Norges Orienteringsforbund - History

History

The orienteering sport in Norway has its roots from the 1890s and the early 1900s. Then there was a long period of little activity until the mid-1920s, when the activity gradually increased. The sport was organized under the Norwegian Athletics Association from 1934, and in parallel also as a departement of the Workers' Confederation of Sports from 1935. During the World War II, the Nazi government tried to control all organized sport, which resulted in a general boycott of organized sports activities. Secret orienteering competitions, which were not under nazi control, were then arranged. From 1941 maps were confiscated and sale of maps was prohibited, which made participation in the secret competitions more risky. Orienteering sport saw an increasing interest among the Norwegian refugees in Sweden, and the sport was also part of the military training. About 300 instructors were educated, and about 2,800 compasses were brought to Norway from Sweden during the war. The members of Kompani Linge in Great Britain were trained in orienteering, and several orienteering competitions were arranged at Aviemore in Scotland during the WW2.

After the establishment of the federation in 1945 the sport faced a series of challenges, including scarcity of equipment such as maps, compasses and boots, and transportation problems.

In 1961 NOF was among the founding members of the International Orienteering Federation, along with Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, East Germany, Finland, Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland and West Germany.

Norway hosted the first European Orienteering Championships in 1962 at Løten, and the World Orienteering Championships in 1978 (at Kongsberg) and in 1997 (at Grimstad).