Haldna claims the event on May 24 built on the success of last year’s inaugural edition, with a reported increase of 35,000 participants taking the total number of people to 288,000.

"Trying to repeat and surpass a successful first event is always daunting, as was the prospect of World Orienteering Day 2017," he said.

"A lot of hard work has gone into building on last year’s achievement, and I am very happy to see that it has paid off.

"World Orienteering Day would not be possible without the initiative and dedication that can be found in the orienteering community, so I want to say a great thank you to everyone who organised a World Orienteering Day event, as well as to our generous sponsors who helped make the event possible for many of us.

"I hope you all had a great day of celebration of our sport and congratulations on beating the world record together."

A total of 2,265 locations in 79 countries held events as part of the day, with several countries reporting a large growth in participation.

Turkey was claimed to have enjoyed a large uptake in participation, with 75 per cent more people taking part in the 2017 event than last year.

Egypt and Serbia also achieved huge increases, the latter more than doubling their 2016 total.

Events also took place in Cambodia, Lebanon, Philippines, Kosovo, Isle of Man, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Mauritius, Luxembourg and Antarctica for the first time, the IOF reported.