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Score one – or five - more points for Stanford as the Bay Area's quest to host the 2012 Olympic Games continues. The 2002 Modern Pentathlon World Championships, held July 15–21, made for six exciting days of competition and allowed Stanford to show off its world-class facilities.
MPWC Event Director Barbra Higgins deemed the event 'a huge success. It reminded me of my Olympic days when everywhere you turned you saw a representative from a different country with a smile on their face. We sent all the delegations home with good stories and good memories.' The five sports – shooting, fencing, swimming, equestrian, and running – took place in four of Stanford's finest venues. The facilities received much praise from the athletes, media, and spectators. 'Stanford was incredibly hospitable as a host,' said Venue Operations Manager Kumi Takasumi.
Spectators were rewarded with one outstanding performance after another. Britain's Georgina Harland made up 10 places in the run event to achieve her second straight Individual Bronze Medal. Mary Beth Iagorashvili of the U.S. team, who placed 4th at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, helped her team advance to 5th place in the Relay Finals.
Erik Johansson of Sweden, who was 31st after the shoot, and Michal Sedlecky, in 5th place when he entered the last phase, gave the crowd an exciting race to the finish that ended with Sedlecky, a mere 3 seconds ahead of Johansson, taking the Gold for the Czech Republic. Despite Jeremie Perry of the USA winning the Men's Qualifying run, no American male competed in the Individual Finals. Chad Senior, a member of the U.S.'s Gold Medal Relay team at the 2000 World Championships, missed making the finals by only a few points. The U.S. Men's Relay team finished 11th overall.
MPWC organizers agree that the success of the event was in the power of the volunteers. 'We received rave reviews from the athletes and officials and it was in great part due to the contribution of our volunteers,' Takasumi declared. 'Our volunteers really pulled through and gave more than they originally signed up to do.'
Commenting on the diligence of the volunteers, Higgins stated, 'With an event this big you will always have problems here and there behind the scenes, but our staff was prepared to handle all of them and did so in an exemplary fashion.'
What more can come from the success of these World Championships? Takasumi added, 'The best part overall is that it really shows what the Bay Area can do with respect to hosting the events. BASOC volunteers really came through, and Anne [Cribbs] & James [Raybould] stepped in at the key points. I think it proves that this organization has the volunteer base and the talent to take on the Olympic Games.'
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