UIPM President’s Activities: June 2022

07.06.2022: Lausanne, SUI

UIPM President Dr. Klaus Schormann and Secretary General Shiny Fang met together with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Dr Thomas Bach and Sport Director Kit McConnell in Olympic House, the IOC Headquarters.

The meeting was mainly about the New 5th Discipline that will replace Riding after the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Furthermore, they discussed how Modern Pentathlon can become more interesting to achieve the criteria agreed with IOC guidance at the start of the consultation. UIPM needs to embrace change and a new discipline is a good start.

After their meeting with the IOC President, Dr Schormann and Mrs Fang attended the General Assembly of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

 

08.06. – 13.06.2022: Ankara, TUR

President Dr Schormann visited Turkey for the country’s first Category A Modern Pentathlon competition in many years – UIPM 2022 Pentathlon World Cup Ankara.

Dr Schormann and the Turkish Modern Pentathlon Federation President, Prof Dr Veli Ozan Cakir, expressed their delight about a new partnership that enables World Cups and World Championships to be held in Turkey according to high standards of organisation and world-class facilities.

The UIPM President also expressed his thanks to Murat Kocakaya, the Deputy Director of the Sports Department of Turkey’s Youth and Sports Ministry, for his support of Modern Pentathlon.

On the eve of the Finals, on June 10, President Dr Schormann was joined by Secretary General Shiny Fang and two members of the UIPM Athletes Committee, Yasser Hefny OLY (Chair) and James Cooke OLY, on the panel for an Open Athletes Meeting.

The meeting, attended by athletes competing in Ankara (TUR) and others who joined online, was arranged to clarify the position of UIPM, steps taken since the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in 2021 and what UIPM is trying to do for the future of Modern Pentathlon in the Olympic Games.

On June 11, the UIPM leadership followed up with an Open Coaches Call, where Dr Schormann and Mrs Fang were joined by UIPM Sport Director Janusz Peciak OLY.

The call was arranged by Christian Roudaut, Chair of the UIPM Coaches Committee, and like the Open Athletes Meeting it served to give key stakeholders in the UIPM Sports movement additional context behind the New 5th Discipline process.

 

15.06.2022: Darmstadt, GER

The Treasurer of the City Government Darmstadt, Andre Schellenberg, visited the President’s Office in Darmstadt and discussed with Dr Schormann the long traditional partnership between the City Government and Modern Pentathlon, which started as far back as 1963.

On June 15, Dr Schormann also met two UIPM sponsors, Dr Wolfgang Dietz (owner of Dietz AG) and Armin Kohler (owner of Rechner Sensors). Dietz Ag is involved in real estate assets and development, property management and planning projects across Europe, and Rechner Sensors is an international measurement technology company.

They discussed the ongoing partnership and the future presentation of Modern Pentathlon after 2024 Olympic Games Paris and the possibilities UIPM has to offer sponsors in the future.

 

17.06. – 19.06.2022: Budapest, HUN

During a visit to the FINA World Aquatics Championships, President Dr Schormann met with the Vice President of the Hungary Modern Pentathlon Association (HMPA), Dr Beata Simoka, and Competition Manager Sandor Karman to recap on UIPM 2022 Pentathlon World Cup Budapest as well as ongoing changes within the sport.

Mr Karman was happy to report on the obstacle training session provided for Hungarian athletes and confirmed that Hungary would take part in New Pentathlon Discipline Test Event I in Ankara (TUR).

Dr Schormann also raised the UIPM 2024 Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships in 2024, which Hungary has shown a huge interest in hosting, and mentioned the importance of this competition in the history of Modern Pentathlon as it will be the last before the Olympic Games Paris 2024 where Riding will be officially included.

During the opening ceremony of the FINA World Championships, Dr Schormann was welcomed by FINA President Husain Al-Musallam and met ASOIF President Francesco Ricci Bitti, as well as European Olympic Committees (EOC) President Spyros Capralos, with whom he spoke about the future direction of Modern Pentathlon and the Obstacle Discipline testing phase.

