Foot orienteering (usually referred to as simply Orienteering or FootO for short) is the oldest formal orienteering sport, and the one with the most events per year. Usually, a FootO is a timed race in which participants start at staggered intervals, are individually timed, and are expected to perform all navigation on their own, GPS devices of any kind is not allowed and should be removed prior to the start of the event. The control points are shown on the orienteering map indicated by a small purple circle where the control point may be anywhere in said circle but typically near the center and must be visited in the specified order on the side of the map. Standings are determined by the fastest successful completion of the course.
FootO is one of four orienteering disciplines governed by the International Orienteering Federation.
The history of orienteering began in the late 19th century in Sweden. The actual term "orienteering" was first used in 1886 and meant the crossing of unknown land with the aid of a map and a compass. The first orienteering competition open to the public was held in Norway in 1897. Notable dates for member nations of the IOF are shown below.
The official formats in the World Orienteering Championships, which is followed by most regional and national championships, include the following:
The long-distance competition, previously called the classic distance competition, is the longest and toughest individual competition. Long competitions are held in forested areas, with an expected winning time of 90âÂÂ100 minutes, in physically demanding terrain with large-scale route choices and varying scale of technical difficulties.
The middle distance competition is a relatively shorter race held in the forest, with an expected winning time of 30âÂÂ35 minutes in technically complex terrain. (In 2003, the middle distance replaced a previous format called short distance competition where the expected winning time was 20-25 minutes.)
Sprint competitions are high-speed competitions held in urban areas, which are technically easier but often contain multiple different route choices. The expected winning time is 12âÂÂ15 minutes.
The relay, composed of teams of 3, is a mass start event where different runners are separated by means of . The results are determined directly at the finish line, once all runners have finished their respective runs.
The sprint relay is run by teams of 4, where the first and the last must be women, in urban areas with mass start and gaffling. It is an exciting and television-friendly event where the runners compete head-to-head at a high-speed.
Knock-Out sprint (KO-Sprint) is the newest form of urban orienteering to be added to international competition. It consists of a short qualifier race of around 10âÂÂ12 minutes to determine the seeding for a subsequent series of very short mass start elimination races of around 6âÂÂ8 minutes. These elimination races normally consist of six runners with the top two or three progressing, and can contain gaffling, loops, or runner's choice selection. Similar to the sprint relay, it is high-paced and television-friendly, with the elimination rounds happening quickly, one after another.
The World Orienteering Championships are held annually. , Europe has been dominant.