Orienteering’s Olympic Ambitions and How You Can Help

A note from OUSA President Tori Campbell

Following up on my last note about Orientación México, the International Orienteering Federation’s new 2026-2030 Strategic Directions mark an exciting shift: a renewed push to bring orienteering to the Olympic Games.

While that might sound like a long shot, the landscape is changing fast. Better TV coverage, improved drone technology, and a growing international competitive field (especially outside Europe) make our sport more broadcast-friendly and globally viable than ever. Sprint Orienteering is a prime candidate for the Summer Games, while Ski-O continues to gain traction for the Winter Games.

How does this impact Orienteering USA?

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Orienteering at the 2026 Scout Jamboree

Setting an orienteering course on a reclaimed coal mine presents some unusual challenges. At the
Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia, many of the terrain features that normally give an
orienteering map its character simply aren’t there.

That was one of the challenges faced by Orienteering USA at the 2026 National Scout Jamboree,
held July 22–31 at the Summit. More than 400 starts were recorded on three courses: White for
beginners, Yellow for intermediate orienteers, and Green for more experienced orienteers.

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September O Forum: Radio Orienteering, the Thinking Harder Sport

The next OUSA Forum will be on Tuesday, September 15th at 8:30 pm ET and will cover and introduction to Radio-O!

Radio-O is an international sport with National, Regional, and World Championships. In Radio-O, the control locations are not marked on the map and competitors must use their map and radio signals to locate them. Each of the five controls has a small radio transmitter that transmits for one minute before handing off to the next. Using a directional radio receiver, you take bearings on the signals to locate the controls. You make your initial decisions with very limited information; only the start and finish. As you move through the forest, you take bearings to the controls while they transmit, accumulating information to make route choice decisions to find the controls.

This OUSA Forum will cover Radio Orienteering race formats and how to use the receivers to find the controls.

Photo by Alan Murray.

Join us on Google Meet on Tuesday, September 15th at 8:30pm ET.

Add to Google Calendar.

Support Orientación México!

A note from OUSA President Tori Campbell

It’s been quite a summer for orienteering, with plenty of opportunities across the USA and abroad to experience old favorites and explore something new. Part of my summer agenda was shaped by attending the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) General Assembly. Besides having the opportunity to spectate Sprint WOC (the knockout-sprint is really fun to watch–and challenging to organize!) and cheer on our National Team members, I joined IOF Council members and representatives from 80 member federations to vote on business that moves orienteering forward internationally. Over the next few newsletters, I’ll share some exciting insights from the IOF’s new strategic directions that might open up opportunities for Orienteering USA.

I want to begin with some good news beyond just strategic planning, however. On June 8th, the IOF General Assembly voted to confirm Orientación México as a new provisional member, adding another nation to the competition list for the North American Orienteering Championships. Some of you may know former OCIN member Isis Espinosa, who represented Mexico at WOC 2026 and is a driving force behind spreading a love of orienteering in Mexico City. She shared ways we could help support our new orienteering neighbors:

  • Get the word out! Follow Orientación México on Facebook. If you know Mexican citizens abroad who might live in places with orienteering already established, please pass this message along to help Orientación México grow.
  • Represent México! Do you know a citizen of México? Orientación México is particularly hoping to connect with Mexican orienteers who might be interested in representing Mexico at international championships – email orientacionmexico@nullgmail.com to learn more.
  • Share resources. Whether you’ve got extra equipment that you might be willing to donate, online resources, expertise or volunteers who happen to be traveling south of the border, we’re putting together a list of people and resources that we can share. Can you be a point of contact for something that might help? Share your contact information and ideas.

We look forward to seeing orienteering continuing to grow in North America. Welcome, Orientación México!

Nominations sought for 2026 Silva & Golden Service Awards

The 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Orienteering USA will be held in Dragoon, AZ (during NAOC) on December 31st, 2026. One of the highlights of the AGM is the announcement of the annual Silva & Golden Service awards. These awards recognize individuals who have contributed to our sport both at the national and club level. Nominations are now being accepted for both of these prestigious awards and are due by Tuesday, December 1st.

