UIPM President’s Activities: August 2022

05.08 – 08.08-2022: Manila, PHI

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann began a trip to South-East Asia by meeting Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino, together with Philippine Modern Pentathlon Association President Richard Gomez (also a politician and movie star) and his Vice President, Matt Torres.

The quartet discussed the sporting programme of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, the 19th Asian Games in 2023 in Hangzhou (CHN) and Asian Beach Games, as well as the upcoming General Assembly of the Asian Olympic Council (AOC) and Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC).

They also talked about consequences to the Olympic Movement resulting from the war in Ukraine and deeply discussed the development of Modern Pentathlon based on the New 5th Discipline, which will be decided at UIPM Congress in November 2022.

President Gomez briefed Dr Schormann about the new training centre in Manila (PHI) that enables athletes to train for fencing, laser shooting and obstacles in one venue. The NF is highly active and he also spoke about various competitions arranged this year in the Philippines across Biathle, Triathle, Tetrathlon and Laser Run.

On October 6-7 the UIPM President attended New Pentathlon Discipline Test Event II. Together with World Obstacle (FISO) President Ian Adamson, he witnessed a very well-organised event on the Philippines that demonstrated how the new 5th Discipline can increase the number of athletes in Modern Pentathlon by making the sport even more spectacular and exciting.

On the eve of the competition, Dr Schormann attended the Technical Meeting with UIPM Athletes Committee Chair Yasser Hefny, Richard Gomez, Ian Adamson and Alberto Agra, President of the Philippines Obstacle Sports Federation (POSF).

The UIPM President also had discussions with Tokyo Broadcasting Services (TBS) Global Business Director Mayu Sunaga and Miho Takashima, who leads the International Content Development team, about their partnership with UIPM during the test events.

TBS is the rights-holder of the SASUKE/Ninja Warrior TV show and the discussion focused on possibilities for future cooperation, if indeed Obstacle Discipline becomes integrated with Modern Pentathlon.

 

 

09.08 - 11.08.2022: Singapore, SGP

President Dr Schormann had an important strategic meeting with the Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Ser Miang Ng.

Mr Ng, who is also Vice-President of the Singapore Olympic Council, welcomed the UIPM President in his private office within the headquarters of the national Olympic movement.

The two leaders discussed the progress of the New Pentathlon Discipline process following the success of Test Event II in Manila (PHI) in the days beforehand.

President Dr Schormann stressed the importance of reducing the cost and complexity of Modern Pentathlon within the Olympic Games and the need to follow the IOC’s philosophy of accessibility and popularity for the benefit of future generations.

President Schormann and Vice President Ng also talked about topical matters within the Olympic movement including virtual sports / esports and gender equality.

Also during his trip to Singapore, Dr Schormann had a fruitful meeting with Singapore Modern Pentathlon Association President Cassandra Choh, Secretary General Desmond Chan and 13-year-old Kyra Seow, Singapore pentathlete and award-winning UTS Virtual Youth Festival Ambassador.

The President shared some exciting developments in UIPM Sports as well as his belief and passion in Modern Pentathlon and sports in general. He also discussed with Kyra the importance of education and sport as a vessel for social life and communication.

Kyra Seow (SGP) said: “I really appreciated the opportunity to meet Dr Schormann and be inspired by his stories and advice.”

Her parents, Gerardo and Anne, concurred by saying: “It is wonderful that Dr Schormann makes time to meet with young athletes. The support of the national and international associations, in addition to parents, are crucial in the development of young athletes.”

 

16.08.2022: UIPM Masters Working Group

 

President Dr Schormann joined members of the new UIPM Masters Committee online to discuss further steps of the Modern Pentathlon Masters movement. The Working Group is trying to find the most efficient steps of communication to reach Masters athletes through their National Federations.

The Working Group, comprising Joseph Ssemmanda (UGA), Nathalie Denoyes (FRAU), Juan Quintanilla (GUA) and Andra Novicka (LAT) and coordinated by UIPM Projects Manager Anfisa Kasyanova, also had an important conversation about preparations for the UIPM 2024 Masters World Championships, which need a new host country and city.

 

24.08.2022: UIPM Equipment Commission

The UIPM President and Secretary General, Shiny Fang, joined an online meeting of the UIPM Equipment Commission chaired by Bernhard Petruschinski (GER).

The Commission had a wide-ranging discussion about Fencing, including software possibilities for the Fencing Ranking Round and Bonus Round, automated display technology, mask lights and wireless fencing. Gary Lu, CEO of UIPM sponsor Absolute Fencing, contributed information to the discussion.

The Commission also talked about matters relating to laser pistols and pentasuits.

 

28.08. – 01.09.2022: Santiago (CHI)

President Dr Schormann attended the Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) General Assembly where he met a lot of National Olympic Committee (NOC) Presidents in the company of PASO Secretary General Ivar Sisniega OLY (UIPM Innovation Commission Chair and former 1st Vice President), as well as PASO President Neven Ilic.

Dr Schormann was also accompanied by Jorge Salas OLY, President of the South American Modern Pentathlon Confederation (CSPM).

The General Assembly provided an opportunity for Dr Schormann to speak to sporting leaders from the Pan American nations and discuss with them the future of sport in general and how Modern Pentathlon’s New 5th Discipline could benefit them.

On August 29 with President Salas, Dr Schormann visited the sport facilities for the Pan American Games 2023 in Santiago (CHI).

On the first day of the General Assembly (August 30), the UIPM President met Brazil Olympic Committee President Paulo Wanderley Teixieira to discuss the Pan-American Modern Pentathlon Championships that will be held in Resende (BRA) in October 2022 as a qualification competition for Santiago 2023.

Dr Schormann also discussed the two upcoming competitions and other Modern Pentathlon development opportunities with the Chile Olympic Committee President, Miguel Mujica Brain. Both meetings included very constructive discussions about the future of Olympic sports and the importance to Modern Pentathlon of a wide range of nations competing at a high level.

Both NOCs Presidents were positive about the proposed integration of Obstacle Discipline with Modern Pentathlon on the basis that it would give more nations the possibility to compete in Modern Pentathlon.

 

01.09.2022 – Meeting with US NOC

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann had a very successful meeting with Susanne Lyons, Chair of the Board of Directors of the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC). Also in attendance were the USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland – a Member of the IOC Programme Commission – and Gene Sykes, who will succeed Ms Lyons as Chair on December 31.

During the meeting, the UIPM President learned that the USOPC is following all developments of the New Pentathlon Discipline process and strongly supports the move to find an alternative discipline to Riding.

In the discussions Dr Schormann focused passionately on the younger generations who can hope to have an opportunity to compete at the LA28 Olympic Games in Modern Pentathlon.