Crystal Palace to host 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championships
SubscribeModern Penathlon Press Release 06 October 2006
The Modern Pentathlon Association of Great Britain (MPAGB) welcomes the announcement that it has won the right to host the Senior World Modern Pentathlon Championships, to be held in Crystal Palace, London 2009. The decision was confirmed by the Union International de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) during the UIPM Executive Board Meeting in Berlin on 6 October 2006.
Anthony Temple QC, Chairman of MPAGB, said:
"It is great news that our bid, supported by UK Sport, has been successful. Modern Pentathlon has an increasingly strong tradition of success in this country and hosting the World Championships will raise our profile further."
John Scott, UK Sport’s International Director, said:
"UK Sport is delighted to make an award of up to £664,000 towards the costs of staging the 2009 World Modern Pentathlon Championships. This money has been made available through our Lottery funded World Class Events Programme, which aims to secure sporting events of strategic importance in the UK.
"Hosting the World Championships on home soil gives us the opportunity to enter additional British athletes in the competition, thereby giving our athletes fantastic experience of competing in a high level international event in front of a home crowd. It will also provide additional chances for the training of coaches, officials and volunteers in the lead up to the Olympic Games in 2012."
Modern Pentathlon is one of Britain’s most successful Olympic sports. Gold and bronze were won by the women’s team in Sydney 2000 and Georgina Harland won bronze in Athens 2004.
