The tournament will take place in the American University of Cairo from 22 to 27 March, with the AUC becoming the first university in Egypt to host the World Cup since the country started staging it in 2014.

"Our goal is to organise an impressive UIPM World Cup at the AUC. This will boost our chances to win the hosting rights of the UIPM 2022 Pentathlon World Championships after China's withdrawal as hosts," the President of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation Sherif El-Arian said.

"I have no doubt that the competition will be a great success and Team Egypt will perform to the best of its abilities."

The event features 300 pentathletes from 40 countries, with Russia and Belarus excluded as part of the sanctions imposed on the two countries following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Egyptian team

Egypt will participate with a full team consisting of 12 male and 12 female pentathletes.

The men's team is led by 2020 Olympic silver medalist Ahmed Elgendy along with Islam Hamed, Mohamed Hossam, Ahmed Ashraf, Mohannad Tarek, Noureldin Karim, Eyad El-Kashef, Moataz Wael, Omar Wael, Youssef Korani, Seif El-Bendari and Mostafa Amr.

Haidy Adel, who already has two Olympic participations (in 2016 and 2020) under her belt, is on top of the women's team. The other members are Noureen Boulos, Salma Abdel-Maksoud, Maya Mohamed, Amira Kandil, Malak Khaled, Hania Abo Bakr, Areej Sarhan, Zeina Amer, Gana Walid, Jana Attieh and Habiba Ramadan.

"Our target is collecting as many points as we can to improve the world ranking of our athletes and qualify for the UIPM World Cup finals," El-Arian said.

"Egypt is now among the strongest four countries in the world in modern pentathlon. Since 2016, Egyptian penathlete have always made the podium, whether in individual competitions or in mixed relays events."

The 2022 World series includes four World Cup tournaments in addition to UIPM World Cup Final. The first is the UIPM World Cup, which will be held in Cairo, Egypt. The second UIPM World Cup will be held from 26 April to 1st of May in Budapest, Hungary. The third UIPM World Cup will take place on 10-15 May in Albena, Bulgaria. The fourth UIPM World Cup will be held on 7-12 June in Ankara, Turkey.

The best three results of each pentathlete at the four World cups would be considered to determine the top 36 men and 36 women athletes to compete in the UIPM World Cup finals that will be played in Turkey from 23 to 26 June.

New format

 

A new format was adopted by UIPM's executive board in October 2020 and is set to be implemented for the first time during this World Cup.

The vision for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is to make modern pentathlon shorter, faster, more dynamic, connected and compact, and easier to understand for all audiences.

"The format is designed to create a more compelling spectacle for TV and online viewers - and for on-site audiences like the Olympic Games spectators who will become the first to see all five modern pentathlon disciplines in the space of 90 minutes at Paris 2024," UIPM said in a press release.

The tournament now consists of three rounds: The qualification round, a new semi-final and the final.

Thirty-six pentathletes will qualify for the semi-finals and they will be divided into two groups.

The top seven from each group, in addition to the four athletes who scored the highest points in both groups, will qualify for the final. Only 18 players will compete in the final round instead of 36 in the old format.

The fencing ranking round takes place on the first day of tournament, accumulating the results of the pentathletes until the final day.

Points scored in the fencing bonus round, either in the semi-final or finals, are included. Pentathletes can only warm up at the beginning of the day. There is no warm up between the competitions during the day.

The new format features a new order of events. Riding is followed by the fencing bonus round, swimming and then laser run (combining shooting and running) with breaks of between 5 to 15 minutes between each discipline.

The programme involves an equestrian leg that lasts for 20 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of fencing, 10 minutes of swimming and 15 minutes for the laser run -- with breaks between events.

All the five disciplines, which should be held in 90 minutes, take place in one single site, with a five-minute walking distance separating the swimming, fencing bonus round, riding and laser run courses.

"The games will be more difficult; it needs high physical performance. Athletes will likely be younger as the age range will be between 24-26 years. That will benefit spectators and television viewers, who will follow 90 minutes instead of waiting for eight hours to know the final results," El-Arian added.

Tournament schedule

The women's qualifiers will start on Tuesday, followed by the men's qualifiers on Wednesday. The women's semi-final will be played on Thursday and the men's semi-finals on Friday.

On Saturday, the final events for both categories will take place. The mixed relay will be held on Sunday, 27 March.

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)