UIPM 2021 Youth World Championships (U19 and U17): Glorious opening day for hosts as Egypt take U19 Men’s Relay gold

• Shaban and Mohamed (EGY) claim first gold medal of Championships
• Belarus and Russia take silver and bronze after pulsating Laser Run
• “We got the gold medal for all of Egypt,” say winners

A week of the next generation of Modern Pentathlon stars rising to the top got off to the perfect start for the host nation as Egypt took U19 Men’s Relay gold on the opening day of the UIPM 2021 Youth World Championships (U19 and U17) in Alexandria.

Mazen Shaban and Moutaz Mohamed (EGY) came out on top of a hugely competitive field with 17 nations represented on the first of seven frenetic days of competition at the Arab Academy for Science Technology & Maritime Transport. 

The duo were pushed all the way by Uladzislau Melkaziorau and Uladzislau Zhartun of Belarus and Kirill Manuilo and Vladimir Zeleputin of Russia who took silver and bronze respectively.

But fresh from the Olympic Games in Tokyo when 21-year-old Egyptian Ahmed Elgendytook a historic silver medal, Shaban and Mohamed emphasized that the nation’s future is indeed very bright as they turned in an impressively consistent performance across all four disciplines in the Tetrathlon. 

Sixth in the morning’s Swimming, second in the Fencing round Shaban and Mohamed then stretched every sinew in a remarkably close Laser Run finale as they just did enough to finish top of the podium. 

Almost 130 competitors from across 24 countries are taking part in the first global gathering of the best Modern Pentathlon athletes at the Under 19 and Under 17 grade since 2019. The UIPM 2021 Youth World Championships (U19 and U17) will roll on Tuesday when it’s the women’s turn to vie for U19 Team Relay gold. 

Winners’ reaction

Gold medalist Shaban (EGY) said: “I am very happy to have the gold right now. My teammate had a great finish. We were asked to have the golden medal in the Relay and we got it.

Team-mate Mohamed (EGY) said: “I feel very good because I won today. And I promise that I will get the individual gold. The key was teamwork. The motivation was between us. It is a good thing that we win in our country. All of our country has supported us. We got the gold medal for them.”

Swimming

The day’s competition got underway in the pool where the European nations, fresh from the UIPM European Youth Championships in Portugal last month, started off particularly strongly. The team representing Polandfinished fastest with Maciej Klimek andMichal Jablonski over two seconds clear of the field. Lorys Labesse and Cedric Chatellier of France were second in 1:53.43 and, in a sign of what was to come, Egypt’s interests were pushing towards the podium withOmar Abdelhamid and Seif Elbendary in third place. 

Fencing

The host nation really took command of proceedings once the competition moved to the piste. Egypt took the top two places in the Fencing round with Abdelhamid and Elbendary notching 22 victories, one more than Shaban and Mohamed. Kazakhstan, represented byArtem Galchenko and Nikita Zhivitsa, enjoyed a stellar afternoon of Fencing as they recorded 20 wins.  

Laser Run

While Manuilo and Zeleputin had failed to finish in the top 10 in either of the day’s earlier rounds, the Russians’ class came to the fore with a blistering Laser Run. They were fastest finishers in a superb time of 10:20.70 to earn tops points and vault them all the way to the podium. 

The Laser Run, always an unmissable climax, provided plenty of drama with less than three seconds separating the second, third and fourth-fastest teams. Melkaziorau and Zhartun came home in 10:38.30 ahead of Klimek and Jablonski in 10:40.10. For Shaban and Mohamed, fourth would prove to be just enough to climb to the top of the podium overall and ensure the host nation gets a mouth-watering week of action off on the perfect note.

UIPM reaction

UIPM NORCECA Confederation President,Rob Stull (USA) said: "It’s just a continuation of the success of the Egyptian program. The enthusiasm is very high, you can see it with the spectators. They came here today and the Egyptians didn’t disappoint, taking home the first gold medal of the Championships. It’s great to see that we had teams from all five continents competing. The Egyptian federation is extraordinarily strong and well-organized and this is a first-class facility for the Championships.” 

Watch and follow

The UIPM 2021 Youth World Championships (U19 and U17) in Alexandria (EGY) runs from September 13 to September 19.

Visit the UIPM website or download “UIPM Central” from your app store to keep track of live results throughout the UIPM 2021 Youth World Championships (U19 and U17).

Follow World Pentathlon on Facebook, Twitter,Instagram, VK or Weibo throughout the season for additional content.

Competition schedule

UIPM 2021 Youth World Championships (U19 and U17)

September 14: U19 Women’s Relay

September 15: U17 Women’s Final; U19 Mixed Relay

September 16: U17 Men’s Final

September 17: U17 Women’s Relay

September 18: U17 Men’s Relay; U19 Women’s Final

September 19: U17 Mixed Relay; U19 Men’s Final