FISU World University Championship Modern Pentathlon: Top marks for individual champions Adomaityte (LTU) and Mohamed (EGY)

Elzbieta Adomaityte of Lithuania and Moetaz Mohamed of Egypt became world university champions on a thrilling opening day of the 2nd FISU World University Championships Modern Pentathlon.

Six years after the inaugural edition, the competition is taking place in Kaunas in Lithuania and there was glory for the host nation as Adomaityte (LTU) claimed the women’s gold medal with a comfortable lead over Poland team-mates Maja Biernacka and Malgorzata Karbownik, who won silver and bronze respectively.

Mohamed (EGY) had to fend off competition from within his own team to claim gold, forcing Moustafa Abouamer (EGY) to accept silver in the men’s competition with Emanuele Tromboni of Italy securing bronze.

Aged 22 and ranked 34 in the world, Adomaityte (LTU) looks like a strong prospect following in the wake of five-time Olympian Laura Asadauskaite, UIPM 2024 Pentathlon World Cup Final champion Gintare Venckauskaite and Pentathlon World Cup winner Ieva Serapinaite.

Having already demonstrated her Laser Run prowess by becoming Women’s Individual world champion and Mixed Relay bronze medallist in Bath (GBR) in 2023, and in multiple Modern Pentathlon competitions, Adomaityte (LTU) proved that she can also handle herself on an Obstacle course.

With the Obstacle Laser Run format introduced at university level for the first time, the fastest Obstacle time of 32.20sec was set by Karbownik (POL), while Biernacka timed 38.06 and Adomaityte (LTU) was not too much slower in 40.71. There were only two eliminations.

Starting 17sec off the pace, Adomaityte (LTU) made light of the deficit to dominate the Laser Run with a time of 11:32.50 that swept the competition away.

Life was not quite so easy for senior world No.6 Mohamed (EGY) in the Laser Run, as he overcame a 16sec starting deficit to Abouamer (EGY) only to see his rival rapidly advancing on the last lap to set up a dramatic sprint finish.

Abouamer (EGY), who holds the junior world record for Obstacle in Modern Pentathlon, was the star of the course with another epic time of 22.06. The second-fastest Obstacle performer was Tromboni (ITA) in 23.75, while Mohamed (EGY) managed 30.23.

Medallists’ reaction

Women’s gold medallist Adomaityte (LTU) said: “Well, it’s new for me, I’ve never competed in this type of competition so it was fun, I came here to have fun and I think I executed the plan.

“It was my first time doing Obstacle this year, and we had four weeks of training so I’m really proud of myself. I’ve achieved a lot and I feel like Obstacle will be a good discipline for me.

“I’m just happy to be in Kaunas, in my city and my country, and it’s a really nice competition here.

“I think it’s fun, and it’s important for athletes to have fun while competing. I like it.

“Studying while doing sports is a huge advantage for athletes because when you are injured or in your off season, you have somewhere to put your energy. Education is really important for everybody so I think it’s a must for every athlete to study.

“I think this new stadium and new facility that we have in Kaunas really wowed me, and I’m really proud that Kaunas has been able to host this big competition.”

Men’s gold medallist Mohamed (EGY) said: “It feels great that I am the world university champion. It’s a new title for me, to add to a lot of titles, and I hope to achieve as many titles as I can so it’s really great.

“I was competing against the world junior silver medallist and it feels great to compete with him again. After I finished my last shooting series, I thought I don’t need to run any more and I started to celebrate, but then I was aware something has happened and it was Moustafa coming out of the range and running as fast as he could.

“Another 10 metres and I think he would have caught me, so it was crazy. I started to celebrate and then had to run for my life.

“It’s not the first time I tried Obstacle, but I think it’s great. It doesn’t depend on luck any more – it’s just you and nothing else. I also think it’s going to be great for the younger athletes. They like it and find it exciting to watch.

“Of course it’s so sad to see horse riding going in the Olympics, but it’s a new start. We are modern pentathletes and we can adapt to everything. That’s how we are.

“It’s going to be good for my scholarship. My university is supporting me and it’s great to be university world champion.”