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Dr. Klaus Schormann

A teacher and sports administrator who rose to become a prominent leader within the global Olympic sports movement, Dr Klaus Schormann conceived many of the innovations that have marked the progression of Modern Pentathlon into a sport for the 21st century.

Dr. Klaus Schormann's biography

A teacher and sports administrator who rose to become a prominent leader within the global Olympic sports movement, Dr Klaus Schormann conceived many of the innovations that have marked the progression of Modern Pentathlon into a sport for the 21st century.

A native of the Hesse region in Germany, Dr Schormann has, in fact, given the greater part of his adult life to the UIPM movement. He first became involved in pentathlon as a volunteer in 1965, and in 1984 he became President of the German Association for Modern Pentathlon. As Vice President (Marketing and Public Relations) of the Union Internationale de Modern Pentathlon et Biathlon (UIPMB), he created the first UIPMB marketing rules and guidelines (1988-1993).

So great was the impact he made in these wide-ranging positions that, in 1993, he was elected as President of UIPM, which he ran alongside the President of the International Biathlon Union until the two bodies gained autonomy in 1998. Since then Dr Schormann has introduced and overseen a series of positive changes that have made pentathlon stronger, more diverse and more sustainable, while carefully protecting the legacy of its founder, Pierre de Coubertin.

Among the changes seen during Dr Schormann’s presidency are the introduction of a women’s pentathlon at the Olympic Summer Games (Sydney 2000), the reversion to a one-day format  (1993), the creation of the Combined Event (run/shoot), which then benefited from an evolution from fire pistols to air pistols to laser guns. This led to the creation of Laser Run as a sport in its own right, one which now takes place in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Dr Schormann also introduced the Pentathlon Stadium concept, as well as numerous proposals that are less visible but no less important to the growth and diversification of UIPM Sports. He was also responsible for the registration of UIPM in Monaco (1997).

A published author, Dr Schormann has contributed to publications including Coubertin’s Postulate on the Unity of Sport and Art and the resonance of this with Olympic Tourists in Sydney – Consequences for an Olympic application in 2012 by Prof Dr Manfred Messing & Prof Dr Norbert Müller.

Within the international Olympic movement, Dr Schormann has been a member and coordinator of the IOC’s working groups on Culture and Olympic Education since 1994. In 2008 he also became Chairman of the IOC Sub-Commission on Youth Olympic Games and member of the ad-hoc working group for Educational Matters linked to the IOC Commissions for Culture and Olympic Education and Sport for All.

A champion of athleticism, inclusion, innovation and heritage, Dr Schormann continues to lead UIPM with energy, creativity, wisdom and authority, building a truly impressive legacy of his own. His leadership and diplomacy skills have been critical factors in preserving the status of Modern Pentathlon as a core sport in the Olympic Summer Games.