“Three weeks of orienteering in Italy, a superb opportunity”

“Three weeks of orienteering in Italy, a superb opportunity”.  

Takashi “Tac” Sugiyama said!

 

From the United States to Italy, this summer 3 weeks of competitions in the Dolomites of Madonna di Campiglio in Trentino, the World Masters Orienteering Championships in Gargano and the “WMOC the week after” discovering the historic centres of Puglia. Takashi “Tac” Sugiyama tell us how he’s preparing to this great Italian adventure. 

 

Why this choice Tac?

“I have been participating in almost every WMOC for the last 20 years or so, but I was not able to do that for the last two years because of Covid. To compensate for the lost time, I wanted to stay in Europe for a few weeks this summer and three weeks of orienteering in Italy seemed like a superb opportunity. I have also enjoyed events and tours organized by PWT Italia every time I participated”.

 

Have you already been to Italy previously?

“Yes, many times. One of my dorm mates and best friends from the International School I went to in the UK was an Italian. So, I have been to many different parts of Italy since the 70’s. Orienteering-wise, I participated in WMOC2004 in Asiago and WMOC2013 in Torino and several other events”.

 

Shortly, could you introduce yourself, from where you come in the United States, when and how did you start with orienteering and your sport career?

“Even though I currently live in the US, I am Japanese, born and raised in Japan. I started orienteering when I went to UWC Atlantic College in the UK back in the early 70’s. I went on to become an active and serious orienteer as a member of Oxford University Orienteering Club which was one of the strongest clubs in the UK at the time winning both the British Relay Championships and the British University Relay Championships as well as me winning the M19 Individual in the British Championships. I represented Japan, for the first time, in the World Championships in 1976 and finished 26th. I won the Japanese Championships in 1978 and competed in the WOC as a member of the Japanese team in 1978 and 1979. Then I stopped orienteering for more than 20 years until I discovered WMOC. My best placing in the WMOC was 14th in both Sprint and Long in 2017”.

How is orienteering developing now in the United States?

“In the US, I belong to the Bay Area Orienteering Club in the greater San Francisco area, which is luckily one of the most active areas for orienteering in the US. I believe orienteering in the US is maintaining a healthy and active status catering to a wide variety of competitors even though the number of events and participants is not that high compared to Europe. My main concern is the status of the sport in Japan as the WMG2021, which was also supposed to be WMOC2021, got indefinitely postponed or canceled. I was acting as an IOF Assistant Senior Event Advisor for the WMOC and very disappointed to have missed the opportunity to host and welcome my friends to WMOC in Japan. Ever since the WOC2005 in Japan, for which I was one of the Japanese team coaches, the sport of orienteering has not really enjoyed the kind of growth and attention that we had hoped for. My hope is that WMG202X in Japan will create a renewed interest in orienteering both domestically and internationally”.

 

Have you set goals for the WMOC2022 and what WMOC generally represent for you?

“to qualify for the A-Final in all disciplines. For me, WMOC is really the reason why I keep orienteering, or even living. It offers not only the greatest opportunity to compete in quality competitions in beautiful terrains but also the most enjoyable and memorable opportunities to visit different countries and meet old, and new friends every year. My ultimate goal for WMOC is to stand on the podium one of these days, so I will have to keep orienteering for another 20 years or so, or possibly even longer! WMOC offers so much to look forward to in life”.

 

Photo by courtesy of Orienteering USA