Press release from the International Orienteering Federation 2016-05-26

World Orienteering Day – A record breaking event

On Wednesday May 11th 2016, the first ever World Orienteering Day took place all over the world. It proved to be a great success, with more than 250 000 participants taking part in a global orienteering event.

After having finalised the results, the total of participation in the first ever World Orienteering Day stands at 252 927 participants at 2013 locations in 81 countries and territories.

What was once only an idea, has come to be a reality beyond what anyone could have hoped. Schools, clubs and enthusiasts in every global region made a fantastic contribution, and together managed to beat the world record.

From South Africa to Hong Kong, from Greenland to New Caledonia, from Ecuador to Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of youngsters participated in World Orienteering Day. Following the idea “Think globally, act locally”, people took part in locally organised orienteering events, and together celebrated the biggest world-wide orienteering event ever.

– World Orienteering Day has demonstrated that we are truly a global sport, and I just want to thank the thousands of people who organised over 2000 competitions for 250,000 people on all continents except Antarctica. – Well done the world orienteering family, says Brian Porteous, president of the International Orienteering Federation.

World Orienteering Day is an International Orienteering Federation project that aims to increase the visibility and accessibility of orienteering to young people, to spread orienteering to new countries and places, and to help teachers to implement orienteering in schools in a fun and educational way.

 http://worldorienteeringday.com