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| Sport | Modern pentathlon |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | South Africa |
| Abbreviation | SAMPA |
| Affiliation | UIPM |
| Headquarters | Paarl |
| Location | La Bella Vita Wine Estate, Metz 224, Paarl 7646 |
| President | Peter Oosthuizen |
| Secretary | Ilze Grobler |
| Official website | |
| www | |
 | |
South African Modern Pentathlon Association (SAMPA) is the governing body for the sport of modern pentathlon in South Africa recognised by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM). [1] Modern pentathlon of the current era is an Olympic sport that is made up of five events: fencing, freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a final combined event involving laser pistol shooting, and cross-country running.
Sport includes all forms of competitive physical activity or games which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, simultaneously or consecutively, with one winner; in others, the contest is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs.
The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport that comprises five different events; fencing, freestyle swimming (200m), equestrian show jumping, and a final combined event of pistol shooting and cross country running (3200m). This last event is now referred to as the laser-run, since it alternates four legs of laser pistol shooting followed by an 800m run. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the ancient Olympics; as the original events were patterned on the skills needed by an ideal Greek soldier of the era, the modern pentathlon is similarly patterned on events representing the skills needed by cavalry behind enemy lines.
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (White), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.
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SAMPA is also affiliated to the Confederation of African Modern Pentathlon (CAPM) and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC). [2] [3]
The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for South Africa, and the responsible body for South Africa at the Commonwealth Games. It is also responsible for high-performance sport in the country and coordinates the relationship with various international sports federations.
The developing sports of tetrathlon, biathle, triathle and laser-run are under the control of SAMPA. Athletes compete from provincial level to the national level at various age groups with the aim of representing SAMPA or South Africa at UIMP World Championship events [4] [5] [6] [7]
A tetrathlon is a team competition organized by Pony Clubs for its members. It is a variant of the modern pentathlon, without fencing. Thus it comprises the four disciplines of shooting, swimming, riding and running.
Biathle or Modern biathlon is a sub-sport of modern pentathlon invented to create opportunities for training the run and swim parts of pentathlon in real race conditions. It is a sport in its own right. It bears close resemblance to aquathlon which also contains swimming and running but comes from triathlon sport.
