The aftermath of Jukola’s message from the orienteering giant event is still hot. At the weekend, a traditional event took place in Porvoo.
One of Finland’s leading orienteers Marika Teini needs changes to Venloje’s message.
– When sport has become more equal, in recent years it has started to seem funny that the women’s competition in the main event of our sport is similar to the 70s, when women’s sports were not valued at nearly the same level as men’s, Teini wrote on Tuesday on his Instagram account.
The teenager asked on social media whether the format of Venloje’s message is modern or whether women should be offered longer and more sections.
According to Tein, the top teams would have no problem running longer or more sections. According to him, Venloje’s message could be started earlier than now.
In addition, Teini thought about the possibility of the top teams competing at night and the gymnasts could compete during the day.
Teini also compared to Sweden, where another major event in orienteering, Tiomila, made a decision to extend the women’s relay and change it to a night relay starting next year. In Tiomila, the plan is that in a few years, women will orientate like men in ten sections.
However, Teini points out that Venloje’s message is also about moving the masses.
According to Tein, he was not talking about proposals, but was thinking about what could be done without information about the realities and the thoughts of those outside his inner circle.
– I don’t have a ready-made solution, what should be done. It was about the fact that something needed to be done, Teini tells Urheilu.
This is how the Jukola boss justifies
The chairman of the management team of Jukola’s message Juhani Sihvonen says that the schedule and many other things do not support changes to the event.
Do you see a need for changes in Venlo’s message?
– I can’t see at the moment. We are used to it. Of course, it’s good that such a show has come out. We can think about it. With a fast schedule, such changes will not be made. It is a place for longer reflection if we start making such changes, Sihvonen answers.
Would it be possible to start Venloje’s message earlier in the day?
– It is possible to start earlier, but you have to remember the ferry service. Quite a few of the paying amateur foreign teams come by ferry in the morning. We have to calculate that they will arrive at a reasonable time, says Sihvonen.
– Then come the organizer’s questions, television broadcasts and others. They would all have to be gutted if we were to move.
The teenager thought that Jukola’s situation is funny, because in many other sports, equalization has been going on since the 1970s. Men and women have had, for example, the same running distances to the Olympics. Nothing has changed in Jukola since the 1970s. Why has nothing changed in Venloje’s message?
– For the reasons mentioned above. Jukola’s format is built in a certain way. Venloje’s relay has had four legs and Jukola’s relay seven legs. In the same way, one could ask why men don’t have fewer or more shares. However, the whole is what counts. If we start making changes, it affects so many things. A single change causes dozens of other changes to the organizational machinery and schedule, says Sihvonen.
How do you see the point of view that, at least for the top teams, longer and more sections would not be a problem?
– Probably not to the top, but you have to remember the paying crowd. That’s the mass. The finish of Venloje’s relay must be closed at 22:00, because according to the results service, Jukola’s relay must be able to start at 23:00. Then the race stretches towards the end for the mass teams. There would be scheduling challenges. Should think about delaying Jukola’s message. The competition weekend is quite tight. 1,500 trustees commit. Stretching out the beginning and the end always eats up resources from the organizers, Sihvonen answers.
The top women no longer consider Venloje’s message to be number one
Teini tells Urheilu that the difference between Venloje’s message compared to Jukola’s message has been talked about for several years among top women.
– The top women are talking more and more that Venloje’s message is so short compared to Tiomila’s corresponding message in Sweden. Previously, Venloje’s message was the most valued. Now we have talked with many women that Tiomila is a better message and better as a competition when it is longer, Teini opens.
The teenager says that he received mostly positive feedback about his coming out.
– More than 90 percent have been of the opinion that something needs to change. There are, of course, some who value tradition. Of course, I appreciate it myself, but traditions are so important to others that no changes should be made, Teini describes.
This year there were five women’s sections and one section of one and a half hours in Tiomila. The teenager says that in the competition instructions for the Jukola relay, the duration of the Venloje relay is defined as 2 hours and 55 minutes.
The suggested duration of Jukola’s message, on the other hand, is 7 hours and 58 minutes. The Osuus times of the top teams of the Venlo relay are from 34 minutes to 51 minutes, and of the Jukola relay from 48 minutes to 87 minutes.
In Porvoo, 1,695 teams participated in the Jukola relay, i.e. 11,865 competitors. 1549 teams, or 6196 competitors, participated in the Venlo relay.
The teenager does not directly swallow Sihvonen’s arguments about scheduling and, for example, the morning ship.
The top orienteer reminds that, for example, you couldn’t come to Jukola in Rovaniemi two years ago by boat in the morning, and you won’t be able to come to Vuokatti in 2027 either.
Of course, Teini is aware of the challenges caused by large numbers of teams.
As the most realistic option, Teini feels an earlier start time for the Venloje relay, or the option presented to him on social media, where the top teams would orient two more sections than the fitness orienteers.
In the last few days, there has been news about the equalization of competition distances in other sports. On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee announced that men and women will compete in skiing on the same distances at the Olympics in the future. The change came into effect already last season in the World Cup. In two years, the World Championships will also be contested on the same ski trips.
According to Teini, the development in international orienteering competitions has gone in the same direction.
– In the 1970s, women’s individual competition in orienteering lasted an hour and men’s an hour and a half. Next year, we will have the same target times in the value races on every trip, Teini opens.