World Games 2013, Cali, Colombia 25 July 25 - 4 August
Three Tasmanian orienteers are on their way to The World Games in Cali, Colombia later this month. The World Games are a multi disciplinary sports event conducted every four years by the International World Games Association, made up of International Sports Federations, and is essentially the Olympics for non Olympic sports.
The three Tasmanians have all represented Australia internationally, with long and successful careers as competitive orienteers, but it is their technical expertise which is responsible for their involvement at the World Games in Cali.
Chris Brown, assistant principal at Summerdale PS, Paul Pacqué from the University of Tasmania School of Human Movement at the Launceston campus and Mike Dowling, teacher at Claremont College, have significant roles in the team staging orienteering at The World Games. Dowling is also currently Vice President of the International Orienteering Federation. No other Australians are involved with the organisation of the Cali event.
Orienteering was first endorsed as a sport at the World Games in 2001 in Japan when Grant Bluett (NSW) struck gold. At its third attendance in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Hobart’s Hanny Allston won silver and gold and Australia achieved 4th place in the mixed relay. Chris Brown was the Senior Event Adviser for the International Orienteering Federation at this event and was subsequently recognised as Tasmanian Sports Official of the Year.
In Cali, Colombia Chris Brown is again Senior Event Advisor and, together with co- planner and Event Director Erik Nielsen from Denmark, heads up a technical team of 20 orienteering experts from around the world.
Two of the major responsibilities for the team are filled by Tasmanians. Paul Pacqué is the mapper and Mike Dowling is the course planner. All have made a number of visits over the last two years to prepare for the event which begins on July 25.
The orienteering team for the World Games consists of two males and two females who compete in the three disciplines of Sprint, Middle and Long Distance and then combine for a mixed relay. The relay will be in a Sprint format for the first time at the Cali Games. National orienteering teams qualify from the top 13 placings at the World Championships plus the host nation, with additional teams included from the Olympic regions not otherwise qualifying. In Cali, 25 nations are represented, with New Zealand taking the Oceania regional place and qualifying to send a full team. Australia’s representative is Kathryn Preston (Vic.) who was placed 5th in the Orienteering World Championships Sprint event in Hungary in 2009.
The favourites are expected be drawn from Latvia, Finland, Norway Switzerland and Russia.