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One of the oldest sports of the FISU World University Championships programme – added in 1978 with the inaugural edition in Jyvaskyla, Finland – orienteering combines technical orienteering skills and running stamina.

EVENTS World University Championship

All Events Orienteering

2024
Bansko (BUL)
1-5 Aug 2024
2022
Magglingen – Biel/Bienne (SUI)
17-21 Aug 2022
2018
Kuortane (FIN)
17-21 Jul 2018
2016
Miskolc (HUN)
30 Jul - 4 Aug 2016
2014
Olomouc (CZE)
12-16 Aug 2014
2012
Alicante (ESP)
2-6 Jul 2012

Orienteering

FISU Technical Committee Chairs

Ola KABERG (SWE)

Szava ZSIGMOND (HUN)

International Federation

International Orienteering Federation

FISU Regulations

You can download the latest version here.

The History of Orienteering in FISU

Orienteering is a particularly attractive discipline since it establishes a close connection between physical activity and nature. This is an immensely popular sport in Scandinavia and in North European countries. So it was not coincidental that the Finnish University Sports Association undertook the organisation of the first World University Orienteering Championship in Jyvaskylä, in 1978. The event had an undisputed success, involving 129 runners from 17 countries. Since then, 16 further editions have been held, with a continuously rising number of participants. The 2010 edition in Borlänge, Sweden, broke the record, with 256 athletes from 31 countries.

 

Some championships require an inspirational setting to succeed, and this is certainly the case with orienteering. The Veszprem edition in 1996 was ideal from this point of view. France and Sweden took gold medals in the men’s short and classical distance respectively. Orienteering evolved from the Swedish offshoot of cross-country skiing that emerged in the 1840s. Used mainly for military purposes, it originated as a contest between shepherds, skiing from one point to another. The first rules date from 1900. Since then this sport has gained in popularity, especially as a school sport, even in countries of widely divergent traditions. For example, France – with its strong presence in Veszprem – discovered orienteering at the end of the 1960s, thanks to a Swedish compass salesman, who fell in love with the French countryside. After its launch in the Boy Scout movement, the sport was adopted by the military, finally coming into its own in the university sector.

 

Today, the sport is currently being supported by an enormous pool of 250,000 student participants. This was proved in the French city of Roanne where the World University Championship took place in 2000. After the success the sport had in the 1990s, almost 30 countries participated in the World University Orienteering Championships of the new millennium. The results pushed national federations to enter their best athletes, such as Dana Brozkova, Michal Smola, Larisa Stanchenko and Simonas Krepsta, who had also taken their medals during the senior World Orienteering Championship. The future of orienteering in the FISU World University Championships is on the right way.       

Statistics

Edition

Year

Country

City

Countries

M

W

Athletes

Officials

Total

1

1978

FIN

Jyvaskyla

17

78

51

129

23

152

2

1980

SUI

Saint Gallen

20

103

74

177

37

214

3

1982

CZE

Prague

18

76

57

133

39

172

4

1984

SWE

Jönköping

18

71

62

133

38

171

 5

 1986

 HUN

 Miskolc

 17

 80

 65

 145

 41

 186

 6

 1988

 NOR

 Trondheim

 23

 99

 85

 184

 46

 230

 7

 1990

 URS

 Pskov

 21

 96

 82

 178

 47

 225

 8

 1992

 GBR

 Aberdeen

 22

 89

 74

 163

 34

 197

 9

 1994

 SUI

 Fiesch

 30

 116

 84

 200

 62

 262

 10

 1996

 HUN

 Veszprèm

 28

 127

 101

 228

 59

 287

 11

 1998

 NOR

 Trondheim

 29

 130

 90

 220

 55

 275

 12

 2000

 FRA

 Roanne

 20

 74

 61

 135

 33

 168

 13

 2002

 BUL

 Varna

 25

 87

 79

 166

 32

 198

 14

 2004

 CZE

 Pilsen

 30

 123

 93

 216

 40

 256

 15

 2006

 SVK

 Kosice

 29

 125

 98

 223

 41

 264

 16

 2008

 EST

 Tartu

 28

 123

 98

 221

 49

 270

 17

 2010

 SWE

 Borlange

 31

 140

 116

 256

 53

 309

 18

 2012

 ESP

 Alicante

 27

 133

 99

 232

 49

 281

 19

 2014

 CZE

 Olomouc

 32

 138

 120

 258

 57

 315

 20

 2016

 HUN

 Miskolc

 34

150 116 266 50 316

 21

 2018

 FIN

 Kuortane

 34

131

118

249

54

303