UIPM 2019 Global Laser Run City Tour: Big push pulls athletes towards pentathlon in Rustavi (GEO)

An intensive series of Laser Run events has raised awareness of UIPM’s fastest-growing development sport to a new level in Georgia.

After the country held its fourth and final Global Laser Run City Tour of 2019, in Rustavi, organisers declared that a new generation of athletes had been recruited, with many making enquiries about how they can start progress towards the Olympic sport of Pentathlon.

More than 280 people raced in various categories at Rustavi's central park on June 30, having come from Tbilisi, Sachkhere, Rustavi, Poti, Gori and Chiatura.

Kakha Gotsiridze, a spokesperson for the Georgian Modern Pentathlon and Triathlon National Federation, said: “To sum up, this year our country hosted four GLRCT in Tbilisi, Chiatura, Sachkhere and Rustavi. All this events were held very successfully and many people heard about Laser Run. In each city the local authorities declared a wish to hold this competition next year. 

“From the four events we got a lot of new athletes who wish to be part of Modern Pentathlon. I want to underline that GLRCT is a good tool to develop Modern Pentathlon.”

It was in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, that the GLRCT was born in 2017 and Rustavi (GEO) also hosted its first City Tour that year.

The GLRCT was created to provide an entry point to UIPM Sports for people of all ages in urban communities around the world.

Another 100 cities have been selected in 2019 as hosts of the GLRCT or the Biathle/Triathle National Tour. The full calendar can be viewed at the UIPM website, where you can also find more information on UIPM’s various multi-discipline sports.

In September, the UIPM Laser Run World Championships will be incorporated into the Pentathlon World Championships for the first time in Budapest (HUN), where Laser Run is also on the programme for the 1st World Urban Games.

In December, Laser Run and Triathle will both feature for the first time in the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines.

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