 

20.06. 2022: Media and marketing meeting

The UIPM President held an online meeting with three of the media and marketing experts who are members of the New 5th Discipline Working Group – Michael Payne, Terrence Burns and David Hill.

UIPM Secretary General Shiny Fang and Vice President Joel Bouzou OLY – the Working Group coordinator – also joined the call and the group discussed further steps in communications strategy and implementation around the testing phase of Obstacle Discipline.

 

23.06. – 28.06.2022: Ankara, TUR

Back in Turkey for the UIPM 2022 Pentathlon World Cup Final, UIPM President Dr Schormann joined UIPM Executive Board Member for Development, Dr Viacheslav Malishev, in a meeting with the newly-elected Interim President of the South Africa Modern Pentathlon Federation, Frans van Niekerk.

President van Niekerk underlined that Africa in general is very happy about the future direction of Modern Pentathlon because it gives more countries a real chance to participate at Category A competition level and not only in development sports like Biathle-Triathle and Laser Run.

The UIPM President plans to visit Africa after UIPM 2022 Congress to get a better overview of the actual situation and to show solidarity with and support for the developing countries.

Dr Schormann also met with the Italian Modern Pentathlon Federation (FIPM) President, Fabrizio Bittner, to discuss the UIPM 2022 Youth World Championships (U19/U17) in Lignano (ITA) and the possibility for New Pentathlon Discipline Test Event III to take place in parallel. This would give a special opportunity to youth athletes, who will be the next generation potentially competing at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028.

 

During the World Cup Final Dr Schormann took the opportunity to hand over one of the last historic plaques of Modern Pentathlon to TMPF President Cakir. This plaque was established for every host of a Pentathlon World Cup, World Cup Final or World Championship. Since this plaque includes the five disciplines including Riding it will become a historical artefact after Paris 2024 and special to all hosting countries who organised a competition before the change in the sport.

On June 26, after the World Cup Final Mixed Relay, Dr Schormann addressed the first Technical Meeting for New Pentathlon Discipline Test Event I, taking place in the same Pentathlon Arena in Ankara (TUR) on June 27-28.

The UIPM President called for teamwork and open-minded visions for everyone to realise the dream of a new future for Modern Pentathlon – to create a new sport that will be more accessible to all nations around the world, yet still compatible with the vision of the founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

The meeting was open for all accredited individuals, and athletes and coaches from various nations joined to get as much information as possible for the training session on June 27 and the racing day on June 28. 

At the end of the Test Event, Dr Klaus Schormann thanked Ian Adamson, President of World Obstacle (FISO), for the great team work and support from his team that enabled the successful Test Event to become a special moment in Modern Pentathlon history.

The UIPM President also thanked the whole UIPM team, Executive Board, Technical Delegates and International Judges for their efforts not only on the UIPM 2022 Pentathlon World Cup Final and Test Event but also all previous World Cups. Without these important groups working in the background, including the volunteers, sponsors and media, nothing would be possible.

On June 28, after three weeks of intensive Modern Pentathlon activity in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann attended a peaceful ceremony rich in symbolism about the heritage and future of Modern Pentathlon.

Dr Schormann planted an oak tree in the company of Prof Dr Veli Ozan Cakir, President of the Turkish Modern Pentathlon Federation, in Ankara (TUR) – which hosted the UIPM 2022 Pentathlon World Cup, World Cup Final and New Pentathlon Discipline Test Event in recent weeks.

The two Presidents were joined by athletes, including members of the UIPM Athletes Committee, as well as UIPM Executive Board colleagues at the ceremony.

President Dr Schormann said: “The oak tree symbolises the special environment that Modern Pentathlon is creating. It is a symbol of Modern Pentathlon and grows with deep roots to stand firm in the face of storms.

“Furthermore, the planting of trees has an increasing environmental importance and symbolises UIPM’s commitment to sustainability.”

Planting trees has a long association with Modern Pentathlon going back to 1912, when an entire oak-tree forest was planted surrounding the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm (SWE) where the sport made its debut on the Olympic programme according to the vision of Coubertin.