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UIPM 2019 Global Laser Run City Tour: Olympic champion Svatkovsky (RUS) to roll back the years in Nizhniy Novgorod

Laser Run

One of Modern Pentathlon’s most revered champions has promised to be on the start line alongside about 500 fellow competitors when the Global Laser Run City Tour (GLRCT) returns to Nizhny Novgorod in Russia on May 18.

As a UIPM Executive Board Member and Vice President of the Russian Federation of Modern Pentathlon, Dmitry Svatkovsky OLY is already deeply invested in the sport but he will take his involvement a step further in the interests of Laser Run promotion.

Svatkovsky, who was Olympic champion at Sydney 2000 and is now a high-ranking politician who sits on the State Duma of Russia in Moscow, chaired a meeting with the local organising committee (LOC) of Nizhniy Novgorod GLRCT on April 24.

The city already hosted one GLRCT in 2018 but local officials are determined to improve and enlarge the competition in 2019, giving more communities the chance to gain access to UIPM Sports.

Svatkovsky, 47, said: "We already have more than 400 applications for participation. It is expected that the number of participants in the Laser Run on May 18 will grow to 500, and very possibly higher.

“Coaches are spreading the word about these competitions on a daily basis, and social media helps us to attract participants. Interest is big from both children and parents.”

The City Tour on May 18 will include an expanded cultural and entertainment programme, creating the feel of a Laser Run festival in the city where two of Russia’s greatest rivers - the Oka and Volga - meet.

Svatkovsky added: “We have a very good and strong team which is ready to conduct UIPM Global Laser Run City Tour at a level comparable to the World Championships.

“Laser Run, as a discipline of modern pentathlon, contributes to the development of our sport, its accessibility and mass participation, attracting a large number of children and adolescents to do sport, rallying families, and most importantly, promoting modern pentathlon worldwide.

“As President of the European Confederation of Modern Pentathlon, I am pleased to see Nizhniy Novgorod among the 40 cities that organize Laser Run tours in Europe and I am not afraid to say that we are one of the leading organizers.

“Everyone will be welcome at the Lower Volga embankment on May 18 and I personally plan to be there on the start line on the day."

The Global Laser Run City Tour was created in 2017 to provide an entry point to UIPM Sports for people of all ages in urban communities around the world.

Another 100 cities have been selected in 2019 as hosts of the GLRCT or the Biathle/Triathle National Tour. The full calendar can be viewed at the UIPM website, where you can also find more information on UIPM’s various multi-discipline sports.

In September, the UIPM Laser Run World Championships will be incorporated into the Pentathlon World Championships for the first time in Budapest (HUN), where Laser Run is also on the programme for the 1st World Urban Games.

In December, Laser Run and Triathle will both feature for the first time in the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines.

Have you liked the UIPM Laser Run page on Facebook yet?

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