ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — Egyptian pentathlete Farida Khalil clinched the gold medal of the UIPM U17 Pentathlon World Cup in Alexandria.
Farida (EGY) drew the love of the crowd and made history as the first Youth athlete to become individual world champion in a full Modern Pentathlon.
The impressive Khalil (EGY) crossed the line 15sec ahead of the competition in the Women’s Final, with Nadja Farmand of Germany and Annachiara Allara of Italy claiming silver and bronze respectively.
The Egyptians doubled up with team gold with Germany taking silver and Hungary bronze.
“It’s a great feeling and I thank God for this great achievement. I’ve been working hard for about two years to achieve this,” women’s world champion Farida said.
“I took it one step at a time. Whenever I finished one discipline, I focused on the next one and never told myself that the competition was over, even if I was doing well.
“I am very thankful for the inclusion of Obstacle. I love Riding, I love horses, but I think with Riding I would have a very long way to prepare for it and train for it.
“Obstacle is very easy and quick for me to adapt, and I feel that having five disciplines at this age gave me an advantage.
“I’m happy that my family was here and all of their efforts paid off,” Farida noted.
Silver medallist Farmand added: “I’m so happy, I can’t believe it. It’s so nice. Fencing was really good, amazing, and I was really happy with my Obstacle time and then Swimming was OK. In Laser Run, shooting could be better but it was OK.
“It was stressful and I tried to stay concentrating, but next time I will try to do better. I will be in Istanbul for the U19 World Championships and we will see what comes next.
“In Germany we used to go to a hall to train for Obstacle, but we didn’t do it so many times and we will learn it more.”
An incredibly dramatic Men’s Final followed in the evening session at the Arab Academy for Science, where Mathis Issaka Idelarge (FRA) won a four-way sprint to the finish line to become world champion.
Idelarge (FRA) prevailed but only by 1sec from silver medallist Bartosz Szmytke of Poland, who in turn finished 1sec ahead of Tarek Sadek (EGY) whose team-mate Mohamed Hassan (EGY) narrowly missed out on a medal.
Egypt unsurprisingly added another team gold as Ukraine (silver) and Poland (bronze) joined them on the podium at the end of a late night in Alexandria (EGY).
Athletes from 26 nations are taking part in the first global youth competition to feature a five-discipline Pentathlon, run according to the sequence of Fencing/Obstacle/Swimming/Laser Run that will be adopted at all levels of Modern Pentathlon after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Women’s Final
Farmand (GER) was the standout performer in Fencing, claiming an exceptional 30 victories with only five defeats in the Ranking Round to take a 20-point lead.
And with team-mates Hannah Dicks (GER) and Amelie Treib (GER) lurking after success in the Bonus Round, Farmand (GER) proved her mettle again with victory in the final bout to protect her lead.
Khalil (EGY) also scored well in Fencing (24V/11D) and made some ground on the leaders with a 5th place in Obstacle – which was dominated for the second time this week by Amaya El-Masri (GER) as the only athlete to finish the course in less than 30sec. Diana Rajinckas of Hungary and Alessia Canto (ITA) were next-fastest over the sprint course.
Over to the Swimming pool and it was here that Khalil (EGY) made a major move towards overall supremacy, with the day’s best time of 2min 14.48sec, a fraction faster than Wakana Uchiyama of Japan with Zofia Wyczolek of Poland timing 2:16.65.
Laser Run began with Farmand (GER) holding a 13sec lead over local favourite Farida (EGY), with Dicks (GER) a further 20sec behind.
And it was all about the top two as they jostled for that coveted gold medal, Farida (EGY) eventually holding her nerve to seal an unforgettable win on home soil. Allara (ITA) flashed around the course in 10:06.10 to clinch a surprise bronze with a time only bettered by Ganah Elgindy (EGY), who finished 5th after a 10:01.59.
Men’s Final
Jacob Li of Canada was the king of the piste with 26 victories giving him pole position in the Ranking Round and a 10-point advantage over local athletes Hassan (EGY) and Sief Soliman (EGY), on 24V/11D.
Hassan (EGY) had the last laugh in the Bonus Round, reducing the lead of Li (CAN) to six points.
Slippery conditions caused by high humidity on the Obstacle course meant that Swimming came next, and Szmytke (POL) obliterated the field with an outstanding 1:58.08 – a time that would be competitive in a senior men’s final. Team-mate Krystian Trepczyk (POL) and Oleksandr Klymenko of Ukraine were next-fastest.
Several exceptional Obstacle performances followed, with Li (CAN) maintaining his podium ambitions with 27.25 and Franciszek Dubrawski (POL) timing 26.49.
There was no doubt about the day’s Obstacle star, however, as Platon Iefremenko (competing as a neutral under the UIPM flag) scorched the course with a stunning 24.22.
Such was the variety of skills and specialties on show that there was a bunch start at the front of the Laser Run, with Klymenko (UKR) following leaders Szmytke (POL) and Hassan (EGY) over the start line just 1sec later.
The anticipated epic duly ensued, but it was 5th-placed starter Idelarge (FRA) who pounced having quietly stalked his prey all day.
His time of 9:01.70 was only bettered by an exceptional 8:49.60 by Reuben Cawley of Great Britain, ending a day that showed not only the diversity of global talent at this level but the rich potential of the new-look Modern Pentathlon to be even more exciting than previous editions.
