From left: Champion of Champions Media and Broadcast Manager Fahad al-Hajri, International Federation of Modern Pentathlon Secretary General Shiny Fang, Marketing Director of Al Shaqab
Mohammed al-Naimi and Event Director Omar al-Mannai at a Press conference at Al Shaqab yesterday.


By Sports Reporter/Doha



Qatar will host the first of the next three editions of the annual International Federation of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) Champion of Champions event, from today at the Qatar Foundation Recreation Centre and Al Shaqab arena.
The tournament, first hosted by Doha in 2013, will see the top 36 UIPM ranked athletes – 18 men and women each – compete to claim the crown for the best male and female modern pentathletes in the world. The women’s competitions will be held today, while the men will be in action tomorrow.
Earlier this year, an agreement was signed by Qatar Olympic Committee, Qatar Modern Pentathlon Federation and the UIPM, to hold the 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions of the event in Doha during November.
Modern pentathlon was invented by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, and was originally designed as a soldiers’ event. The name derives from the Greek penta- "five" and -athlon "contest".
The format has changed over time. It used to be held over several days, but it was compressed into a single day at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, bringing it close to de Coubertin’s vision, and this format has been used ever since. The modern pentathlon has been on the Olympic program continuously since 1912 and by a vote of the IOC it will be in the Olympic program at least until next year’s Rio Games.
The format for the Doha event will have fencing (epee), swimming (200m freestyle), riding (show jumping on a 350-450m course with 12 obstacles), shooting (laser pistol 10m standing) and running (3km cross-country).
Except for the fencing competition, athletes do not directly compete against one another in the five events. A better absolute performance results in a higher points score wins - points for each event are combined to give the overall total scores. The fencing discipline uses the epée. The competition is a round-robin, meaning each competitor will face all the other competitors once.
The Champions of Champions Event Director Omar al-Mannai said hosting the event is just the latest major international sports event to be awarded to Qatar. "There is a strong partnership between Al Shaqab, Qatar Foundation and the UIPM and after the first edition in 2013, Qatar looks forward to hosting another great event. Qatar is a sports hub, not only in the Middle East but in Asia. We wanted to be a part of the Modern Pentathlon family and especially since next year is an Olympic year, said Mannai.
"There are several high level athletes who want to compete in Doha. On our part we also want to make this sport more accessible to women. There are more women athletes joining pentathlon, which wasn't the case earlier. We want boys and girls from schools and colleges to be here and also take part in the event in the future. We have also kept the entry free for them for this event," he added.
Marketing Director of Al Shaqab Mohammed al-Naimi said the event was an Ideal stage to encourage the youth in Qatar through the sport. "We want the kids to get more involved. The first edition of Champion of Champions was an experimental one which got us a lot of appreciation. This time we are more prepared with better planning and evaluation. We also have a dedicated team from Qatar Foundation as the local organising committee for the Modern Pentathlon 2015," he noted.
UIPM Secretary General Shiny Fang welcomed the efforts of the organising committee. "I am very happy to be here in Doha to develop our sport through Al Shaqab and Qatar Foundation. We want to spread pentathlon to the grass roots since shooting, swimming and running besides the local culture of horse riding is something the young would want to engage themselves in,” she said.
"The events over the next two days will see activities divided into two phases for men and women. The cream of top athletes is here and you can expect some exciting contests and a thrilling show," she explained.
The event will be broadcast live in the mornings and evenings on Al Kass channel, with a highlights package keeping the viewers informed just as the competition evolves.
Today's Schedule: Women: Swimming (at QF Recreation Centre 9 am), Fencing round-robin  (QFRC 10 am), Fencing bonus round (Al Shaqab at 12.45pm), Riding competition (Al Shaqab at 2.35 pm), Running & Shooting Combined event (at Al Shaqab, 4 pm). Award ceremony (Al Shaqab; 4.40 pm).



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