World Military Games 2019: Strength in depth in Wuhan (CHN)

Dozens of the world’s leading pentathletes have qualified for the Modern Pentathlon finals at the 7th World Military Games in Wuhan, China.

World silver medallist Elena Micheli of Italy and Rio 2016 Olympic medallists Elodie Clouvel of France and Oktawia Nowacka of Poland were among the most prominent athletes in the women’s qualification round on October 22.

When the men lined up a day later for their qualification round, there were impressive performances from 2018, local favourite Zhang Linbin of China was one of the standout performers along with Christopher Patte (FRA) and Daniel Lawrynowicz (POL).

The global gathering of military competitions always draws a strong field as many of the world’s leading pentathletes seek to add another Category A medal to their portfolio.

Pentathlon is one of 31 sports on the programme in Wuhan (CHN), where the official slogan is ‘Military Glory / World Peace’.

The Women’s Final takes place on Thursday, October 24 with the Men’s Final on Friday, October 25 and the Mixed Relay on Saturday, October 26.

The competition is overseen by CISM Modern Pentathlon and its President, Col Nilton Rolim, and the UIPM Technical Delegate Dmitrii Menshikov, with UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann also in attendance.

Referees, judges and volunteers are provided by the Chinese Modern Pentathlon Association, which is preparing for a big year in 2020 as Xiamen (CHN) hosts the UIPM World Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships in May and the UIPM Congress in November.