The World Masters Mountainbike Orienteering Championships 2021 (WMMTBOC) which were scheduled to be held in Slovenia from May 13-16 have been cancelled due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the cancellation of the event, the IOF Council at its meeting on Friday January 15th made a number of decisions regarding the organisation of WMMTBOC.
The WMMTBOC 2021 will move to Portugal and be organised together with the MTBO World Cup round there from October 8-10, 2021. The Event Centre is located in the town of Abrantes.
– The cancellation of the World Masters Mountainbike Orienteering Championships in Slovenia is unfortunate but the right decision. The holding of an event solely for masters categories in May is simply too early relative to the progression of the pandemic, according to IOF CEO Tom Hollowell. – With vaccination programs rolling out across the world we are very hopeful that we can offer our masters MTBO athletes a safe and successful event in Portugal in October. I would like to commend both organisers for their willingness to find solutions in these difficult times.
The preparations for the 2021 event will not go lost as Slovenia has been appointed the organiser of the WMMTBOC 2023. The event will be held in Slovenj Gradec sometime in May 2023, with exact dates to be confirmed.
Denmark had applied for the WMMTBOC 2023 and have been offered and accepted the appointment for the WMMTBOC 2024 event instead. The event is to be held in Viborg with dates to be confirmed later.
The WMMTBOC 2022 was previously appointed to Bulgaria to be held from September 15-20, 2022 in and around Targovishte. This event remains unchanged in the calendar.