The IOF seeks to use World Orienteering Day to increase the sport’s accessibility and the number of participants, with a particular emphasis on activities in schools.

Each club associated with a National Federation is asked by the IOF to contact at least one school with a view to running an orienteering activity.

Any event registered from today until next Tuesday (September 14) will be classed as part of World Orienteering Day festivities.

A total of 584 events have currently been registered across 40 different territories, with 101,292 participants said to be involved.

World Orienteering Day has usually been held annually since its inaugural edition in 2016, but was cancelled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, any orienteering activities held between May 19 and 25 - around the usual dates for World Orienteering Day festivities - were also classed as part of the event.

In May’s edition, 80,688 people took part across 488 events, although World Orienteering Day reported that many countries and regions were unable to take part due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The record number of participants in World Orienteering Day is 398,712, which came in 2019.