IOF General Assembly

[Becks]

Maybe I should expand a little. We saw in the sprint quali, that even with three courses, there somehow still managed to exist an uncrossable fence on the ground that had a gap through on the map. If you increase the number of possible courses to (in theory) 1000s (though in practice only a few routes will be actually taken), there is no way even the most dedicated planner/controller in the world will have run all of the possible legs. So one guy chooses to take this control one way, and the veg that's mapped as light green is actually much thicker now than last year, and he get's stuck for 2-3 minutes running through something poorly marked on the map. Another guy approaches this control from the opposite direction and has no problems. The numbers of times this could happen are huge.

I don't want to sit watching randomly GPS spots and a scoreboard ticking up. I want to watch people orienteering at their best on a well designed and pre run course. The best addition to this commentary was the old tracking from previous competitors overlaid on the current tracking of the guy running in - this was particularly effective with Waaler Kaas and Oberg in the middle.

If you're going to create mass start on it's own, it needs to be a long, uber tough, physical fight to the death, as Mharky has mentioned anywhere with Blodslitet. But is the person who wins a race like this going to be ready to run a relay two days later? You risk it turning into an even more specialist discipline, one that I see fewer people going for than sprint. Blodslitet already exists, and I don't see any place for mass start in the world champs. Score events even less - keep them for training areas and lazy planners.

[awk]

An excellent summary Becks.

I do agree about that overlaid tracking - it was fascinating and really added to the race coverage.

[mharky]

What's more exciting?

Watching Thierry and Novikov pull away on shorter gaffles on GPS, or watching the TV control on first leg fingers crossed hoping that GG comes out in the first few? (And then thinking "legend" as he punches in second and gives the camera a cheeky smile)

I'm not quite sure. I think to much coverage removes the excitement. I liked Long Night at Tio Mila before GPS, just listening to the voice in the forest, listening to see who was still in the bunch. Now you just see the race slowly unfold in real time, the excitement has gone a bit...

....however, watching Kaas live versus Oberg replay was AMAZING!

[Jon X]

Maybe they should have speed gold - who can get their ball down the whole the quickest.

Or speed typing - quickest with least typos

Pedantry.

It is FEWEST typos by the way.

[Gnitworp]

touché

[greywolf]

WOC programme should diversify, the WOC week should remain within 8 days, and a new, mixed, relay should be introduced. After the report, the General Assembly decided to introduce a mass start into World Orienteering Championships.

trying to make sense of how some of these apparently contradictory proposals might work...two possible options:

1) More competitions are shoe-horned into the 8 days, possibly with timetable arranged to prevent one athlete doing them all. Would spread the medals between more athletes..but probably not between more countries: SWE, NOR, FIN etc have the strength in depth

2) WOC remains an annual event - but individual championships are held biennially...so in odd years you get Sprint, Classic, Men's & Women's Relays, and in even years you get Micro-sprint, Middle, Mass-start Ultra Long and Mixed Relay or whatever.

Not sure i'm desperately keen on either option.

If they have to have a mass start then it ought to involve highly gaffled courses and master maps... that might make good telly

[Dave]

Maybe they should have speed gold - who can get their ball down the whole the quickest.

its already a sport: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_golf

[awk]

2) WOC remains an annual event - but individual championships are held biennially...so in odd years you get Sprint, Classic, Men's & Women's Relays, and in even years you get Micro-sprint, Middle, Mass-start Ultra Long and Mixed Relay or whatever.

Don't the cross-country skiing champs do something like this, alternating between classic and skating? I seem to remember the commentators at the Winter Olympics talking about how the 50k race was in the skating phase this year.

But, like you, can't get enthusiastic. This constant chasing TV/Olympics is, to my mind, in danger of being self-destructive, especially as media channels are constantly changing. I would have thought a greater focus on internet-TV coverage etc would be more realistic, with a longer term target of satellite. I'd hate for orienteering to go down the route cycling is in danger of going (has gone?) at the Olympics, where the track programme has been wrecked, and silly events like BMX have been introduced to try and appeal to the 'younger' (pre-teen?!) market.

[Red Adder]

Fair point awk but cycling is a vibrant sport (esp with Hoy et al winning sack-loads of medals) whilst lets be honest O is moving towards a sport for OAPs and in danger of dying on its ****. Perhaps we could learn from other sports who do anything it takes to build the next generation.

Rallying (admitted sponsored by serious pertrol-head dosh) does quite well on TV - especially with two virtual cars raced over a CGI course simulation. I don't know how the WOC was televised this year but the one the previous time with a mixture of GPS overlay of the map and shots from "spectator" controls was excellent and made the sport look especially attractive.

Finally- if you have trolled round a course behind a four-ball that all take longer to prep every shot than Faldo (still shooting 90+) and who refuse to wave you through speed golf becomes very appealing.

[awk]

Fair point awk but cycling is a vibrant sport (esp with Hoy et al winning sack-loads of medals) whilst lets be honest O is moving towards a sport for OAPs and in danger of dying on its ****. Perhaps we could learn from other sports who do anything it takes to build the next generation.

But, and I've heard this from more than one source, the biggest area of development in cycling isn't amongst the young:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10965608

BMX is what an old group of blazers think will appeal to the young - that's different from what actually appeals. Given the reaction from the bike mad youngest member of this household, the blazers have got it wrong.

[Becks]

A really good article about the speculation on World of O here:

http://news.worldofo.com/2010/08/20/woc-of-the-future-what-will-it-look-like/comment-page-1/#comment-72178

[cbg]

... in the [WOC] sprint quali, ... there somehow still managed to exist an uncrossable fence on the ground that had a gap through on the map.

It was a gap until the fence was repaired sometime before the event!