Route to WOC24 Edinburgh 🇬🇧

The countdown has begun! With less than 6 days remaining, the most significant event in the world of orienteering for 2024 is about to kick off: The World Orienteering Sprint Championship in Edinburgh, Scotland, from July 11 to 16.

As the excitement builds and the favorites finalize their preparations, now is the perfect time to delve into the main challenges the competitors will face in this championship. The anticipation is palpable, and the streets of Edinburgh are set to come alive with the energy and determination of the world’s best orienteers.

While sprint events are not my personal favorite, I believe we are in for a top-notch spectacle. The intricate and demanding routes winding through the picturesque streets of Edinburgh will undoubtedly put the athletes’ skills to the test. This year’s championship promises to push the limits of speed and strategy, offering a thrilling experience for both participants and spectators.

In our “Road to WOC” series, we present today’s challenge: a complex route choice leg that showcases the difficulty of finding the optimal route. Such intricate legs will be a highlight, especially in the individual finals, where every decision can make the difference between victory and defeat. Some extra fences make the route choices more difficult, and many options are open. Can you find the optimal route? Draw it by clicking the link below.

Disclaimer: Apparently there was a temporary problem on the WebRoute-WorldOfO website server that made it impossible to draw the route. We hope it is resolved now. We apologize for the inconvenience.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

If you haven’t drawn your route yet, do not keep scrolling down!!!
The analysis will of the routes is posted below

As we could expect in a type of leg of this style, the route options are numerous, in many cases decisive in terms of loss of seconds, and without a doubt, highly difficult in the analysis and decision-making during the race ( and even analyzing the leg calmly sitting in front of your computer).

There are many variables to take into account in this type of leg, not only the length (shorter does not always = faster). Other aspects such as climbing, number of sharp turns, possibilities of mapreading advance,… must be taken into account when choosing the route.

Taking into account the above, the three options that reach the control from the South: C (448m), D (434m), and E (450m) are the shortest but also require a considerable number of sharp turns (especially option D) that compromise the execution speed and increase the mistake risk. The options that arrive at the control from the North: A (503m), B (537m), and F (486m), although they are clearly longer in length (and with a little more climbing), they lack sharp turns, are simpler to execute and allow advanced mapreading of the following legs.

Which one is the fastest? Difficult to say for sure, but I bet for the options C & E.

I would like to express my enormous gratitude to Jan Kobach for his great contribution to the orienteering community by providing free and selfless a large amount of information, dissemination, and analysis tools of great value for our sport. Thank you!