The International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) has launched the ‘Embrace The Great Wall’ campaign to promote the 2025 World Obstacle Course Championship, which will be held in Beijing. This event, which will have a prize fund of $80,000, is now open for registration and promises to bring together the best athletes in the discipline in the Chinese capital.
The championship, to be held in October, will be the first obstacle course championship organized independently by the UIPM, after becoming the only recognized international federation overseeing sports such as OCR and Ninja.
Prizes and distances in an Olympic setting
The 2025 Obstacle World Championships will offer a prize of $5,000 to each winner of the elite races, in addition to the prestigious world title. The competitions will include distances of 100 meters, 400 meters, and 3 kilometers, and will be held in a complex originally built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
A four-year agreement to promote the sport
The agreement signed in April guarantees that Beijing will host the World Obstacle Championships for the next four years, which is a significant boost for the visibility and global impact of this sport. The UIPM, which has been organizing world pentathlon championships since 1949, seeks to consolidate its position as a leader in the management of obstacle competitions with this event.
UIPM President Rob Stull highlighted the importance of this championship: “The launch of this World Championship is a major step forward for the UIPM and for athletes around the world. It reflects our commitment to growing competitive opportunities in a dynamic and accessible sport like obstacle course racing.”
For its part, the choice of Beijing as the venue reinforces its status as a key city in world sport, having hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Bin Zhang, president of the Chinese Modern Pentathlon Association, emphasized the impact of this event: “Beijing 2025 will be a milestone not only for obstacle racing, but also for modern pentathlon as an Olympic sport.”
