Dear Pentathletes!

Welcome to the 45th SAS International Pentathlon! At the time of my writing this introduction, winter has arrived with plenty of snow, and the Organizing Committee is progressing well in preparing for the next SAS Pentathlon. We look very much forward to welcoming you and our honorary guest

Selina Gasparin

Selina is Switzerland’s most successful biathlete. While short of competing in five disciplines, Selina truly excelled in two: Cross-country and rifle shooting, and even more impressively, the combination of the two. The ability to hold a rifle still with a pulse of close to 180 is just as challenging as being fast on the skis or to put the bullet in the target 50m away! Believe me, I know! From 2008 to 2022, Selina mastered this sport at the highest level in the world, with victories in the World Cup and a silver medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the second of her four Olympic Winter Games, as the pinnacle of her career.

Professionally, Selina has an education in sports and movement science from Norway. After graduating, she became a border police officer in the Swiss Customs where she worked for 15 years as an athlete and two years as a transformation manager in development operations. As recently announced in the press, Selina will become head coach of the Swiss-Ski junior biathlon team in February 2024 following two years working as U18 developer.

Selina is married to Ilya Chernousov, a cross country Olympic medallist, and lives with him and their two daughters in Lenzerheide.

In the spring, we asked all you Pentathletes to provide feedback and your experience from your Pentathlon participations. We were very pleased by all the praise we received, and we also took away some key themes for consideration. In response to these, we will shorten the giant slalom and cross-country races and change the format of the Saturday evening dinner within the limitations posed by the hotel. We are working to find more affordable accommodation, but for 2024, all reasonable alternatives are already booked out!

Since last year’s Pentathlon, we have sent out a few “Save the Date” emails, so you will know that the entry has been open for a while, with early bird entry fees valid until February 1. You can register here.

With a sincere thank you to all our sponsors and a warm welcome to all of you in Grindelwald in March!

Yours,

Rolf Ringdal, President Organizing Committee

Highlights from 2019