Go-ahead for development of Modern Pentathlon complex in China’s Yunnan Province

The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) has announced that it has entered into an agreement for the development of a Modern Pentathlon facility in the city of Kunming in China’s Yunnan Province.

The UIPM Asia-Pacific Development Centre complex, which will include the UIPM Altitude Training Base and the five-in-one UIPM Asia-Pacific International Event Centre, is being developed to advance the sport across the Asian continent and for the global athlete community.

Expected to be fully operational by end of 2025, the state-of-the-art facilities will not only help UIPM in the goal of growing the sport in a key region of focus, it will also provide a key Asian base capable of hosting top-class global, continental and national competitions and events.

The UIPM Asia-Pacific Development Centre will contain an international sports stadium, a five-in-one Pentathlon Stadium with capacity for at least 10,000 seated spectators, a swimming pool with tribune seating 5,000 and a comprehensive training base, which can accommodate as many as 300,000 athletes a year.

With surrounding facilities to include a rehabilitation and nutrition centre, athlete apartments, a hotel and other commercial services, the venue will be qualified to host major UIPM international events such as the Pentathlon World Championships, Pentathlon World Cups and other related competitions.

According to the facility’s construction timeline, in conjunction with Yunnan Wuxiang Sports Industry Development Co Ltd, the stadium will be completed by the middle of 2024 with the training base and development centre to follow later that year.

The remainder of the facility will be completed by the end of 2025.

With the Development Centre having received strong support from the Chinese Olympic Committee, Chinese General Administration of Sport and the Yunnan Provincial Government, UIPM President, Klaus Schormann stated “by helping to develop the Asia-Pacific Development Centre for the benefit of all countries in the region, UIPM can significantly aid the growth and development of the sport across Asia. What’s more, this project can only create positive benefits for athletes around the world, with the possibilities for major UIPM events to be hosted at this dedicated base in China.

“We are very fortunate that such needs could be accommodated by this unique opportunity. We do appreciate all the efforts that the Chinese local government, central sports administration and our new operational partner from Yunnan Province have provided to UIPM.”

The announcement comes with modern pentathlon battling for its place on the Olympic Games program.

In May, obstacle was selected for testing as UIPM explores the possibility of integrating the racing concept into modern pentathlon after the Paris 2024 Games.

At the end of the testing and evaluation phase, the UIPM 2022 Congress on 14th November will vote on proposals for the Los Angeles 2028 modern pentathlon format to be submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Modern pentathlon has been left off the initial program for Los Angeles 2028 and it is hoped that the addition of the obstacle discipline will support the UIPM’s efforts for inclusion. The UIPM in November opened a consultation process to identify a suitable replacement for horse riding.

Images: UIPM has entered into an agreement for the development of a Modern Pentathlon facility in the city of Kunming in south west China.