Modern Pentathlon goes downtown Nanjing

Modern Pentathlon today reached out to the people of Nanjing as part of the Youth Olympic Games Cultural and Education Programme.

With the sport set to begin at the Games tomorrow, more than 100 children from local international schools in the city took part in a Modern Pentathlon demonstration presented by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne.

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann and officials were joined by Pentathlon World Champion and IOC Role Model Athlete, Amélie Cazé for the special presentation in downtown Nanjing which they hope will put Modern Pentathlon in both the hearts and minds of locals, both young and old.

In his welcome speech, President Schormann said: “We are educating young people about the values of the Olympic movement.

“When we all come together at events like this from the different continents across the world, the young people build up friendships and we can use sport as a special language, a language for peace and better understanding throughout the world.

“What has been created by the former IOC President is a splendid idea as it is a new legacy of the Olympic movement. The culture part of the programme, which we are celebrating today, is so important.

“We at UIPM put together a special presentation of Modern Pentathlon for the young children so they will learn more, not only to listen to and watch the videos but also practise the sport.

“I was at the Olympic Village the other day and it is very exciting to see young people learning from each other about other their various sports. This is so important for the future of the Youth Olympic Games and will continue at the next one in Buenos Aries.”

Two time European and four time World Champion Amélie Cazé added: “It is very important for Modern Pentathlon to stay connected with young people because they are the future generation and we want to ensure our sport is at the Olympics in the future and I think engaging with young people is the best way to do that.

“I am very happy to share my experiences with these young people and watch them as they practise the different disciplines of our sport. It is a great honour.”

After the presentation and speeches from UIPM, Amélie joined the school children for demonstrations of fencing, running and shooting passing on her vast experience and knowledge from her years of competing at the top level.

The Modern Pentathlon Programme at the Youth Olympic Games gets underway tomorrow with the Men’s and Women’s Round Robin individual events.

The Women’s Final will take place on Saturday (August 23) with the men’s the following day and the Mixed Relay bringing the Modern Pentathlon competition to a close next Tuesday (August 26).