Look out for the Aussies at the 2009 World Games Orienteering Champs

Wednesday, 15 July 2009

The 2009 World Games starts on Thursday in the City of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Orienteering is one of the 31 sports included in the program of these games. 

The World Games is an international multi-sport event held every fourth year under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2001 orienteering made its debut on the program of The World Games held in Akita, Japan, where Grant Bluett collected Australia's first International Orienteering gold medal. 

The Games, with an expected 5000 athletes and officials will get under way with the Opening Ceremony at the Main Stadium on Thursday, July 16, 2009. The athletes and officials will parade by country under their national flags with competitors of all other sports. The race program is:

Friday 17 July- Sprint Distance
2pm- First female start
3pm- First male start

Saturday 18 July- Middle Distance
12.30pm- First female start
2pm- First male start

Sunday 19 July- Relay
12.30pm- Massed start
*Note- add 2hours to these times for AEST

The Australian Team - Julian Dent, Simon Uppill, Hanny Allston, Kathryn Ewels and coach Rob Preston have been training and acclimatising in Hong Kong for the expected hot and humid conditions. The local orienteers have been a great help and Julian and Hanny even gave a talk about the technical aspects of Orienteering to a group of local juniors. The team heads to Kaohsiung tomorrow feeling confident they can handle to the conditions and terrain in Taiwan.

The IOF has set up a specific website for the event where you can follow the live results, including GPS tracking, which will be very exciting. You can also check out the Aussie team blog for all the inside stories here. 

World Games Orienteering Site with live GPS tracking and results

 www.worldgames2009.tw Official World Games site with info on all sports

http://australianorienteeringteam.blogspot.com/ The Aussie team Blog site for all inside news