The New Zealand Government has recently announced that their current quarantine system will not be changing for “fully vaccinated foreign nationals” until April 2022. It is now clear that Australian orienteers will not be able to travel to New Zealand to attend the planned Oceania Championships in Christchurch during January 2022. Accordingly, the 2022 Oceania Championships will not proceed.
The events planned for January will still be held, however they will not have Oceania Championship status as a significant portion of athletes in the Oceania region cannot attend.
Orienteering Australia, Orienteering New Zealand and the International Orienteering Federation are considering using the Gold Coast Sprints on 21-24 April 2022 for the Oceania W21 and M21 Sprint Championships. The winners of the W/M21 classes in the Oceania Sprint and Knock-Out Orienteering Championships would be allocated a start place at the 2022 World Championships.