2005 CISM World Championships

The United States Military Modern Pentathlon team traveled to the Czech Republic to compete in the CISM World Championships from 26 to 30 May 2005 .

United States Delegation. The two U.S. athletes competing were: Capt Eli Bremer, USAF and Lt Nuil Manske, USA who are both stationed in Colorado Springs . Both men have competed for several years, and were impressive representatives of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Team Military Bearing.  The team did an exceptional job in representing the United States military and in demonstrating the CISM motto of “Friendship through Sports.” They set the standard at the opening ceremony for military bearing and conduct. Several Chiefs of Mission complimented me on their professionalism. This attitude and conduct prevailed throughout the competition.

Competition Overview.  This world championship was smaller than normal (both in participation & events contested) because the Czech Republic stepped in to host the competition with less than nine months advance notice as a result of the original host country dropping their commitment to organize the championship. The 32 athletes competed in the men's individual and team events with 13 countries represented. The men's relay, women's individual, women's team and women's relay events were not contested. The following countries participated: Austria , Belarus , Brazil , Czech Republic , Italy ,
Korea , Latvia , Lithuania , Poland , Russia , Slovakia , Switzerland , and the United States . With only 32 competitors, there was no need for a semi-final. All athletes competed in the final and because we did not have the requisite three athletes, the United States was ineligible for the team event.

Competition Results.  Although not one of our strongest showings, Capt Bremer and Lt Manske had some competition highlights in the individual events. Lt Manske started strong with a very competitive shoot and an incredible first half of fencing. Lt. Manske drew a very difficult horse and the ride dropped him further in the overall results. Capt Bremer's trouble spot remains his shooting. But, he battled back with a solid fencing score and an outstanding swim and run performance to finish in the top half of the competitors. Their performances along with the top three competitors are listed below. In the team event, the Czech Republic won with 16,784 points (averaging 5,594 points per competitor) followed by Belarus with 16,684 points (averaging 5,561 points per competitor) and Italy with 16,128 points (averaging 5,376 points per competitor).