Testing endurance

All-around athletes are coming to Egypt for the Modern Pentathlon World Cup, the first to be held on African soil

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After brilliant performances at the junior World Modern Pentathlon Championships in China and Italy, Egyptians are looking for more success at the fifth Modern Pentathlon Seniors World Cup which starts today in Al-Shams Club, writes Inas Mazhar.

More than 100 athletes will compete in the men's and women's competitions. Both men and women, competing separately, complete all five events of the modern pentathlon in one day. A points system for each event is based on a standard performance earning 1,000 points. The winner is the pentathlete who has accumulated the most points after the five events and crosses the finish line first.

The Olympic sport of modern pentathlon consists of competition in five events. Competitors earn points for their performances in pistol shooting, epee fencing, swimming, riding (equestrian show jumping) and cross-country running.

The equestrian event is a 400-metre stadium jumping course. The swimming event is a 200- metre race, the cross-country running event is 3,000 metres. Shooting is a 10-metre air pistol shot at a stationary target, while fencing is a series of one-touch bouts with épée swords.

Egyptian Federation President Ahmed Nasser is thrilled to have helped bring the World Cup to Egypt and to have the honour of becoming the first African country to stage the modern pentathlon World Cup.

"I believe that the rapid progress shown by Egyptians in the modern pentathlon and the brilliant performances by our athletes around the world have impressed our sport's officials to the extent that they are confident Egypt can organise world-class events," Nasser said.

"We have world-class athletes and world champions. We have made history in the past years and it is an advantage for us.

"The International Federation's policy is to spread the sport all over the world but realised that this will not happen unless the world competition goes to new continents and new areas," Nasser added.

"Our athletes have been training hard for this great event. We were victorious abroad and want to claim victory at home as well. I think our athletes will experience real competition with the World Cup being played in Egypt and they will need the support of the Egyptian public. They played in Egypt before when Cairo hosted the African Championships. But this time the event is bigger and they will need crowds to appear and cheer for our athletes at Al-Shams Club because the World Seniors title is another dream we hope to make come true," Nasser continued.

Nasser, who is also president of the Arab Modern Pentathlon Federation, said he was pleased with Egypt's final preparations to host the event. "It's going to be exciting and I am confident we are going to present our distinguished guests, officials and athletes a spectacular event," Nasser said.

Delegations have started arriving. An international press conference was held on Tuesday to brief the media with the order of play during the five-day competition which concludes on Sunday.

By Inas Mazhar