Pentathlon development has lift-off in Baghdad (IRQ)

Iraq is one of the newest members of UIPM’s global family and authorities are looking to capitalise on a successful introductory event held on Pierre de Coubertin Pentathlon Day.

The Iraq Fencing & Modern Pentathlon Federation enabled 200 young athletes, including 32 girls, to get a taste of UIPM Sports with a combined Fencing and Running event at the Rusafa Sports Complex in Baghdad on September 8.

The event, which drew participants from Baghdad, Diyala, Maysan, Basra, Karbala and Kirkuk, was attended by the Iraqi National Olympic Committee and Minister of Youth and Sports.

The Federation President, Zeyad Hasan Jasim Saleem, said: “We have events scheduled for December 2019 and we will try to host an expert from outside Iraq in order to help us organize and provide some equipment for the Modern Pentathlon through cooperation with other federations.”

“The festival comprised Fencing and Running because we didn’t have facilities for holding all the other disciplines, which we hope to provide later.

“We hope that we will cooperate to spread this important sport in Iraq and make our federation one of the active federations in the world.”

Iraq’s application to join UIPM as an International Federation provisional member was approved by the UIPM Executive Board in Budapest (HUN) in September 2019. It will be put forward for ratification by the UIPM 2020 Congress in Xiamen (CHN).