Alanya hosts pentathlon event   2009-12-04

The first modern pentathlon competition held in Turkey started Wednesday in the Mediterranean town of Alanya.

Youth A European Championships in Modern Pentathlon, organized by the Turkish Modern Pentathlon Federation and Alanya Municipality, will end Sunday.

A total of 130 men and women athletes from 19 countries will compete in fencing, swimming, running and shooting.

The participating countries are Turkey, Hungary, Germany, Portugal, Bulgaria, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Lithuania, Russia, Czech Republic, Belarus, Latvia, Poland, Ireland, Switzerland, Venezuela and Australia.

Turkish Modern Pentathlon Federation President Turgay Çetinkaya said Alanya was a great place to organize such an event. “We are really happy with the municipality’s support.”

Alanya Mayor Hasan Sipahioğlu said the town has 20 years of experience with sports organization. “It would not be fair if Alanya had not been given this event,” he said. “Alanya is the place that promotes little-known sports. I believe that the modern pentathlon will be very popular in Turkey in the coming years.”

Alanya is already known for the annual International Triathlon, Alanya International Mountain Bike Race and European Beach Volleyball Championship.

The modern pentathlon is a sports contest that includes five events: pistol shooting, fencing, 200-meter freestyle swimming, show jumping and a 3-kilometer cross-country run.

Except for the fencing competition, athletes do not directly compete against one another. Instead, a better absolute performance results in a higher points score; points for each event are combined to total the overall scores.