Discussion: Interesting article and discussion on OT

re: fairness in O
http://www.orienteeringtoday.com/index.php?id=122

If the implementation details of terrain embargoes are so controversial, then the only fair alternative is to allow competitors access to the terrain in advance (such as at WOC sprints), so that everyone can acheive a similar level of terrain familiarity.

Orienteering will never be as fair as sports that take place in more highly controlled conditions, such as track and field (a.k.a. athletics), but at least orienteering does not have the fairness questions associated with judging/refereeing that so many other sports have (which don't seem to keep many people from watching or participating in those sports, just as the possibility that someone might have run together with someone else or might remember a few places in a terrain doesn't keep many people from enjoying competing in orienteering).

And to be honest, you still have to run the race. The map is intended to provide all of the information you need to do so. If there are subtleties of passability not shown on the map, for example, such that the person with experience can choose better routes, then that's a bingo issue for everyone else, even if the experienced person doesn't run. You can argue that a mapper could recognize where he is easily and find his location on the map, but at the elite level, that sort of relocation shouldn't often be a factor. Fairness problems due to "prior information" are probably more an issue when you're dealing with poor orienteers or a crummy map.