Zielona Gora, Poland — Egypt dominated the UIPM 2022 Pentathlon Junior World Championships in Zielona Gora, Poland with a gold and a silver medal.
Egypt’s national men team won the gold medal in a thrilling sprint finish thanks to Mohamed el-Gendy, Moutaz Mohamed and Omar Mohamed.
In the Men’s individual final, Egypt’s champion El-Gendy also claimed the silver medal.
Mihaly Koleszar of Hungary then capped off the final of a compelling Modern Pentathlon season with a brilliant victory over pre-competition favourite Elgendy of Egypt, the senior world silver medallist. Bronze medallist Leo Bories of France added another medal for his team.
This is the first Junior World Championships to feature the new elimination format for individual competitions, as designed for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Athletes must progress through Qualification and Semi-finals to earn a place in the Final.
Rebecca Castaudi of France and Mihaly Koleszar of Hungary are now the new Under 22 world champions after exceptional performances.
Castaudi (FRA) retained her crown with another remarkable comeback in Laser Run, overcoming a big deficit exactly as she did when winning her first title aged 20 last year in Alexandria (EGY).
In the end, she enjoyed a 6sec margin of victory over silver medallist Rita Erdos (HUN), with Elzbieta Adomaityte of Lithuania holding on to bronze after an outstanding Fencing performance.
Hungary won team gold in the Women’s Final after silver medallist Erdos (HUN) was backed up by Blanka Bauer (HUN) and Noemi Eszes (HUN).
Women’s Final
Fencing
Adomaityte (LTU) had already left the rest of the field playing catch-up after an excellent finish in the Fencing Ranking Round, and she added the four available points in the Bonus Round after defeating Martina Armanazqui of Argentina in the final bout.
Armanazqui (ARG) and Anna Waltermann of Germany each added two bonus points, while defending champion Castaudi (FRA) stayed in contention.
Riding
A serene Riding round saw nine athletes achieve a perfect score of 300 and only one of the 18 finalists eliminated. Castaudi (FRA) was one of those to enjoy a clear round, along with Erdos (HUN) and Armanazqui (ARG), while Adomaityte (LTU) and Waltermann (GER) knocked over just one obstacle each to score 293.
Swimming
Hana Shibata of Japan proved to be in a class of her own in the pool, with an exceptional time of 2min 13.22sec for a haul of 284 points, 10 more than next-fastest Bauer (HUN, 2:18.25).
Armanazqui (ARG) was next in the standings with 2:19.85 and that took her to the top of the leaderboard, two points ahead of Adomaityte (LTU) with Shibata (JPN) in third and Castaudi (FRA) more than half a minute off the lead.
Laser Run
Although faced with a 32sec deficit, Castaudi (FRA) was entitled to feel confident having erased a 49sec handicap to win gold.
As expected, the champion soon advanced on the leaders, along with Erdos (HUN), who finished 4th last year. Armanazqui (ARG) gradually faded and by the halfway point it was only Adomaityte (LTU) who stood between Castaudi (FRA) and another gold. At the third visit to the shooting range, she grasped her chance and sprinted clear.
Behind her, also picking off her rivals one by one, Erdos (HUN) also delivered a powerful Laser Run to finish only 6sec behind Castaudi (FRA), who recorded the day’s best time of 11min 20.19sec.
In the end the gap between silver and bronze was tighter, with Adomaityte (LTU) aiming to go one better than last year and finally crossing 3sec behind Erdos (HUN).
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