Rome 2013

[heatonman]

'There have been 11 pages of posts mainly about medical certificates now.'

Well let's be objective about this.

It is the law in Italy when all said and done. And so in fact this is a reflection on the other organisers not the Rome 2013 organisers (having run in Venice and Sardinia).

So the reason for the furore is not the med certs really. It is irritation at having spent £400 on getting to the event and entry fees and then two months later being hit with this. And then we get hit with an unexpected cost and the irritaion of having to unnecessarily interact with the UK medical profession who are inconsistent, but I bet are generally accommodating (for a fee ).

I raised the issue with BO. They should do some inter federation liaison so that they could put someting like 'Competing Abroad' on their website. This med cert issue was being discussed in 2010 on the attackpoint forum by some equally incredulous Americans!

And come Nov 1 I wonder how many brits will really find themselves medically uncertified?

I wonder how many other nationalities have the same problem? Perhaps madmike could comment?

[DJM]

I wonder how many other nationalities have the same problem?

Can't comment on Rome, but I do know a bit about WMOC this year ...

... the answer is that all the big orienteering tour leaders were in constant dialogue with the WMOC organisers about the medical certificate, especially before the conditions were eased. One tour operator lost a significant number of bookings when it was still thought that an exercise ECG was needed, costing typically €500 in many European countries (amongst them the Nordic countries and Switzerland).

[madmike]

I think the problem is that someone in the country in question tried asked too much about the rules and then tried to comply with them.

I think you are exactly right Jayne.

[Sunlit Forres]

I was planning to take the wife to Rome as a 50th birthday surprise that weekend, and take in the urban event on the Sunday. Until I started reading this thread that is. We're going the following weekend instead (and I'm off to Moravian's Level C at Roseisle on the 3rd which sounds rather nice and doesn't require a medical certificate).

I suspect my wife will be overcome with relief when she finds out.

[EddieH]

I rather think she might

[charles2]

I raised the issue with BO. They should do some inter federation liaison so that they could put someting like 'Competing Abroad' on their website. This med cert issue was being discussed in 2010 on the attackpoint forum by some equally incredulous Americans!

When I was racing triathlon and duathlon you could apply for an international race licence rather than the standard British licence. This enabled you to compete in races abroad including world champs (i.e. you couldn't compete without the international endorsement).
I guess this was all done under some reciprocal agreement under the ITU (International Triathlon Union) of which all national federations were members of.
Not sure if it would (or could) work this way for orienteering.

[Mrs H]

I don't think it's a problem for all of the people from one type of country, just some of them.

So I guess you've got your med cert then Spookster?

Mike - is there any possibility that we can run our courses as Non Comps during the competition the way people sometimes do in UK. It only seems to be the competitive element which necessitates the med cert and I would like to start thinking seriously about contingency plans as we are due to leave the country on October 24th.

According to the website the cut off date for a free refund in Oct 13th so we are running out of time.

[Happy]

Finally spoke to Doctor's secretary he really was not happy regarding the wording on the document that says

"'declare myself fully responsible and acknowledge the consequences for falsely declaring that" etc etc

....as we'll as asking what he had to do for the medical - the form is so open to different interpretation!

I have said forget it, too musch hassle and too expensive!

[King Penguin]

We now have a very firm "NO" from our doctor - won't consider it even for a fee. Suggestion was we go through a private company of some sort - which will no doubt cost a fortune. Trying to get a price, but looks like we are probably stuffed.....

Mrs H - if you look at the non-competitive declaration it is just as onerous as the competitive one. The only difference in the wording is "non-competitive" instead of "competitive" !!!

Mike - I really appreciate all your efforts on this, and don't hold any of it against you in any way, but fear that us Brits have had it. I think the Italians should also expect a much reduced (no ?) British entry to future O events.
It beats me how they think it can be OK to let people run the Venice marathon without any certification (as alleged by someone earlier in this), yet we need one to do around 1/8 of the distance - about the same as thousands do every week at Parkruns.

[Oldman]

Perhaps puts the BOF requirement of no major road crossings for juniors in perspective?

[Mrs H]

is that meant to be a helpful comment?

I think the really difficult thing is that it is only 3 weeks ago that this requirement became known.

[madmike]

I don't think it's a problem for all of the people from one type of country, just some of them.

So I guess you've got your med cert then Spookster?

Mike - is there any possibility that we can run our courses as Non Comps during the competition the way people sometimes do in UK. It only seems to be the competitive element which necessitates the med cert and I would like to start thinking seriously about contingency plans as we are due to leave the country on October 24th.

According to the website the cut off date for a free refund in Oct 13th so we are running out of time.

Yes definitely Mrs H - that is pretty normal here for people who don't have Med certs, they call that sort of Non Comp "ghost-running" here.

[madmike]

We now have a very firm "NO" from our doctor - won't consider it even for a fee. Suggestion was we go through a private company of some sort - which will no doubt cost a fortune. Trying to get a price, but looks like we are probably stuffed.....

Mrs H - if you look at the non-competitive declaration it is just as onerous as the competitive one. The only difference in the wording is "non-competitive" instead of "competitive" !!!

Mike - I really appreciate all your efforts on this, and don't hold any of it against you in any way, but fear that us Brits have had it. I think the Italians should also expect a much reduced (no ?) British entry to future O events.
It beats me how they think it can be OK to let people run the Venice marathon without any certification (as alleged by someone earlier in this), yet we need one to do around 1/8 of the distance - about the same as thousands do every week at Parkruns.

I know KP. However, in my view this is not an Italy-wide issue but the problem actually is that the President of one of the two organising clubs is completely parnoid; moreover, the President of the other club will not stand up to her. Unfortunately the club presidents here are virtual dictators and he is the only one who had any chance of making her see sense and I think he has bottled it.

NOPESPORT-IN-CONFIDENCE and not for sharing further please: I spoke to the 2 people who are actually going to be checking the med certs for UK at registration yesterday and their view is that as long as a certificate contains the words "fit" "comptetive" and "orienteering" then they be happy with it and enroll you competitively. Accordingly, my advice would be don't get hung up on the actual wording as if you have a certificate that looks about right they will go with it and they are accepting WMOC certs with different word!

I can only apologise for this!

[nooomember]

So could an official clarify that if we reword the certificate and omit the paragraph about the doctor being held 'responsible' , then that will be ok and accepted?

[Mrs H]

My doctor just phoned to say he is happy with our medical history and has signed the certificate, he didn't mention a fee. I said I thought the wording had gained something in translation and he seemed to agree, How refreshing. Good luck everyone, hard luck Mike - it must be such a head ache but I know we are all going to have a great time.