UIPM President's Activities: August 2020

01-15.08.2020 Darmstadt, GER

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann was occupied throughout August with various video conferences and conference calls he arranged with national federations, UIPM Executive Board members and National Olympic Committees.

Monthly actions discussed included the conditions for athletes to resume training and compete in local, national and multilateral competitions worldwide as COVID-19 Coronavirus restrictions are partially lifted, as well as financial matters for the rest of the year 2020 and focusing on various budget structures for 2021.

16.08.2020 Mainz, GER

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann met with Prof Dr Holger Preuss of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz to discuss scholarship possibilities for pentathletes through initiatives supported by the International Olympic Committee and projects run by universities such as the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi (RUS) and the World Academy of Sport (WAoS).

UIPM recently signed a memorandum of understanding with WAoS to provide an Online Athletes’ Certificate for athletes aged 15-18 and an Online Post-Graduate Certificate in International Sports Management for university graduates.

During their meeting Dr Schormann and Prof Dr Holger Preuss also discussed the e-sports scene and the governing federations Global Esports Federation (GSF) and International eSports Federation (IeSF). Prof Dr Preuss offered to support UIPM’s advances into the e-sports movement through the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, where he has been holding student seminars on this subject for a year.

19.08.2020: Darmstadt, GER

President Dr Schormann participated in an interview with Mrs Iva Glibo, a student from the Technical University in Munich (GER). The main subjects they covered were political actions and sustainability within the UIPM Sports movement.

20.08.2020: Darmstadt, GER

Dr Schormann arranged a virtual meeting of the UIPM Technical Committee from his Presidential office.

Agenda topics included the UIPM 2020 Pentathlon World Championships awarded to Cancun (MEX) and the ongoing monitoring of the pandemic situation together with the Local Organising Committee in Mexico.

President Dr Schormann discussed the scheduled UIPM 2021 Pentathlon World Cups and World Cup Final and UIPM 2021 Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships, and how UIPM intends to manage the events.

The Committee also spent time talking about the upcoming New Tetrathlon Test Event in Budapest (HUN) and the rescheduled Olympic Summer Games Tokyo 2020, now taking place in 2021.

Another topic was UIPM virtual competitions #LaserAllStars and #LaserHomeRun and how they might continue to bring the global UIPM Sports community together in future periods without physical competitions.

President Schormann briefed the Committee on UIPM’s financial position, now stable after some cost-cutting measures were implemented.

The Technical Committee discussed the possibility of rule changes due to the pandemic, but this will be discussed further in a separate meeting.

The Chair of the Technical Committee, UIPM Executive Board Member for Sport and Montreal 1976 Olympic champion Janusz Peciak (POL), gave an overview of the ongoing virtual events and covered the potential inclusion of Modern Pentathlon in the European Games Krakow 2022.

Both Mr Peciak and President Dr Schormann paid tribute to Prof Dr Ivan Popov, one of the longest-serving members of the UIPM Technical Committee who died recently.

25.08.2020: Darmstadt, GER

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann arranged a virtual meeting of the UIPM Business Affairs Committee to discuss current affairs and future opportunities.

Dr Schormann, UIPM Secretary General Shiny Fang and UIPM Treasurer John Helmick explained the difficulties resulting from the COVID-19 Coronavirus crisis and the postponement of the Olympic Games, and the impact these events have had on the business activities of the UIPM.

An emphasis was put on the necessity to adapt to a “new normal” and to find new opportunities in virtual and semi-virtual events such as #LaserHomeRun and #LaserAllStars.

UIPM Vice President for Business Affairs Viacheslav Aminov, Executive Board Member for Marketing Martin Dawe and Executive Board Member for Media Andrejus Zadneprovskis, as well as fellow Committee delegates, came up with a list of potential sponsors.