunner

On The Red Line editorial. On Saturday 4th August, after qualification races earlier in the day, the World Champs (WOC) Sprint Final took place in Old Town Riga, Latvia, and Alice Leake, the current British Women's Sprint Champion, came eighth. Alice made her WOC debut three years ago, and in previous years was 35th, 22nd and 22nd. She said on Twitter "8th in the world. What is even happening." It was the highest position by an individual British athlete at the 2018 World Champs. It's the fifth best British Women's sprint result at WOC ever. Like many of her fellow athletes Alice combines full-time work with her orienteering and time and money are precious. The Riga race was rightly hailed as "a breakthrough performance".

Alice explains what happened.

Photo: Kris Jones, WOC Sprint Relay, Riga, Latvia August 2018.

Great Britain, helped by a great run from Kris Jones on second leg, were seventh in the World Champs Sprint Relay in Riga, Latvia. The medals were won by the same countries as in 2017, and 2016, although as last year there was some swapping of positions.

The race, held in Riga but across the Daugava River from the Old Town, was an experience far removed from that of yesterday's individual sprint finals. And indeed from the experience of the vast majority of British orienteers.

Photo: Alice Leake running the arena passage in Riga Old Town Square, World Champs Sprint Final.

Alice Leake had the best run of the British athletes in this year's World Champs Sprints: she was eighth.

The fact that both the men's and women's titles were retained by last year's champions, Daniel Hubmann and Maja Alm, is to disguise a great deal of drama.

Image: Sprint Scotland Map Extract - Grangemouth Course 2

Sprint Scotland, mimicking the World Champs Sprint Weekend, had three races in two days. All but one of the British WOC team sprinters were there, and they were joined by some of the best in the world. It was generally assessed as terrific preparation immediately before the World Champs. All the races had World Ranking (WRE) status.

Meanwhile other WOC athletes were doing their final preparations too - some days of O-ringen, last training camps for example - and writing about them. And the World Universities wrapped up with the relays.

Photo: Sprint Scotland Organiser Graham Gristwood

Sprint Scotland has three sprint races this weekend with all but one of the British WOC team sprinters running. They are joined by some of the best in the world, two weeks before the World Champs. All the races have World Ranking (WRE) status.

(The British WOC team sprinter not in Scotland is Megan Carter-Davies. She is in Finland.at the World Universities Championships.)

Photo: by Steve Rush

Charlotte Ward won the World Ranking (WRE) Sprint in Antwerp yesterday, with the field including athletes from several nations preparing for the World Championships. Teresa Janosikova (CZE) was second and Sigrid Alexandersen (NOR) third.

Megan Carter-Davies was fifth, and Kirstin Maxwell ninth.

The men's race was won by Frederic Tranchand (FRA) with Tim Robertson (NZL) second, Yannick Michiels (BEL) third, and Chris Smithard fourth. Dane Blomquist was ninth and Peter Hodkinson 13th.

Antwerp WRE Sprint - Results.

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.

Kris Jones wins Sprint Bronze

Photo: Kris Jones on the run through the arena (On The Red Line)

Photo: GB team; athletes, manager and support staff, Hollie Orr not present (Source: Kirstin Maxwell Twitter)

Photo: Alice Leake passes the coaches area near the finish of today's EOC Sprint Relay.

Home team Switzerland won the European Sprint Relay Championship Race today Thursday 10th May. They were a comfortable minute ahead of second-placed Sweden, who in turn were a comfortably two minutes ahead of a tight finish for the bronze medal which included Alice Leake anchoring TeamGB.

Charlotte Ward, Peter Hodkinson and Kris Jones had given Alice a 25 second start for the last leg ahead of a group of four other teams. But three of the teams caught her.

Photo: Charlotte Ward near the finish of Sunday's EOC Sprint Final.

The European Sprint Relay Championship Race is at 4pm UK time on Thursday 10th May. There are 21 teams entered. It is live on the internet with English commentary, or for those with less time or money there are online results.

