European Under 24 Championships: Praise for organisers as Ukraine finish on high with Mixed Relay gold

The first Category A Modern Pentathlon competition held since the declaration of the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic has been hailed as a resounding success by the UIPM President, Dr Klaus Schormann.

Dr Schormann was speaking after the final day of the competition, which saw Ukraine win the Mixed Relay with Lithuania winning silver and host nation Poland capturing bronze in Drzonków (POL).

The UIPM President said: “The whole world is continuing to struggle with the pandemic situation but it is important for athletes and their support teams to train and compete with athletes from other nations where it is possible to do so safely.

“I was delighted to hear about the success of the European Under 24 Championships in Drzonków. We already know this is an excellent venue for Modern Pentathlon and the organisers did a super job in preparing conditions for a safe Category A competition.

“We had athletes from seven nations taking part in this competition, and this shows other countries around the world what is possible with good organisation and careful planning. I must also thank the delegations from all countries for complying with the rules.”

UIPM Executive Board Member for Sport, Montréal 1976 Olympic champion Janusz Peciak (POL), attended the competition and said: “I would like to say a special congratulations to the organisers of this competition. For the last three days everybody felt safe and comfortable and this is not easy to achieve in this difficult pandemic time.

“They did an excellent job to allow a Category A competition organisation to take place in line with all necessary health and safety precautions.”

On a final day of tight competition between 11 Mixed Relay teams, Iryna Kubrak and Kyrym Shekhmametyev (UKR) finally prevailed by 7sec ahead of silver medallists Elzbieta Adomaityte and Titas Puronas (LTU).

Wiktoria Wierzba and Lukasz Gutkowski (POL) ensured that the host nation would finish with a medal of each colour as they collected bronze, a further 8sec behind.

View results.

The revival of Pentathlon activities in Poland did not end with the finale of the U24 European Championships – the Olympic Centre in Spala (POL) hosted the Olympic Hopes Competition for U19 and U17 athletes soon afterwards.

More than 90 athletes participated in the individual and Mixed Relay categories, with teams from Poland and Czech Republic (coached by London 2012 Olympic champion David Svoboda) dominating.