2026 Annual General Meeting

The 2026 Orienteering USA Annual General Meeting will take place in person at Triangle T Ranch, Dragoon, AZ, on Dec 31, 2026. Time TBD.

Agenda

TBD

Club Membership Lists

As outlined in the OUSA Bylaws, the number of votes your club’s delegates may cast is based on the number of OUSA members in good standing, designating your club as their primary club, as of xxx, 2026.

All clubs are afforded 1 delegate and 1 alternate. For clubs with more than 25 members, they can choose to have 1 additional delegate and 1 additional alternate for every block of 25 members.

You can find a list of your club members in good standing TBD

Please notify the OUSA Office of the names of your delegates and alternates. The delegate appointments should be emailed from a club officer to contact@nullorienteeringusa.org

Delegates and alternates representing your club must be OUSA members, designating your club as their primary club, as of xxx, 2026.

Your club may assign its votes by proxy to another club. The proxy will only be valid if no OUSA-primary member of your club will be present at the AGM. Proxies may not be assigned to a particular member of another club. Email proxy assignments to: contact@nullorienteeringusa.org

Club Proposals

Check your personal memberships

The upcoming AGM presents a good time for all OUSA members to be sure that their information is current in our database. We recommend that you login to our portal and check your profile to be sure that it is accurate. There are known issues in our system that we are still working on. Checking for accuracy is especially recommended if you have family memberships or if you use the auto-renew feature.

Board Candidate Bios

Incumbents

OUSA Seeks National Communications Manager

Orienteering USA seeks a part-time contractor to work remotely to serve as Communications Manager for the National Federation.

Duties to include:

  • Serve as OUSA website content manager
  • Prepare and publish monthly OUSA email newsletter
  • Administer OUSA social media accounts
  • Create content for all OUSA communication outlets
  • Prepare and publish an annual hardcopy magazine for OUSA members
  • Other duties as agreed

Candidates should have a computer with internet access. Experience with website and social media administration, writing, and publishing preferred.

Specific contract details and compensation negotiable. Currently budgeted as $1,000/month plus $600/event travel stipend to certain OUSA competitions.

Please send resume and cover letter via email to Tori Campbell, president@nullorienteeringusa.org by Sunday, September 6, 2026.

US Team at the 2026 European TrailO Champs

July 29th – August 3rd

The US was represented by three athletes at the 2026 European Trail Orienteering Championships in Poland. Clare Durand (LAOC) and Russ Myer (CRNA) competed in the Open class and Anne Maker (CRNA) competed in the P class. ETOC is the premiere TrailO event for 2026 as there is no World Championship this year. The program consisted of the individual events of TempO and PreO, plus a Relay competition for the entire team. All the events are designed to test precision map reading skills.

All Results

First four photos by Tomasz Krysiak- Fotografia Sportowa

From Time Loss to Root Cause:A Practical Approach to Route Analysis

Four Cases from JWOC and WOC – What Route Analysis Can Really Teach Us

More insight from orienteering coach Alex Azarov.

Introduction


The purpose of this article is to present my approach to route analysis. Using four real-life
examples, I will demonstrate the complete process: detecting a problem, finding the
underlying causes of the error, and developing specific training recommendations to prevent
it from happening again.

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US SkiO Team seeking applications for 2027!

The US SkiO National team is seeking applicants for the youth, junior, and senior team for the 2027 World Ski Orienteering Championships in Lillehammer, Norway, Feb. 9-14, 2027.  

Following our junior team’s good results in 2025 and 2026, we are excited to build a larger junior team, especially adding girls and women.

Junior competitors interested in joining the national team may apply to the standing team to be ready for more information as it becomes available.

Questions about the junior team can be directed to Junior team coach Carl Fey. 

Applications for juniors and seniors must include:

  • Race results (ski-O, foot-O, X-C skiing),
  • Current training plan,
  • a brief statement of interest about joining the team,
  • and biographical info (birth date, citizenship status, gender).

Applications should be sent to ESC chair Adrian Owens by email at: OwensAdrian67@nullgmail.com  before Oct 15, 2026.