PRESS RELEASE: WOC 2019 turned out a huge success in all aspects, even economically. The organisers are NOK 1,5 million on the plus side, money that will go back to the organising clubs from Østfold. The ambition to create the best WOC ever seems to have been achieved.
Eight clubs along with the Østfold Orienteering Union are the owners of the WOC organisation. One of the clubs looking forward to an extra pay-check for Christmas is OK Moss.
-We’re very happy that the clubs get something back for all the effort put in by our members, says chairman of OK Moss Hanne G. Wold. -And the amount is astonishing!
-How will the money be spent?
-We didn’t dare calculating in the budgets for this kind of a plus result, so the members will have their say concerning how to spend the money wisely. Recruiting work and club development are two thoughts that come to my mind, Wold says.
– How did OK Moss experience WOC 2019?
– The week of the championships was good with an arena that hardly could have been made better. I think everyone involved had fun and are glad they’ve been a part of this event. Let’s just hope we’ve attracted enough attention to the sport that even more recruits turn up.
The president of the Confederation of Sports, Berit Kjøll, praises Østfold for the solid work conducted with this event.
-It’s very gratifying that WOC 2019 made a significant profit. Both with the support from The Ministry of Culture and good project management have secured a great result concerning the net income. The World Orienteering Championships came out successfully and stand out as an example of how such events should be organised, based on committed volunteers, the typical Norwegian enthusiasm combined with realistic austerity. The event has made the sport more attractive on a domestic basis and raised the competence around hosting such events. The profit will be for the good of sports on a national basis, as well as the region of Østfold, Berit Kjøll says.
The event delivered promotion for Østfold with 20.000 spectators present at the arena, record viewer ratings for orienteering and a media interest we hardly seen before. WOC’s often doesn’t leave any profit at all, but this time Østfold made it. More than 30.000 hours of volunteer work were put in. Ambitions were high, and the organisation wish to acknowledge the cooperation with landowners, sponsors and the public sector.
– WOC 2019 in Norway has made orienteers all over the country proud. We’re satisfied that we together with main broadcaster NRK have presented our sport to all people of Norway in such fashion, President of the Norwegian Orienteering Federation Astrid Waaler Kaas says.
Great TV pictures with runners in action combined with an insight in the complexity of the sport gave us good public exposure from the fantastic arena at Mørk.
– We’ve showed the athlete’s extreme mental and physical abilities, as well as a sport where the moral and ethical standards are very high – with honesty and fair play as key elements. We’re proud that the volunteer effort and solid economic management paid off with a solid profit, Waaler Kaas says.
