Missing: Mountain Bikes in the latest IOF O-zine!
The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) released their latest O-zine (an on-line quarterly newsletter) on October 20, 2009, with one glaring omission: absolutely no coverage of this August’s Mountain Bike Orienteering World Championships! Oh, they provided a small little box titled World ranking, Top 10 (As of 12 October), but that too had ANOTHER glaring omission: No Australians! Now I like Foot Orienteering as much as the next guy, but when the top organization for Orienteering leaves out a World Championship, especially the Mountain Bike Orienteering World Championship, one has to wonder why. So I ask… why?
Is it because Adrian Jackson, an Australian (not a European) won double Gold Medals? It would seem that plenty of Europeans also won medals.
Is it because the World Championships took place outside Europe in Israel? I would hope the IOF is not politically motivated (and let me remind you that the IOF had to approve the location in the first place) and would consider healthy competition, no matter where it was held, would be worth covering.
Then what would cause this quarters O-zine to forget the MTBO World Championships? Two words: Chinese Taipei — or like we say in America in only one word: Taiwan!
It appears that this years World Games in Taiwan were far more important than even a mention of the winners of this years MTBO World Championships. Nor did the IOF find it relevant to even comment on the Adrian Jackson double Gold accomplishment. However, it did find it necessary to over highlight their coverage of the World Games and their insightful interviews on Swiss and Swede foot orienteering athletes to include how each bounced back — one from having a baby and the other from being skewered by a branch — to continue competing in FOOT ORIENTEERING!! Riveting reading indeed!
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t begrudge either athlete their time in the spotlight. But come on!! DOUBLE GOLD?? NOTHING?? Not even a side bar? Does the Mountain Bike version hold nothing for the industry of Orienteering at the international level? Seems like someone over at the IOF needs to reconsider their viewpoint on Mountain Bike Orienteering and remember that not all of us are focused on the Foot version. And if that means the IOF needs to add one extra page in the tiny 6-page, on-line O-zine newsletter to give a shout out to the athletes of MTBO, than so be it. Seems like a small price to pay for MTBO inclusion into the orienteering family!
Now, lets just hope the next O-zine corrects this oversight without going wall-to-wall with Ski-O.
Nuff said.