The Special Rules for the 2019 Orienteering World Cup have been published. The World Cup Final programme in China, Increased Prize money and the Long Distance chase start concept in Finland are some of the interesting things to highlight.
The 2019 World Cup season consists of six individual forest distances and three sprints.
In addition, two Sprint Relays and one Relay are included in the Team World Cup.
The full programme is:
8 June | Middle | Finland |
9 June | Long, chase start | Finland |
11 June | Sprint Relay | Finland |
14 August | Long (WOC) | Norway |
16 August | Middle (WOC) | Norway |
17 August | Relay (WOC) | Norway |
27 September | Middle | Switzerland |
28 September | Knock-Out Sprint | Switzerland |
29 September | Sprint | Switzerland |
26 October (preliminary) | Middle (WCup Final) | China |
27 October (preliminary) | Sprint-Relay (WCup Final) | China |
29 October (preliminary) | Sprint (WCup Final) | China |
The World Cup Final at the end of October will be the first IOF major event in China. The final round consists of a Middle Distance, a Sprint Relay and a final Sprint.
The prize money has increased substantially and the amounts are more than 100 % higher than 2018.
Prize money overall World Cup leaders:
1st 2500€
2nd 1500€
3rd 1000€
4th 500€
5th 300€
6th 200€
– Our ambition has been to increase the prize money in the World Cup over time and the 2019 season is a good step in doing so. We hope that this, along with a very interesting program, will increase the attractiveness of the World Cup for the athletes, says Tom Hollowell IOF CEO.
World Cup competition number 2 in Finland will be a Long Distance chase start. The start times in the chase start will be determined by times in the Middle Distance the day before (World Cup competition 1).
– The World Cup is a setting which can be used to test the attractiveness of new formats. The Chasing start format has been tested before with mixed results but the general feeling is that it can be a very attractive format if we get it right. It will be interesting to see what the feedback is following the competition in Finland.
Special Rules for the 2019 Orienteering World Cup can be found here
Special Rules for the 2019 Orienteering Team World Cup can be found here