O-festivalen

[Editors note: The contents of this news item was for some time in accordance with the intentions and plans. We’re sorry that it didn’t turn out as planned. For those with knowledge in Norwegian there is more information in newsletter no. 4 through Newsletters in the left coloumn.]

After much hard work and good co-operation between the event organisers and the Norwegian Orienteering Federation (NOF) it has finally been decided: There will be TV coverage and a big screen at the O-Festival 2008! The World Cup races will be tracked by several cameras in the woods in addition to GPS-tracking. On Saturday, the deciding race of the Craft Cup for juniors and seniors can also be followed on big screen at the arena. Remember that the deadline for entries is 6th June! See the press release from NOF in full here.

- This is fantastic for Norwegian orienteering and Anne Margrethe Hausken has really put us in the limelight this week. She has run extremely well in Latvia. There is a double benefit in us having secured TV coverage during the World Cup races in Oslo and it is really important for us to be on television. The World Cup races take place together with the Norwegian O-Festival and this is the major event for Norwegian orienteering. The event is also one of Norway’s biggest sporting events with over 10 000 individual starts during the weekend. There will be runners here from all over the country from 10 to 90 years of age, explains a happy President, Elin Sjødin Drange.

Presenting new technology

The World Cup hasn’t been arranged in Oslo since 1996, but in three weeks the world’s orienteering elite will finally arrive in the capital.
TV2 will send live coverage (web-TV) from the World Cup races on Friday 20th June (middle-distance) and Saturday 21st June (chase start), in addition to edited coverage on one of TV2’s channels on Saturday and Sunday. Thus our very best orienteering athletes will be able to show off their talents on home territory, in competition with the rest of the world-elite orienteers. The competition will be held in Ski Municipality.

Great emphasis will be placed on making the TV coverage exciting and accessible through the use of new technology. GPS tracking will be used, along with 3D visualisation and pictures from several places in the woods and in the finish area. The productions will be sent live on the Internet, in edited TV versions and on the big screen at the arena. This provides opportunities for comprehensive publicising in many media.

- We are pleased to have arrived at such a solution. With the World Championships on home territory in Trondheim in 2010 it’s important to show off our world stars. Norway wants to be in the forefront in developing new technology that can make orienteering accessible for the wider public. We believe that the productions from the Norwegian O-Festival will show that we are on the right tracks, says Secretary General of NOF Bjørnar Valstad.