An insight into the IOF mechanics by Jan

I have to say I am disappointed by the Council's decision here. Everybody I talked to in Vuokatti, except Council members, wanted to have some sort of qualification from 2014 and on - at least for the middle distance. I've talked to officials from several countries, athletes, members of the athletes commission, and so on. I heard that this was also the general opinion in the discussion at the President's conference (although I wasn't there, but I talked to several people being there). As I understood, the Council said that it had to do this based on the decision to remove the qualification races at the General assembly in 2013. However, I am sure there would have been a way around this based on all the feedback received. E.g. removing the qualification races and introducing "low key qualification races" would still be to follow the General assembly's request as I see it. No worse than turning the decision of a mass start from Trondheim in 2010 into a chasing start in the suggested program and later exchanging it for a mixed relay. This is very unfortunate for the development of orienteering, and I think (based on my conversations with athletes) that you will see quite a few athletes from smaller countries giving up high-level elite orienteering rather than becoming sprint specialists - which is what they are forced to now.

 Jan Kocbach on facebook

(Jan did not even mention the shear ignorance the council meet the federations hearing replies, which he wrote about here )

IOF-Divisions after WOC 2013 (Men)

I calculated the divisions for the WOC 2014 as proposed by the IOF foot o commission earlier this year. At the men side this years WOC in Finland brought the following changes:

1. Ukraine falls into the second division in exchange for Russia stepping up
2. Slovakia, Australia and Romania drop out of the second division in favor of Spain, Portugal and Germany. So there are only European countries left in the first two divisions.

Here is the ranking

fig.1. Inofficial IOF Divisions for the men after WOC 2013.

WOC 2013 and IOF Data Standard Version 3.0

It seems like the IOF is unable to push its own Data Standard.

fig.1. The results as provided by the organiser

I stated earlier that i will not longer calculate pack-figures under such conditions.

Orienteering of the 21. century

Abb.1. Orientierungslauf im 21.Jahrhundert (Bild: A.Rüedlinger auf danielhubmann.ch)

It is the television, the spectators and the olympics, Babe!

Der IOF liefert in der jüngsten Ausgabe seines Newsletters in inside orienteering seinen Erklärungsansatz zur nicht allseits geschätzten Entwicklung des Weltcups.  Im Zentrum stehen die Punkte:

• Olympia
• Fernsehen
• Zuschauer
• Veranstalter*

...
Our second goal is for the sport to be visible and attractive. The main part of this goal is for us to achieve far greater levels of TV coverage reaching well beyond our traditional base.
...
Our third goal is related to the first two and that is for us to be positioned for inclusion in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Brian Porteous, IOF Präsident

NORT and Post Finance have built the events around a TV concept

Mikko Salonen Vorsitzender der IOF Fuss OL Kommission in inside orienteering

To get visibility and media exposure though, and to get closer to becoming part of the Olympic family, we need more attractive sprint races for TV audiences rather than too many long distance races just for onsite orienteering spectators.

Mikko Salonen Vorsitzender der IOF Fuss OL Kommission in inside orienteering

Of course we aim at having a fair balance between different formats, but we need to remember that – firstly – we need motivated organisers, and – secondly – inclusion in the Olympic Games is one of the IOF’s key goals, hence driving the development of the World Cup and World Championships and their goals

Mikko Salonen Vorsitzender der IOF Fuss OL Kommission in inside orienteering

The sprint format was in fact chosen because we wanted to make as much of a public spectacle as we possibly could.

Malcolm Ingham, National Controller, World Cup NZL 2013 in inside orienteering

Nordic Tour has from the start had discussions with TV, and we have listened to their recommendations on how to get TV time. ... We now have a good platform and we have shown that it works to do a TV production of orienteering.

Henrik Skoglund, Tourmanager NORT 2013 in inside orienteering

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*Gemerkt? - Es fehlen die Athleten...

IOF und Petitionen

In der jüngsten Ausgabe von inside orienteering dem online newsletter des IOF, erklärt Anna Jacobson, wie Athleten auf die Entwicklung des Orientierungslaufes Einfluss nehmen könnnen.

Firstly it needs to be said that the IOF does not cast around on the internet to find out orienteers’ opinions. If there are things athletes want the IOF to know, they either need to send a letter to the IOF Secretariat – as Lina Strand did – or, even better, communicate through the Athletes’ Commission or their national federation. The Athletes’ Commission’s remit is to work between the athletes on the one hand and the discipline commission in the IOF and the IOF Council on the other. Through the Athletes’ Commission one can influence the process while it is going on. Internet petitions are often published after a decision has already been taken, and by then they cannot therefore influence the decision.
Also, several matters are decided upon at the IOF General Assembly. It is the national federations that vote there.

und

Besides talking to the national federations, the best way to influence IOF decisions is through Athletes’ Commissions (AC). The IOF has ACs in all four disciplines. The commissions liaise with and provide advice to the IOF Council and the Chairperson of the relevant discipline commission on matters such as rules, event programmes, fairness and other matters relevant to elite international orienteering. “The strongest channel for the athletes to communicate with the IOF is through the Athletes’ Commission”, says IOF’s Sports Director Björn Persson. “This body is linked to the IOF Council and hence gives direct access to the central decision makers.” The Athletes’ Commission for foot orienteering is currently unmanned following the retirement of former chairman Emil Wingstedt and other members. “This situation is very unfortunate”, says Björn Persson. “Our wish is that the athletes themselves select their representatives, and we have asked some leading voices to support this action several times during the past year, unfortunately without results. Now a new approach has to be taken and our intent is that a commission can be up and running very shortly”, Persson concludes.

und zuguterletzt Mikko Salonen Chairman der IOF Foot Orienteering Commission:

“I would like to encourage athletes to activate the Athletes’ Commission’s work again and start direct dialogue that way with the IOF, rather than putting together petitions on the internet.”

Alles klar? Die Entscheidungsstruktur IOF auf der Ebene des nationalen Verbandes habe ich für die Schweiz im Artikel die Schweiz und der IOF (upd.dez.2012) dargestellt.

IOF 1978: Publikum, Presse und Fernsehen.

Im Archiv meines Vaters habe ich eine Schrift der IOF von 1978 gefunden.*

und in der Einleitung:

Die Stossrichtung der Staffel war damit weitgehend gleich, wie bei der Einführung des Sprints ab 2001, bei der NORT und bei der WOC of the future.

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*weitere Fundstücke in Bearbeitung :-)