The tournament, which runs until 31 July, takes place at the Arab Academy for Science, technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) in Egypt's second biggest city.

It will feature 470 pentathletes, team managers, coaches, officials and representatives from 43 countries.

It's the second time for Egypt to host the World Championship, having staged it in 2017 near the famed Giza Pyramids.

"It is an important championship. The points that we will collect will be allocated to the UIPM World Rankings and the qualification for the Olympic Games," said Sherif El-Arian, the president of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation (EMPF).

Last year, Egypt also hosted two World Championships for juniors and youth in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

"The choice of the venue of the competitions was very successful. There was high praise from UIPM officials, countries representatives and athletes for the organizations, stadiums, atmosphere and location of such major tournaments," El-Arian said.

"The new competition format means that only certain places in Egypt are suitable for hosting modern pentathlon tournaments."

In the new format, all five disciplines of modern pentathlon competitions are completed within a 90 minute-period. They take place in the same field with a five-minute walking distance separating the swimming, fencing bonus round, riding and laser run courses.

Egypt's team

Egypt will compete with a full team of 11 pentathletes (6 men, and 5 women). Four pentathletes will compete in individual events and one will play in the mixed relay competitions.

The men's team is led by Ahmed El-Gendy, who gave Egypt a historic silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games last year. It also includes his brother Mohamed El-Gendy, Mohannad Shabaan and Moataz Wael, the team's youngest pentathlete who has just finished his high-school exams.

"Wael is only 18 years old.  This is part of his preparation plan to gain more experiences. He will participate in the UIPM 2022 Junior World Championships in Poland in October," El-Arian added.

El-Gendy returns to the field after a lengthy absence due to a shoulder surgery.

He dislocated his shoulder a few months before the Tokyo Games but opted against undergoing a surgery. He injured his shoulder again a month after the Olympics to leave himself with no option but to go under the knife.  

"Following an injury resulting in a competition-free season; I’m beyond grateful to officially announce that I'll be competing … in the senior world championship here in Alexandria. Thrilled to be back competing and READY TO GIVE IT MY ABSOLUTE ALL!" El-Gendy said on his Facebook page.

The woman's pentathletes are Salma Abdel-Maksoud, Amira Kandil, Malak Khaled, Haidy Adel and substitute player Zeina Amer.

The number of countries that will participate in the tournament has reached 43. The list includes England, South Korea and Hungary, which El-Arian described as the strongest teams along with Egypt. France, Italy and Germany will also take part.

Russian and Belarussian pentathletes are still banned because of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Competitions schedule

The tournament consists of three rounds: the qualification round, semi-final and final. Thirty-six pentathletes will qualify for the semi-finals, which features 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 men's qualifiers start on Sunday. It begins with the fencing competition at 10:30 am followed by riding at 04:20 pm and the fencing bonus round at 05:15 pm. The swimming competitions will start at 05:45 pm, with the laser run event concluding the day at 06:15 pm.

The women's qualifiers will start on Monday.

The semifinals for both men and women will run for two days, Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, the final events for both categories will take place. The mixed relay will be held on Sunday, 31 July.

Earlier this month, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed an appeal filed by the Danish Modern Pentathlon Association against the UIPM's decision to remove horse riding from the sport in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The decision to scrap the riding event was taken after German coach Kim Raisner was kicked out of the Tokyo Games for punching a horse, an incident that has drawn widespread criticism.

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