Beijing to host Modern Pentathlon Obstacle World Championships from 2025 to 2028

The International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) has announced that the Chinese capital of Beijing will host the first four editions of its new UIPM Obstacle World Championships, running from 2025 to 2028.

Set to launch in October, the new event will represent UIPM’s first step into the organisation of standalone obstacle competitions.

Its creation follows the full integration of obstacle as a discipline of modern pentathlon, supported by the creation of the UIPM Obstacle Commission and an Obstacle Taskforce that was approved as of Thursday this week by the UIPM Executive Board.

This move came after the 73rd UIPM Congress voted in November 2024 to make statutory changes that established UIPM as the sole IOC-recognised Olympic International Federation governing obstacle sport worldwide.

UIPM President, Rob Stull explained “the creation of the UIPM Obstacle World Championships (OCR) is an important step in the ongoing integration of this popular urban sport into our movement.

“Having successfully introduced obstacle as a new pentathlon discipline, it is key that we also provide exciting opportunities for existing OCR athletes to test their skills in a high-quality competitive environment. It’s going to be amazing to see how pentathletes measure up against their OCR specialist counterparts in October.

“As one of the world’s most populated cities with more than 22 million residents, we could hardly conceive a better venue than Beijing to start the UIPM Obstacle World Championships journey. Obstacle racing is all about universality and bringing sport to urban communities. The OCR scene in Asia is buzzing and it’s going to be a fascinating four years.”

Set to run annually, October’s first OCR event will be staged within the Beijing 2008 sports complex, and is expected to attract hundreds of athletes from the obstacle and pentathlon communities to test their skills in courses spanning 100m, 400m and 3km.

Looking forward to hosting the event, Bin Zhang, President of the Chinese Modern Pentathlon Association (CMPA), noted “we are honoured to welcome the world to Beijing for the UIPM 2025 Obstacle World Championships and proud to begin a four-year journey as hosts.

“Obstacle sports such as OCR are already hugely popular in China, especially among young people, and we believe this World Championships will serve as a powerful catalyst for the development of Modern Pentathlon across the country.

“This agreement reflects China’s strong commitment to innovation in sport and our shared vision with UIPM to grow this dynamic discipline worldwide.”

Los Angeles 2028 is now set to feature the debut of the obstacle course event as part of modern pentathlon, along with fencing, swimming, and laser run.

Images courtesy of UIPM.