By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
An international orienteering competition kicked off in Seoul, Friday, for a six-day run.
Some 2,000 people, including 800 foreigners, took part in the 15th Asia Pacific Orienteering Championship and the first Asian Orienteering Championship, organized by the Korea Orienteering Federation, and sponsored by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Seoul City.
The opening ceremony took place at KTO headquarters in central Seoul Saturday. Among the participants were KTO President Oh Jee-chul, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, International Orienteering Federation President Ake Jacobson, and two International Olympic Committee members, Lassana Palenfo and Tomas Sithole.
Orienteering, developed in Sweden, is a sport in which participants race by navigating to designated points using a map and compass. It is estimated that some one million people take part in orienteering competitions worldwide, and in Europe, more than 20,000 people gather for regional competitions. The sport is gaining popularity in Korea as well.
It is the first time for Korea to host the biannual Asian Pacific competition since orienteering was introduced here.
Sprint and long-distance competitions were held at the Olympic Park, Saturday, and on Mount Suri, Sunday, respectively. A middle-distance race and a relay will be held on Mount Dobong, Tuesday, and Mount Kkachi, Wednesday.
``Orienteering is a family sport and participants usually accompany their families to the competition, so hosting the championship can bring huge tourism revenue,'' a KTO official said.