The racing is in the scenic villages area of Capriasca in the Italian speaking Ticino canton of Switzerland. And it will be Ticenese Elena Roos running the last leg for Switzerland - that could mean enough crowd noise to be heard in a neighbouring country.

The GB team will wear 7 as that was their position last time round, and they have a good chance of making the podium. The team is Charlotte Ward, Peter Hodkinson, Kris Jones and Alice Leake. Profiles of the team follow....

_Photo: Kris Jones runs through the arena a couple of minutes before the end of the sprint course today (credit: On The Red Line).

Kris Jones won the bronze medal in today's European Championship sprint race.

Kris Jones talks to Katherine Bett after today's race

Other British Results

Men: 22.Alasdair McLeod, 23.Peter Hodkinson, 24 Chris Smithard, 27.Ralph Street.

Women: 25.Charlotte Ward, 31.Alice Leake.

EOC Website Results

World of O report

The Men's and Women's European Sprint Champs are on Sunday 6th May.

GB has ten athletes entered, four women and six men, all with a good chance of getting through to the finals in the afternoon.

There will be 17 athletes in all running in British colours during the whole Championships. It might be different if Graham were not injured and Megan not in her final year at University. but as it is only one, Sasha, is not in the age range 25-30. Sasha is in his first year as a senior. He ran very well at last year's Junior World Champs (JWOC). Interestingly, JWOC seems by no means an essential step to running in this top-level sprint competition. Of the ten Brits running on Sunday, five didn't run at a JWOC.

Photo: Charlotte and Kirstin at the sprint weekend

The top GB sprinters gathered in York two weeks before the European Champs sprint races for a final group training weekend.

Graham Gristwood was the planner and he has put together a short video of the running giving a flavour of what went on. Several locations and several formats are evident.

Thanks to Steve Whitehead, Paul Murgatroyd, Peter and Christine Roberts, Bill Griffiths and EBOR Orienteers.

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.

(Photo: Maprunner)

Kris Jones and Megan Carter-Davies won the JK Sprint World Ranking Events races today.

World Ranking Event Points

The "JK", the biggest annual festival in the UK orienteering calendar, held every year at Easter, is upon us. What a lovely prospect! This year the West Midlands Association are hosting. How's the training gone, have you got it all planned out and read through 28 pages of programme, how did you fare on your big weekends in February and March? Do you miss chatting to your friends at a model event before the real action - once upon a time that was the Friday entertainment. And will we have snow? (No is the latest I've heard).

Scottish Spring results

The Scottish Spring weekend (23rd-25th March) was put on by members and friends of SEDS, ScotJOS and the GB Orienteering Squad, and offered five events of high quality orienteering near Stirling.

Winner of the black course in Sunday's long race at Auchingarrich, Ali McLeod provides a short report, with pictures courtesy of Wendy Carlyle.

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.

Orienteering was included in the 2017 World Games held in Wrocław, Poland, with the orienteering races on 25th, 26th and 27th July. Wrocław is Poland's fourth largest city, the largest city in Western Poland. The World Games features a whole set of non-Olympic sports. In many countries the Games are highly prestigious with much media coverage akin to that of the Olympics. But not in Great Britain, where Parliament has decided Olympic medals are the be-all and end-all. This time some orienteers won or lost significant performance-related funding deals from their governments based on a few seconds.

Official Results - World Games Orienteering 2017

In the final event, the sprint relay, held in heavy rain in the park and zoo by Centennial Hall, Great Britain came 5th. Below is a link to a video of the whole race.

The 2017 World Championships took place in Estonia from 1st - 7th July. The event was based in Tartu. The Championships were supported by Nokian Tyres.

Britain sent a team of 16 athletes. They achieved one podium place, in the sprint relay.

Full results are at the Estonian World Champs site. A summary of British results follows below.