50th
World Military Pentathlon Championship in Schaarsbergen, The
Netherlands,
31 July - 09 August 2002
The Military Pentathlon Celebrates
its 50th Anniversary With Great Pomp and Ceremony!
It
was assuredly the most eagerly awaited World Military
Championship in 2002. Indeed, in the middle of a Dutch summer
that had the good taste of sparing us for a week, the 50th
World Military Pentathlon Championship was held-and
celebrated-in Schaarsbergen, a Dutch town that had already
hosted the World Military Fencing championship in 1997. The
choice was judicious, as was the decision to hand over to the
Dutch delegation the keys to the organisation of jubilee
celebrations that will undoubtedly live on in the hearts and
memories of all present, spectators and competitors alike! The
success of such an undertaking rests first and foremost on
close synergies between all players and their respective
competencies. The successful alchemy of superbly organised
Dutch Armed Forces, a national delegation that is renown for
its competence and a Technical Committee for the Military
Pentathlon that is wonderfully structured and mastermind ed
by a most dynamic President supported by staff who know CISM
and/or their discipline like the back of their hand, all led
to a universally-praised display of fireworks.
The Military Pentathlon is the sport that probably best
embodies CISM’s body and soul. First because it has evolved
apace with our organisation since its foundation, second
because it personifies its motto (Friendship Through Sport),
third because it is spectacular and the athletes who enter
military pentathlon competitions are magnificently trained,
and fourth because it advertises our organisation’s specific
military features.
Schaarsbergen was also the occasion to celebrate former
military pentathlon world champions. Indeed eleven of them had
taken the trip to The Netherlands, among whom Hartmut Nienaber,
Mr Military Pentathlon-with ten individual titles-whose
remarkable achievements were the subject of an exhibition put
together thanks to the priceless contribution of Marcus Pucher,
the son of You-Know-Whom and a former military pentathlete
himself. The exhibition, which told the history of the
discipline, welcomed many visitors and was a success. A number
of former Presidents of the Technical Committee for Military
Pentathlon were also present, including General Arthur Zechner-who,
needless to recall, also served as President of CISM-, Colonel
Hans-Georg Seitz and Colonel Pilot-also a former CISM
Secretary General. The current President, Colonel Gola, and
his Secretary General, Colonel Robert Eggermont, were in
attendance too.
So, top brass only, for a magnificent event whose sporting
aspects are reported opposite, and the celebration of an
anniversary that will certainly go down in our
organisation’s history as a momentous occasion. A round of
applause is in order for all contributors, as well as a
special word of thanks to the Dutch delegation who built a new
obstacle track and course in record time and ensured that all
the infrastructure required for the organisation of this
jubilee was available on time!
Fifteen
Years Later!
Fifteen years! It took fifteen years for the world military
pentathlon title to go back to Europe, fifteen years during
which Chinese and Brazilian pentathletes alternatively won the
championship. Austrian marvel Stefano Palma put an end to a
period of European hardship that was all the more difficult to
swallow because it followed the Nienaber period, named after
the German pentathlon legend who won an incredible ten
individual titles.
Twenty-two year-old Corporal Palma from Ezendorf bei Weiss
bagged his win after a breathtaking suspense. A very high
standard was set during the first event: two pentathletes-Germany’s
Marco Kallmeier and Turkey’s Yasin Tas-shot to perfection
(200/200), t hereby
equaling the world record. In his best event, the obstacle
race, Austria’s Stefano Palma finished second-behind this
military pentathlon’s other revelation, Norway’s Øystein
Sylta-and took the lead overall, never to relinquish it again.
This he did in the face of unrelenting opposition by China’s
He Shugan (already second in last year’s World Military
Pentathlon championship in Arlon, Belgium). Following the
obstacle swimming and grenade throwing rounds, the Chinese was
only trailing by 5.4 points, which translated into Palma’s
5”40 lead at the start of the final event, the cross-country
race. The Chinese closed the gap quite rapidly but overtaxed
himself in the process and could not resist the new military
world champion’s final rush. With a total of 5,545.4 points,
Palma is quite far from Nienaber’s world record (5,682.1
points), which he set back in 1980! He Shugan and fellow
countryman Liu Wei took second and third respectively, beating
Norway’s Øystein Sylta to the podium by a hair! As for
defending military world champion Carlos Alberto Silva (Brazil), he
finished a modest 10th.
China found solace with team gold, while Austria and Brazil
bagged silver and bronze and the obstacle race relay went to
Turkey ahead of Austria and Belarus. Quite a wake up call for
Europe in Schaarbergen!
The women’s military pentathlon was the same story as usual,
with a Chinese-only individual podium: Wang Ying, Tian Linna
and defending champion Xu Lei. Of course, the same Chinese
ladies bagged the team title. They also won the obstacle race
relay. In the absence of its most serious rival, the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, China outperformed
the opposition by a vast margin, despite the efforts of the
Norwegian team led by Gunhild Berntsen (fourth individually
and clearly back to top condition) and the Russians who,
despite climbing down one step of the team podium compared to
last year in Arlon, are making progress in terms of point
performance. One final world to underscore the new women’s
world record set by China’s Tian Linna in the obstacle race
(2:13.6), improving her own record by fully three tenths
of a second.
Marc
Vandenplas (CISM)
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