Laser Run City Tour 3rd Edition ends successfully in Avissawella

The 3rd edition of Laser Run City Tour - Sri Lanka was concluded successfully in Avissawella last Saturday at the Dehiovita National School ground with over 130 athletes taking part in Elite, Under-19, Under-15 and Under-11 age categories.

This was the first time that the event was conducted in a rural area outside the main city in Sri Lanka. The location was a school located 60km away from Colombo and was chosen primarily because the kids had taken part in enthusiastic numbers in the previous two editions of the event.

This was a special occasion for the rural school as it was the first time Modern Pentathlon, an Olympic Sport, was introduced and conducted in the area. Hence a large number of school kids from the nearby schools and villages took part in the event. The interest among parents and the general public for the event was evident with the participation in large numbers to witness it.

The Elite categories for Women and Men saw several athletes in the Top 15 of the World Rankings taking part in the event. These athletes represented the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and other Modern Pentathlon Sports Clubs. Their participation made the event more colorful and generated much interest among the viewing public.

This time too there was a huge response to our call for volunteers who responded from regional universities and educational institutes. This is again good for the spread of knowledge about the sport in the rural region.

Modern Pentathlon, a combination of five completely different sports constitutes, is one of the most demanding sports of the Olympic Games. Pentathletes compete in the following five disciplines: Fencing, Swimming, Riding and a combined event of Shooting and Running.

This sport is now being introduced to Sri Lanka by the Modern Pentathlon Federation of Sri Lanka (MPFSL), which is affiliated to the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) and the Asian Modern Pentathlon Confederation (AMPC).

The UIPM Laser-Run is the new sporting category of the UIPM started in 2015, combing by laser shooting and running, and has been launched the first edition of the Laser Run City Tour worldwide in 2017. The next Laser Run City Tour will be organised in Negombo, in Gampaha in the month of May. The MPFSL hopes to invite overseas athletes through AMPC and UIPM.