European TrailO Championships 2022 gets underway in Finland

Source:  Press release by International Orienteering Federation

Just 2 years after the original planned date, the European TrailO Orienteering Championships (ETOC) finally gets underway in the area around Espoo, west of Helsinki in Finland. Athletes from 18 nations are taking part, all keen to be back in action at full international level again after the long pandemic break.

What is now ETOC 2022 has attracted 132 athletes: 37 in the P (Physically Challenged) class and 95 in the O (Open) class. 11 of the entries are from Ukraine. Finland, Norway, and Sweden are traditionally the strongest nations and have the current world and European champions, but several other nations will believe they have athletes capable of winning a medal.

Four successive days of competition

There are 4 competition days. The 2-day PreO competition is followed by the TempO day (Qualification & Final) and then the Relay, for teams of 3.  For the 2 PreO days and the Relay, a typical Finnish forest of pine and spruce is on offer with its intricate contour detail, along with bare rock faces and cliffs. PreO-2 in the famous Noux National Park is in terrain with big hillsides with lots of rock faces. Some very challenging map-reading tasks can be expected! The Relay is in a large recreational area, a change from the original plan as the first-choice area is no longer available.

By contrast, the TempO events will be held in a suburban area with some park-like terrain and ‘forest islands’ amongst official buildings and living quarters. Masses of small detail to interpret – ideal for TempO!

Programme

Thursday 26 May:  PreO Day 1

Friday 27 May:  PreO Day 2

Saturday 28 May:  TempO: Qualification (a.m.), Final (p.m.)

Sunday 29 May:  Relay

The event website and results can be found here: www.etoc2022.com

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British Orienteering wishes the GB team (Nick Barrable, Charles Bromley-Gardner, Ian Ditchfield, Tom Dobra, David Jukes, John Kewley, Iain Phillips, Colin Duckworth, Graham Urquhart, Liz Urqhuart Team Manager) all the very best as they compete in this international competition.