Dublin is to host the fourth Laser-Run World Championship in Smithfield in September 2018. The bid from Pentathlon Ireland, backed by Fáilte Ireland and Dublin City Council was successful and is the latest in a series of wins for major championships being held in Ireland after similar wins for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, Basketball and Paralympic swimming.
Laser-Run is a relatively new concept launched by the International Modern Pentathlon Federation in 2015 as part of their International competition calendar.
It mirrors the final event of the Modern Pentathlon, combining running and shooting and promises to be a vibrant audience event in the cityscape surrounding of Smithfield where Irish World Series Gold Medallists Arthur Lanigan -O’Keefe and Natalya Coyle were pictured yesterday.
Competitors will run an 800 metre circuit four times with four rounds of laser pistol shooting in between each run. Athletes must hit a target 5 times from a 10-metre distance before they can run the next leg.
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An exciting element of the hosting of the competition is that on the day prior to the main event, there will be a full programme of events enabling primary school children from around the country and then members of the general public to complete a version of the course.
“The great thing about winning this event for Dublin is that it gives us a chance to reach out way beyond the traditional small niche of those who would compete in, or even understand, Modern Pentathlon,” said Pentathlon Ireland CEO Darragh Cunningham speaking to Sport for Business.
“We expect over 450 competitors from over 20 countries competing and this will include two of Ireland’s finest Olympians, Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe and Natalya Coyle.”
“It also gives a great crescendo to the new schools Laser-Run programme which is generating huge interest around the country and will extend, we hope, to hundreds of schools.”
Read more: Sport for Business interviewed Darragh Cunningham in our Leading Sport Series, supported by PwC. Read it here.
“Support to date from Fáilte Ireland and Dublin City Council has been critical to winning the right to host this event, to bring the Pentathlon World to Ireland, and we hope to secure additional partners in the coming months.”
“These new partners will have an overall relationship with the sport, with our elite level competitors and with the World Championships. It is a very exciting opportunity to move our sport to a new level.”
“I am really excited about these championships coming to Ireland,” added two time Olympian Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe who was crowed European Champion in 2015.
“This is a fast-paced and dynamic event, which will be a great showcase for our sport. And it has the bonus of taking place right in the heart of Dublin in Smithfield Square”
“I can’t wait to compete in this event and I am thrilled that the public will get the opportunity to try the sport too,” added Natalya Coyle who finished in sixth place at the Rio Olympic Games.
“The school’s laser run could unearth the next future star for Pentathlon Ireland.”
The first Laser-Run World championships took place in Perpignan, France in 2015, followed by Lisbon Portugal 2016 and it is set for Cape Town South Africa in 2017.
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