UIPM President’s Activities April 2023

04.04. - 06.04.2023: Kunming, CHN

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann was joined by Secretary General Shiny Fang and Events Operations Director Dr Alexandre Franca for meetings relating to the construction of the UIPM Asia-Pacific Development Centre (APDC).

The APDC, which will become a central hub for Modern Pentathlon training and competition in the Asia-Pacific region, forms part of a $6bn government expansion plan for the city of Kunming, and President Dr Schormann inspected large-scale artists‘ impressions of the urban development.

Accompanied by the APDC administration team who will run the Centre when it opens in 2025, the UIPM President and colleagues met with representatives from the Yunnan provincial government, Kunming Municipality and Yunnan Wuxiang Sports Industry Development Co Ltd, as well as entrepreneurs from companies specialising in construction, IT, health, education and sports.

 

06.04. - 08.04.2023: Shenzhen, CHN

In the second half of his visit to China – which was arranged as soon as COVID-19 travel restrictions permitted – the UIPM President received a presentation from the Chinese Modern Pentathlon Association made by the Secretary General, Bin Zhang.

The CMPA is officially bidding to host the UIPM 2024 Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships in Shenzhen (CHN), and Secretary General Zhang and fellow members of the local organising committee (LOC) provided further information on their bid during the meeting.

Zhiqiang Wang (First-Class researcher of Shenzhen Culture, Radio, Film, Tourism and Sports Bureau) and Ms Zou Huifeng (Deputy Director General of Longgang District Culture, Radio, Film, Tourism and Sports Bureau) discussed with the UIPM President and Secretary General important steps relating to the facilities that would be used for UIPM’s flagship competition in 2024 if China’s bid to host the event in the dynamic business centre of Shenzhen is successful.

 

11.04.2023: Ukraine NOC

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann met online with Vadym Guttsait, President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.

Igor Panin, President of the Ukraine Modern Pentathlon Federation, was also present and they spoke about the ongoing military occupation of Ukraine by Russia, supported by Belarus, and the difficulties Ukrainian athletes are having and how they are suffering.

UIPM President Dr Schormann briefed President Guttsait that UIPM was the first International Federation (IF) that sent a letter to the NOC immediately after the invasion in February 2022, to express support for Ukraine’s pentathletes.

Dr Schormann also mentioned that the UIPM Executive Board would be discussing the situation in detail later in April, and considering the recommendations for IFs published by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on March 28, 2023.

 

12.04. – 16.04.2023: Ankara, TUR

During UIPM 2023 Pentathlon World Cup Ankara, UIPM President Dr Schormann had important discussions with Ahmet Temurci, General Manager of the International Organisations & Foreign Relations of Sports Ministry of Türkiye.

One of the agenda points for the meeting was the future development of Modern Pentathlon in various regions of Turkey. The Turkish Federation will hold the UIPM 2023 U19 World Championships at the end of July in Istanbul, which will be the second official UIPM competition to include Obstacle.

The UIPM President also joined a delegation of UIPM and Turkish Modern Pentathlon Federation staff for a pre-visit of the official hotel that will be used for the UIPM 2023 Pentathlon World Cup Final in Ankara (TUR), where a high standard of accommodation for athletes and delegations will be provided.

 

19.04.2023: UIPM Executive Board

The latest online UIPM Executive Board meeting was joined by the IOC’s Kit McConnell (Sport Director) and Bram Schellekens (Head of Summer Sports & IF Relations). The focus of the meeting was the current exclusion of athletes with a Russia or Belarus passport and the question of if and when it would be possible for them to return to UIPM competitions.

The EB decided to support a structured return based on the recommendations for IFs published by the IOC on March 28.

The EB also agreed on the set-up of an independent panel to review athlete eligibility based on criteria to be established by the EB in collaboration with the IOC, as well as timings for the opening of the pathway in respect of the UIPM Sports competition calendar.

 

23.04.2023: Nuremberg, GER

President Dr Schormann visited the Open German Championships U19 where he met with Dr Michael Doerr – President of the German MPF and Bavarian MPF – to discuss the inclusion of Obstacle in Youth Championships. They pointed out the great opportunity that lies before UIPM to promote Modern Pentathlon to new generations.  

A historical step was made with this German Championship with the new Obstacle discipline fully integrated into the competition. The course created and used during the Championships will become a permanent sport facility for training sessions and future racing. The German Federation confirmed that another facility including an Obstacle course will be built in Bonn (GER) at the end of April. 

 

26.04. – 30.04.2023: Budapest, HUN

On the first day of his visit to the Hungarian capital, UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann met with UIPM Honorary Members Gyula Bretz (former President of the Hungarian Modern Pentathlon Association – HMPA – and UIPM Treasurer) and Dr Ferenc Torok (Tokyo 1964 Olympic Champion and former UIPM Vice President), together with Secretary General Shiny Fang.

It is always a privilege for the UIPM President to spend time with former Olympic champions, officials and Honorary Members of the Union, and UIPM has a particularly long and close relationship with Hungary.

President Dr Schormann attended the highly successful UIPM 2023 Pentathlon World Cup Budapest, where he met HMPA President Dr Istvan Simicsko and the new Secretary General, Seoul 1988 Olympic team gold medallist Attila Mizser. During the competition Dr Schormann had the opportunity to speak with several UIPM Executive Board Members to brief them about recent actions.

UIPM President Dr Schormann also had a meeting at the Hungarian Parliament with HMPA President Dr Simicsko, joined by Secretaries General Fang and Mizser and UIPM Executive Assistant Lena Nussbaumer. During this meeting they discussed the present situation of sport development in Hungary and steps that have been taken to integrate the Obstacle discipline at youth and junior level in Hungary. They underlined the close cooperation and partnership between UIPM and HMPA.

The World Cup was attended by former Hungarian State President and IOC Member Pal Schmitt, Hungarian Olympic Committee President Zsolt Gyulay, Polish Modern Pentathlon Association Secretary General Stanislaw Pytel and UIPM Honorary Members Gyula Bretz and Dr Ferenc Torok.