1972 – 2022: Czech O-Tour in the terrain of the 1972 World Championship

However, the sandstone rocks in the Kokořínsko area were not used for the World Championship for the first time. This year it has been 50 years since the first World Orienteering Championship was held in our country (at that time it was Czechoslovakia). Let’s recall it in a little bit more detail.

The centre was in Staré Splavy at that time (where was the Event Office and most of the teams lived last year). It was only the 4th World Orienteering Championships (after WOCs in Finland, Sweden and the GDR). The format of the races was much simpler than the current one. On September 14, 1972, an individual race took place in the area of Bohemian Switzerland in the vicinity of Jetřichovice, and two days later, on September 16, 1972, relays were run in the Kokořínsko area near the village of Obrok. Men completed 4 legs, women 3.

A total of 17 countries participated in the World Championships, 6 of them medalled and Czechoslovakia was one of them. In the individual race, Åge Hadler from Norway won in the men’s race, while Sarolta Monspart from Hungary became the first non-Scandinavian world champion in the women’s race. The women’s course was 8.25 km long, the men’s course 13.5 km.

In the relay race, Czechoslovakia won its only medal from this World Championships, thanks to the bronze relay of women. The Finns won over the Norwegians. In men, the Swedes won first place, ahead of Switzerland and Hungary. Czechoslovakia finished fourth after the disqualification of the relays of Norway and Finland.