Sondos Aboubakr (EGY) wins Olympic university scholarship in Sochi (RUS)

Sondos Aboubakr of Egypt has become the first pentathlete to win a scholarship at the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi (RUS).

The 23-year-old came out on top of a selection process conducted by UIPM after the sport’s governing body signed a memorandum of understanding with the University to provide international scholarship candidates for its Master of Sport Administration course.

Aboubakr (EGY), an individual bronze medallist at the 2018 World University Championships in Budapest (HUN) and relay silver medallist at the UIPM 2017 Pentathlon World Championships in Cairo (EGY), will enrol at RIOU for the 2020-21 academic year.

She will be one of 20 people from 14 countries who have been selected for Olympic Scholarships – most of them members of Olympic and Paralympic teams, international sports federations, coaches and managers.

The scholarship will cover the tuition fee and accommodation for the whole period of the course in the Olympic Winter Games 2014 host city.

Aboubakr (EGY) said: “I would like to thank the UIPM and the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation (EMPF) for giving me the opportunity to be a part of such a special programme.

“I am so excited to start putting both sports and education in one place. I am looking forward to gaining a new experience that will help me in both my sporting life and career.

“I will make the best out of it so that I can be a bigger part of my national federation and UIPM and also remain a part of this big family.

“Modern Pentathlon is not just a sport for me; it is also passion and a lifestyle.”

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: “I am very pleased that Sondos Aboubakr has earned the opportunity to study at the Russian International Olympic University with a scholarship linked to the MOU, which I signed in Moscow last year.

“We, the UIPM Executive Board members, are always working very closely with the UIPM Athletes Committee and external organisations to identify opportunities to support athletes – and this will be developed in the years to come through the ACP (Athletes Centred Programme).

“For now I wish Sondos the very best as she prepares for an exciting year of studying in the Olympic city of Sochi. Our sport is closely linked to the academic world and focused strongly on education. Many pentathletes have achieved high success in their careers based on qualifications obtained alongside their sporting commitments and their intellectual capacity.”

Sharif Elerian, President of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation, added: “We are very pleased and grateful to UIPM & the Russian International Olympic University for granting Sondos Aboubakr a Masters program scholarship.

“Sondos is a great athlete who developed her skills through the years and will represent her country and sport well. We wish her all the best and a successful academic year.”