UIPM 2024 Pentathlon World Cup Ankara: Kazakshtan seal Mixed Relay gold

• Multiple Olympians Potapenko & Ilyashenko lead from front
• Sprint finish sees Kandil & Mohamed deliver silver for Egypt
• Italy claim first medal of season thanks to Tognetti & Alessandro

Experience proved essential as Elena Potapenko and Pavel Ilyashenko claimed Mixed Relay gold for Kazakhstan on the final day of UIPM 2024 Pentathlon World Cup Ankara.

Having lost a lead when winning silver at Pentathlon World Cup Cairo, the Kazkh duo – veterans of a combined total of five Olympic Games – made no mistake this time and finished 9sec clear of the chasing pack.

Moutaz Mohamed of Egypt is one of the breakthrough athletes of the 2024 season and having earned two individual silver medals already, his sprint finish secured another one in collaboration with team-mate Amira Kandil.

There was also a first medal of the season for Italy, thanks to Aurora Tognetti and Federico Alessandro.

Medallists’ reaction

Gold medallist Potapenko (KAZ) said: “It was a really lucky day for us. We had nice Fencing, then some problems in Riding, but we had a very big gap from other teams. We did it, and very happy.

“We had some difficulties in shooting today, but my first shoot was clear and that helped us. We are also good runners, so we had no problem.

“Of course we become more confident in every discipline today, and in the next competition we will be more comfortable in our individual.

“I want to say thank you to all our coaches, my family, Pavel’s family and everybody – thank you for your support.”

Silver medallist Kandil (EGY) said: “We started very good in the Fencing Ranking Round, and then we had some mistakes in the Riding. I was watching Moutaz and when his horse jumped, it was like a high jump and I was so scared for him.

“After that, we started Laser Run in 4th place and I knew I could take the 3rd place, but Moutaz then had a fantastic finish.”

 

Team-mate Mohamed (EGY) added: “In the Ranking Round, Amira did most of the work, she is a better fencer than me. In Riding I got a difficult horse, and coaches told me it would be a great training opportunity.

“In the warm-up it was good, I didn’t have many problems, but in the second obstacle I got two refusals and I was about to fall. If we had another stop it would have meant elimination, but thankfully I could compose myself and the horse.

“In Laser Run, because Amira will participate in Budapest she had to save energy. After the finish, she was able to rest and when I started, I told myself I would not participate in Budapest so I had to make a great run.

“I pushed myself to the limits, because after four days before it was so hard, but I got this finish and I told myself I had to get second place. I will be the silver boy.”

Bronze medallist Tognetti (ITA) said: “It’s a really good day, and for me it was like revenge because I didn’t reach the Women’s Semi-finals. But with Federico I found the right emotion to take something good, and we are so satisfied and now we go to celebrate our medals with our coaches.”

Team-mate Alessandro (ITA) added: “Unfortunately my shooting today was not good; in fact after the last shoot my coaches told me that Moutaz was coming and I knew I had to run very, very fast. He is so strong, and in the last 200m he passed me.

“But I am happy about the competition, and happy for my coaches and my city and my country.”

Riding

Malgorzata Karbownik & Daniel Lawrynowicz of Poland and Italy (Tognetti/Alessandro) rode well and escaped any significant damage, scoring 286 and 284 respectively out of a possible 300.

As the final riders, all the pressure was on Kazakhstan (Potapenko/Ilyashenko) and three knockdowns plus time penalties for a score of 273 limited their ability to stretch clear of the opposition.

It was a tough round for Egypt (Kandil/Mohamed) with both riders experiencing refusals, but they managed to survive despite incurring 52 penalty points.

 

Fencing

There was no doubting the identity of the king and queen of the piste as Kazakhstan (Potapenko/Ilyashenko) scored an impressive 31 victories in the Ranking Round, seven more than Egypt (Kandil/Mohamed) and eight more than Italy (Tognetti/Alessandro).

In the Bonus Round, Mariana Arceo & Manuel Padilla of Mexico added four points to their tally but having failed to start Riding, they were already out of medal contention. Kazakhstan (Potapenko/Ilyashenko) defeated Egypt (Kandil/Mohamed) in the final bout to extend their overall lead by four points.

 

Swimming

Egypt (Kandil/Mohamed) were quickest across the eight laps of the 25m pool in the Pentathlon Arena, timing 1min 58.20sec, closely pursued by Italy (Tognetti/Alessandro) who timed exactly 2min.

This enabled both to gain on the overall lead of Kazakhstan (Potapenko/Ilyashenko), who took a 20sec head start into the Laser Run with Italy (Tognetti/Alessandro) enjoying a 24sec cushion ahead of Poland (Karbownik/Lawrynowicz).

 

Laser Run

Potapenko (KAZ) extended her lead from 20sec to more than 30sec with an excellent first shoot, while Tognetti (ITA) lost a little ground to her pursuers. Kandil (EGY) started to take advantage with a couple of solid shoots.

Potapenko (KAZ) handed over to Ilyashenko (KAZ) with a 32sec cushion and the ideal platform for gold, but Tognetti (ITA) finally extended her lead over Kandil (EGY) so that Alessandro (ITA) inherited a 22sec lead in 2nd place.

The first men’s shoot saw a remarkable change, as Ilyashenko (KAZ) got stuck on his final delivery and took 33sec to get away, while Alessandro (ITA) took 20sec and Mohamed (EGY) bolted away in 8sec.

Finally, llyashenko (KAZ) eased his nerves with an 18sec shoot that sealed gold on his second visit to the range, enabling him to cross the line with 9sec to spare.

The race for silver gained intrigue as Mohamed (EGY) made a little ground on Alessandro (ITA) in his second shoot, and when the final run entered the woods, he took his chance and sprinted past his rival to secure a second silver medal of the weekend and third of the season.

President’s reaction

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: “I thank everybody who has been involved in the organisation of this high-quality UIPM Pentathlon World Cup, especially all sponsors and supporters.

“The Turkish Modern Pentathlon Federation is developing our sport with the support of the Minister for Sport in clubs and schools, and it was great to see so many children watching this competition in Ankara and trying the Obstacle course that was presented here adjacent to the venue.

“Now we look forward to the next World Cup in Budapest and seeing what some of the athletes who have not been successful here in Ankara can do. I told some of the athletes, please never give up because there is always the possibility to qualify through the Olympic World Ranking.

“In this World Cup we saw another step up in performance levels compared to Cairo, and I’m sure that Budapest will be another step in this direction. Athletes are getting stronger and stronger and the race to Paris is getting closer.”

 

Watch and follow

UIPM 2024 Pentathlon World Cup Ankara has now concluded and the next competition on the calendar is UIPM 2024 Pentathlon World Cup Budapest from April 23-28.

Live stream of the Semi-finals and Finals will be available on UIPM TV, and all competition results are available at the UIPM website and via the UIPM Central app.

Follow World Pentathlon on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X or YouTube throughout the season for additional content.