World OCR

Abbreviation	FISO
Formation	2014
Location	Lausanne, Switzerland
Region served	Worldwide
Membership	75 National Federations
Official language	English
Secretary General	Matthew Joynes (GBR)
President	Ian Adamson (adventure racer) (AUS)
Key people	Zola Budd (RSA) Lindsay Webster (CAN) Michaela Brunhoffer (AUT) Guenther Dobrauz (SUI) Rod Dixon (NZL) Al Agra (PHL) Jack Donenfeld (USA) Pieter Oosthuizen (RSA)
Website	www.worldocr.org

World OCR, institutional name Fédération Internationale de Sports d’Obstacles (FISO), is the international governing body for obstacle sports and related events. Disciplines include Obstacle Racing (similar to American Ninja Warrior) and Obstacle Course Racing (OCR). Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, it sanctions world and continental level events.

^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

History

The concept of an international governing body for Obstacle Racing was originally proposed by Joe DeSenna, the founder and owner of Spartan Race. This was announced in May, 2014^[8] when world champion adventure athlete Ian Adamson^[9][10] accepted the job of leading the federation and sport, originally called the International Obstacle Racing Federation.

The organization filed as a Colorado non-profit sporting organization in early 2016 under the name the International Obstacle Sports Federation (IOSF). The decision was taken at the 4th Congress to establish headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland to better represent the majority of member federations and be close to GAISF, WADA, CAS, the majority of international sporting federations and the IOC.

In February 2018, the organization filed in Switzerland as World OCR, the Fédération Internationale de Sports d’Obstacles (FISO),^[11] following the naming convention used by many international governing bodies such as FINA, FIFA, FIBA, FIS, World Sailing, World Rugby, World Rowing, World Archery, etc.

Members

World OCR divides the world into 5 continental confederations, similar to FIBA.

World OCR members are composed of National Member Federations administering Obstacle Course Racing and its related sports. Each National Federation (NF) belongs to one of the five Continental Confederations. Each of the Continental Confederation offers a Continental Championship. As of 2018, the continental confederations are:

• OCR Africa - 5 national federations
• OCR Americas - 16 national federations
• OCR Asia - 15 national federations
• OCR Europe - 36 national federations *
• OCR Oceania - 4 national federations

* Originally formed an association of European organizations prior to the 1st OCR European Championships June 10-11, 2016, OCR Europe was incorporated as the European Obstacle Sports Federation, EOSF on 8 April 2017 at Olbia, Sardegna, Italy^[12].

Organization

The Congress^[13] is the General Assembly of the member National Member Federations and the highest authority of World OCR. The Congress meets annually at a date and venue specified by the Executive Board and is the platform for representation of the needs and interests of the athletes.

World OCR's top-level executive branch, the Central Board's^[14] role is to supervise the practice of obstacles sports worldwide. It is composed of the President, the Secretary-General the Treasurer, the President of each Zone, one representative of each recognized league and two additional representative from each zone. Zone representatives must include at least one female and one athlete, who can be the same person.

The Executive Committee^[15] manages the property and business of World OCR. The roles and responsibilities of the Executive Committee are to delegate the President and Secretary General to handle routine business and carry out decisions made by Executive Committee.

The organization of World OCR includes the following Commissions^[16]: Athletes, Governance, Legal, Medical, Para-athlete, Technical and Women's. All Commissions report to the Executive Board, and all Commission members have the right to attend Executive Board meeting. It is the responsibility of the members of each of the Commissions to support World OCR´s efforts to develop Obstacle Course Racing and related Sports.

The organization of World OCR includes the following Committees^[17]: Development, Ethics, Finance, Masters, Media, Officials, Safe Sport and Technology. Committees are advisory. It is the responsibility of the members of each of the Committees to support World OCR´s efforts to develop Obstacle Racing and related Sports.

Championships

World level events sanctioned or recognized by World OCR include:

• Shardana World Team Challenge
• OCR European Championships^[18]
• OCR Asian Championships^[19].
• OCR Pan American Championships
• Youth OCR World Championships^[20]
• University OCR World Championships
• Beach OCR World Championships (scheduled April 2019)
• Track OCR World Championships

OCR Brand World Championships include:

• Spartan Race World Championships
• World's Toughest Mudder

References