UIPM 2019 Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships: Hungary and Egypt dominate women’s Laser Run

06 Sep 2019

Laser Run

Hosts win senior and junior gold thanks to Reti and Guzi (HUN)
Egypt take control of youth categories with 10 medals
President Schormann commends improving standards

Host nation Hungary had the edge over Egypt on a dramatic day of women and girls’ competition at the UIPM 2019 Laser Run World Championships.

With Kamilla Reti (HUN) becoming the new world champion, the home team collected six gold medals and 12 in total. Egypt dominated the junior categories and claimed 10 medals, five of them gold.

Reti (HUN) was joined on the podium by her silver medallist team-mate Sarolta Simon (HUN), while 2019 European champion and 2018 world silver medallist Pinelopi Nika of Greece won bronze after overcoming a challenge from 4th-placed Noah Berkman of Israel.

The junior gold medal went to Blanka Guzi (HUN), a bronze medallist from the 2018 championships in Dublin (IRL), with Changhin Muktapha of Thailand winning silver and Eva Prato Luna of Great Britain picking up bronze.

Eleven nations in total won medals across the 10 age categories, with Great Britain securing eight medals and South Africa and Germany picking up two golds each. The other nations to enjoy podium time were Belarus, France, Portugal and Spain.

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: “Here in Kinscem Park in Budapest we are hosting the UIPM Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships together for the first time and it was wonderful to see the high level of performances today in the Laser Run categories for women and girls.

“It was exciting to see how quickly the young athletes sprinted to the shooting range at the start, how quickly they completed their shots and then to see the quality of their running style.

“This shows that after five years of the Laser Run World Championships, the standards improve every year and we can now see that athletes of all ages are training specifically for this discipline every week. Now we have to do everything we can to provide opportunities for them to become pentathletes.

“Many of the more senior athletes said it was unbelievable to see what the kids were doing on the shooting range. Maybe they are able to fire with more freedom, without thinking about it. The cheering from the tribune contributed to a great atmosphere and motivated the athletes to really push hard.”

The UIPM Laser Run World Championships, which was initiated in 2015 in Perpignan (FRA), is being incorporated into the UIPM Pentathlon World Championships for the first time in 2019.