UIPM 2025 Pentathlon U17 World Championships: All you need to know

After two weeks of continuous gold and glory at the northern crest of Africa, the eyes of the Pentathlon world turn south with excitement and intrigue for another must-watch global gathering of the best young talents in the sport.

The UIPM 2025 Pentathlon U17 World Championships will take place, fittingly, in the ‘City of Gold’, South Africa’s most populous city of Johannesburg. Four days of breathtaking action will bring together athletes from 19 countries across four continents.

Leading the rush to top the podium will be the golden girl of the 2025 season across seemingly every age grade of Pentathlon – who seems to be targeting an unprecedented ‘grand slam’ of youth, junior and senior world titles.

Farida Khalil, the 14-year-old wonder from Egypt, has racked up medals for fun in recent years but in recent weeks has taken things up another level.

First she stormed to gold in the UIPM 2025 Pentathlon Junior World Championships, followed by her first major title at senior level when she won the UIPM 2025 Pentathlon World Cup Final on home soil in Alexandria (EGY).

While Khalil (EGY) will of course be the one to catch, there will be a swell of emerging global talent on show from July 17-20.

The host nation of South Africa boasts a whopping 14 entrants across the Women’s and Men’s competitions. Among its leading lights will be Tatiana Thomatos (RSA), who took gold in the inaugural UIPM 2024 Tetrathlon U15 World Championships last year. Another contender for honours will be Annachiara Allara of Italy, who won Team Relay gold at last year’s edition as well as finishing 5th individually.

Nemere Szecsi of Hungary will be looking to go at least one better than last year’s agonising Men’s Final, where he finished 1sec off the medals in 4th place. Liutauras Valeika of Lithuania finished one spot behind Szecsi (HUN) in Caldas da Rainha (POR) and is another who will be eager to show off the progress of the intervening year.

While those high-performing nations, with proven Obstacle progress, are likely to be associated with podium results, a five-strong team from Japan might be worth keeping an eye on, while Germany, Great Britain, Poland and Türkiye cannot be written off.

Global development is evident in the presence of athletes from Kuwait, Malaysia and Panama among others.

PRESIDENT'S WELCOME

UIPM President Rob Stull OLY said: “The UIPM welcomes all athletes participating in the U17 World Championships to Johannesburg, South Africa. I wish all our young Pentathlon athletes good luck in striking gold in the mining heartland of Johannesburg, Africa’s largest city and a capital of hope and prosperity in this great continent.

“I also extend a warm welcome to all support teams and express gratitude to all involved in organising this very special competition. Welcome to Jo-burg. Good luck, have fun and dream big!”

WATCH AND FOLLOW

The UIPM 2025 Pentathlon U17 World Championships take place in Johannesburg (RSA) from July 17-20, beginning with Women’s Qualification today (July 17) followed by Men’s Qualification on July 18. The Womens Final takes place on July 19 with the Men’s Final bringing the curtain down on July 20.

Have you got the app? Download UIPM Central via Apple or Google to keep track of the latest news and results – or visit the UIPM website.

HOW IT WORKS

Get set for four days of individual competition in the sequence of Fencing, Obstacle, Swimming and Laser Run – a new format now in place at all levels of Pentathlon.

In U17 and U19 World Championships, the action begins with a Fencing Ranking Round and this is followed by Obstacle, where athletes race head to head over a 70m course featuring eight obstacles.

Action then switches to the Swimming pool for a 200m freestyle before athletes line up for Laser Run – four running laps of 600m with four visits to the shooting range. The first athlete across the finish line wins!