UIPM 2017 Senior World Championships: Cairo becomes first African host city

Modern Pentathlon will again be beamed out to a global audience of millions during the 2017 UIPM Senior World Championships, held for the first time on African soil.

The championships in Cairo will run from August 22-28, with 21 medals on offer to 169 athletes from 29 nations. The 2017 event marks the 20th anniversary of the first combined male and female World Championships, held in Sofia (BUL).

Eurosport, which has a reach of 154 million TV homes, will televise the championships across Europe and beyond, as a result of a new deal struck with UIPM in 2017.

Eurosport has already televised the 2017 UIPM World Cup Final in Vilnius (LTU), where UIPM’s high-quality feed was provided live to multiple TV networks.

For the World Championships, 11 networks have signed up to broadcast the live show. Another 18 networks will televise the one-hour highlights package.

The competition will be held at the Pegasus Sports Club, contained within the Dreamland development and near to the Pyramids of Giza. Daily temperatures in Cairo are forecast to peak at 35-37C, providing an intense test of athletes’ endurance and stamina.

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: “This is the first time UIPM’s flagship senior competition has been staged in Africa and the local organisers in Egypt have worked hard for many years and proved their ability to host high-class Modern Pentathlon competitions.

“The Modern Pentathlon is the ultimate test of moral as well as physical qualities, and this year the physical examination will be even more demanding due to the high temperatures in Cairo, although most of our experienced pentathletes have competed here and in other hot locations before.

“It is great news that pentathlon fans around the world will be able to watch the action on so many television and online channels, including Eurosport, and UIPM is proud to see the World Championships develop as a great competition for all kinds of spectators.

“It is 20 years since the UIPM World Championships became a joint male and female competition and we now have an annual highlight of the international sporting calendar which goes from strength to strength.”

Coverage of each final on Eurosport 2 will begin with highlights from Swimming, Fencing and Riding before the Laser-Run and medal ceremony are relayed in full.

As with all UIPM World Cup events a live stream of the Laser-Run will also be available at UIPM TV. The Olympic Channel is another place where online viewers can see the action as it happens.

The 169 pentathletes who qualified to compete have gathered in Cairo ahead of the Men’s and Women’s Relay competitions, which take place on August 22 and 23. The Men's Individual Final follows on August 26, before the Women's Individual Final on August 27 with the Mixed Relay concluding the championships on August 28.

The defending champions will be hard pressed to retain their titles: Hungary’s Sarolta Kovacs faces renewed competition from legendary Olympic champions Laura Asadauskaite (LTU) and Lena Schoeneborn (GER) among others while Valentin Belaud will be up against the ultra-consistent Pavlo Tymoshchenko (UKR) and the 2016 Olympic champion, Alexander Lesun (RUS).

UIPM 2017 Senior World Championships schedule

August 22: Men’s Relay

August 23: Women’s Relay

August 24: Men’s Individual Qualifying

August 25: Women’s Individual Qualifying and Men’s Final Fencing Ranking Round

August 26: Men’s Individual Final and Women’s Final Fencing Ranking Round (live on Eurosport 2 at 22:00 CET)

August 27: Women’s Individual Final

August 28: Mixed Relay