Egypt takes it all in Modern Pentathlon World Championships

Just a few days after Minsk, Belarus was stripped of the 2021 Modern Pentathlon Senior World Championships hosting rights due to a political situation in the country, the UIPM made a decision on the new host. The final Olympic qualifcation event in the sport will be held in Cairo.

This way Egypt will host all the 2021 Modern Pentathlon World Championships, as Alexandria will host the Junior and U19&U17 Youth World Championships in July, after it was postponed from February due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The capital of the country has already held the Senior World Championships not long ago - in 2017. It has also become a regular host of World Cup events, being the only venue of 2020 World Cup, before it was suspended and later cancelled because of the outbreak.

As we've learned from Florent Boas, the UIPM Media Operations Manager, Cairo was not the only bidder. A few experienced hosts of UIPM events applied, but the readiness of the Egyptians to prepare all the bidding documents and facilities in the short time which remained to the World Championships was the reason Cairo was ultimately chosen by the UIPM. The dates remain the same as originally scheduled for the Championships planned in Minsk - which are 7-13 June. It is going be the final event of the Olympic qualification process for Tokyo 2020, having three direct places in each gender for the medalists, as well as offering the biggest amount of ranking points in the 2021 season.

According to the UIPM proposal, the Laser-Run World Championships shall be held along with the Modern Pentathlon World Championships. However, the plan is still being worked on with the Development Department, which is responsible for the newest discipline under the governance of the UIPM. As Boas told Totallympics Media, there is still nothing 100% sure, but different options are being considered, including holding the Laser-Run Championships on another date or in a different venue than the Modern Pentathlon event.