Audun Fristad Awards

The Audun Fristad awards are the oldest continuously presented Orienteering awards in the ACT. They were first presented in 1978 and are named after a former member of the Association. Audun was a Norwegian who loved his Orienteering. In fact he believed it is the greatest sport ever invented. In 1978, Audun almost took out the first “grand slam” of Australian orienteering. He contested the Australian Long Distance Championships and every State championship except WA. Audun won all except the ACT Championships which were held at Kowen Scarp and in so doing he was named the Silva Orienteer of the Year award with a then record of 29 points.

In 1978 Audun also introduced junior awards into the ACT orienteering community. These awards were intended to not only recognise excellence, but also to encourage promising juniors. Each year he would painstakingly go through the year’s results to find juniors whom he felt were worthy of his awards. This was in the days when orienteering events were usually only held on Sundays.

In 1983, the Association took over responsibility for these awards. They are now made solely as encouragement awards and a junior can only ever receive one. The aim is to recognise ten juniors each year, preferably five males and five females.