UIPM Secretary General Shiny Fang extends contract to 2025

The Union International de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) has extended the contract of Shiny Fang as Secretary General until June 2025.

Mrs Fang will continue to manage the UIPM administration throughout the Paris 2024 Olympic Games cycle, where Modern Pentathlon will be a core sport on the programme for the 26th consecutive Olympic Summer Games.

Now in her ninth year as Secretary General based in the new UIPM Headquarters in Monaco, under the leadership of the UIPM President and Executive Board, Mrs Fang has overseen a major expansion of UIPM’s operational staff and the empowerment of a growing global community of member federations cultivating the development of UIPM Sports.

Mrs Fang, Deputy Competition Manager of Modern Pentathlon at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Competition Manager at the 2010 Asian Games, started her UIPM responsibility assisting the UIPM President on international affairs in 2008. She was appointed Secretary General by the UIPM Executive Board in December 2012, succeeding Joel Bouzou OLY who became UIPM Vice President in 2013. Since then, Shiny has managed all areas of the organisation with the support of the UIPM Executive Board and the full trust of the UIPM President, Dr Klaus Schormann.

Shiny said: “I am thrilled and honoured to be given the opportunity to continue in this role until 2025 and grateful to the UIPM Executive Board and President for putting their faith in me.

“When I started this journey as UIPM Secretary General, the sport and the community were immersed in traditions and heritage – and mostly in a positive way. Within this relatively conservative environment, there was some reluctance to change habits and ways of thinking.

“It is true that nothing can be built without a root and a base, and convincing stakeholders to adjust their view of our movement has been the most difficult part of the job, especially to secure the faith of the community that our direction of travel is the right one for the future of UIPM Sports.

“After two Olympic cycles, all competition and event organizers and member federations have become more and more collaborative in the process of evolving, improving and adapting to the 21st century, facing the reality of a competitive sports landscape with a willingness to embrace trends and engage new generations.”

Looking forward, in line with the UIPM President and Executive Board’s vision for the future of UIPM Sports and guided by a commitment to continuous innovation as seen in projects like the new Olympic Modern Pentathlon format, Mrs Fang is focused on making UIPM the most diverse multi-sport organisation with multiple dimensions.  

She said: “The organisation can’t grow without ambition, and to think and act as an entrepreneur is the responsibility and duty of this job. Modern Pentathlon was created by a visionary, the modern Olympic Games founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin, and we certainly won’t abandon those roots, but we will also become pioneers of the future.”

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: “In 2008, when Shiny started working for me and UIPM, I already saw her loyalty, solidarity and respect from the beginning.

“Mrs Fang has a high capacity of intellectual mental conditions and this was invaluable during the past 15 months when we all learned, through COVID-19, how quickly life and humanity worldwide can be influenced and affected. 

“Based on my long experience of a close working partnership with the UIPM Secretary General, always acting in tandem with her, I was able to handle all requirements to maintain the stability of our Union. Solidarity, consideration, strong support and discipline are needed to overcome such an enormous pandemic and we worked closely together with the support and assistance of the UIPM Executive Board.

“I am convinced that with Mrs Shiny Fang as UIPM Secretary General, I am able to continue serving as UIPM President at a high level to the benefit of all our member federations and the Olympic movement, following the philosophy of our creator Baron Pierre de Coubertin.”

UIPM 1st Vice-President Juan Antonio Samaranch said: “The Union has gone through a remarkable transformation in the last nine years since Shiny assumed her responsibilities as Secretary General in our organisation.

“There were urgent challenges that needed analysis and immediate action in critical areas such as modernizing our internal organization, improving the sport’s competition format and securing our role within the Olympic movement. Mrs Fang, under the leadership of our President Klaus Schormann, has been key in successfully dealing with all these issues and taking UIPM to a new level of excellence.

“I look forward to four more years of cooperation and hard work towards an even brighter future for our sport.”

Shiny Fang is a former synchronised swimmer and aerobic gymnast who became a head coach and international judge.

She has a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Medicine and a Master’s degree in Sports Management & Industry, and she began her career in sports administration and international relations in 2004.

She served as Vice President of the International Cheer Union (2010-2018) and served as supervisor of sports presentation in a variety of multi-sport Games. Shiny is currently a Sports Development and Education Consultative Group Member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and member of the Global Esports Federation (GEF) Advisory Council.

Mrs Fang is married and has one son.