UIPM 2024 Pentathlon World Cup Cairo: Repeat success for Gulyas (HUN) and Elgendy (EGY)

• Gulyas (HUN) returns to top of podium alongside Kim (KOR) and Bryson (GBR)
• Host nation 1-2 in Men’s Final as Elgendy (EGY) wins duel with Mohamed (EGY)
• First medal for Kasperczak (POL) as athletes chase Olympic ranking points

CAIRO, EGYPT: March 9, 2024 – Michelle Gulyas of Hungary and Ahmed Elgendy of Egypt retained the titles they earned in 2023 to begin Olympic year in the best possible style at UIPM 2024 Pentathlon World Cup Cairo.

Gulyas (HUN) confirmed her early-season form with a serene victory, finishing 8sec ahead of silver medallist Sunwoo Kim of Korea and 14sec clear of bronze medallist Kerenza Bryson of Great Britain.

It was a fourth Pentathlon World Cup gold for the 23-year-old Hungarian sensation, who looks confident ahead of what is likely to be her second Olympic Games at Paris 2024.

Later, Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist Elgendy (EGY) won his home World Cup for the third time but only after resisting a remarkable burst from team-mate Moutaz Mohamed (EGY), who stole the lead for part of the Laser Run.

African champion Elgendy (EGY), 24, finally prevailed by 2sec and was joined on the podium by two first-time medallists, Mohamed (EGY) and bronze medallist Kamil Kasperczak of Poland.

 

Medallists’ reaction

Women’s champion Gulyas (HUN) said: “It may have looked easy to you but it was very, very tough. There was a little temperature difference in the weather so it was difficult to run well, but I was trying to focus on my shooting so that I could keep my distance.

“I’m very, very happy, and my coaches are very happy that I’m back so everything is fine.

“I am a perfectionist, but I was very happy about my Riding because my horse was blind in one eye, so he was pushing a little to the left because of that. I had to focus very much on the technical things.

“I made a huge improvement in my running, because last year it was mostly my technical disciplines where I had a setback. I’m getting there and of course I’m not in my best shape yet, because the main competitions are later in the year. But I’m on the right track and happy.”

Silver medallist Kim (KOR) added: “My horse riding was a strong point today and every other discipline went well. In Laser Run, I made some mistakes in shooting but my running was fine and that kept me in a good position.

“I started in a high position so I was nervous, but I was able to focus my mind with mind control. Running was good and I had enough focus to finish in a good position today.”

Bronze medallist Bryson (GBR) said: “I went in 4th and to be in the top five was a good sign. My running has come on a lot this year and since I moved to the national training centre in Bath.

“I feel lucky and really happy to be here, just super-happy with my performance. A medal is what I wanted so I achieved my target.

“I noticed my first two shoots were not great and I dropped back to 6th or 7th, but my next two shoots were better and in the last shoot, I was on Anna’s heel and I knew I had to get that shoot away because she is such a strong runner.”

Men’s champion Elgendy (EGY) said: “One year ago, I won this race and I am feeling the same emotions. One year ago, the whole race was intense and today it was like this too.

“I was feeling a little bit more confident in the last shoot, and I focused on that because I knew it was going to be a hard last lap. I’m so pleased to win the first World Cup of the season here in Egypt for a third time.

“It was so difficult, even going back to the first day of Qualification when I qualified in my group in 12th place. But here I am winning the gold medal. Actually today, Moutaz Mohamed was fantastic and had a great race.

“When he passed me on the fourth lap, he was pushing me so hard and I knew I would have to shoot well and save energy for the last lap.”

Silver medallist Mohamed (EGY) fought back tears as he added: “It’s very special and I’m really proud. I have so much support and I’m very happy. I made a lot of effort and to be on the podium beside our No.1, with all his experience, it feels really good.

“The race was very hard, even back to Fencing on the first day in qualification when I had a bad fence, but then my Swimming was just enough to get me through because I have a great Laser Run.

“In the Semi-final, I had a bad shoot and had to run very well. But today it was all perfect, I couldn’t ask for more.”

Bronze medallist Kasperczak (POL) said: “This competition was very crazy for me. My first Final in a World Cup and now my first medal, a bronze medal. Unbelievable.

“It was very difficult. I’m very strong in running but the hot weather made it hard.”

Women’s Final

Riding

An intriguing Riding event saw most of the podium favourites in the Women’s Final escape major damage. Gulyas (HUN) dislodged only one barrier, minimising the reduction of her overall lead as Sunwoo Kim (KOR), Bryson (GBR), Anna Maliszewska (POL), Ilke Ozyuksel of Türkiye and Elodie Clouvel of France all made a gain with a perfect score.

In her comeback competition, Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Kate French (GBR) dropped 14 points to make it just a little harder to navigate a course to the podium. In the lower half of the field, London 2012 Olympic champion Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania stayed in contention with a 293, but there was disappointment for faller Mariana Arceo of Mexico and Salma Abdelmaksoud (EGY) as they suffered elimination.

 

Fencing

With a Ranking Round score of 26V/9D, Gulyas (HUN) did just enough to create a buffer between herself and the rest of the field, and she added the maximum four points in the Bonus Round by defeating Unju Kim (KOR, 25V/10D) in the final bout.

There was congestion in the pack behind Gulyas (HUN), with Marie Oteiza (FRA) and Sunwoo Kim (KOR) both managing 24 victories and four others – Bryson (GBR), Elzbieta Adomaityte (LTU), French (GBR) and Maliszewska (POL) – winning 23.

The only athlete to make a major gain in the Bonus Round was Alice Sotero of Italy, with four consecutive victories partly atoning for her Ranking Round score of 17V/18D. Two victories enabled Clouvel (FRA) to keep the top six in her line of sight.

Swimming

Two athletes playing catch-up – Sotero (ITA) and Clouvel (FRA) – made further ground with the fastest swims of 2min 13.88sec and 2:14.64. But Gulyas (HUN) refused to give too much away, conceding only seven points to Sotero (ITA) with the 4th-fastest time of 2:17.44.

 

Laser Run

Gulyas (HUN) set off with a 14sec lead from Sunwoo Kim (KOR), with Oteiza (FRA) a further 3sec, Bryson (GBR) 12sec and Clouvel (FRA) 14sec back.

Sotero (ITA) was the initial big mover, on the way to a tenacious finishing place of 5th.

Gulyas (HUN) was a little slow on her first visit to the range, but the second shoot was better and the third one (8sec) made it look all but certain that gold would be hers.

Sunwoo (KOR) may not have had enough to catch the lead woman but she was very solid in keeping her distance from the battles taking shape behind her.

Oteiza (FRA) was the first to concede ground to the pack, and soon Maliszewska (POL) and Bryson (GBR) came into the podium equation. It was on the last visit to the range that Bryson (GBR) made the crucial break, starting the season with a third major medal after her exciting breakthrough in 2023.

The outstanding Laser Run of the Women’s Final belonged to Mariya Gnedtchik (AIN), who stormed around the course in 10:57.90.

Men’s Final

Riding

Refusing to buckle to the pressure of defending his title on home soil, Elgendy (EGY) led the way with an immaculate ride to register 300 points along with Jean-Baptiste Mourcia (FRA), Kasperczak (POL) and team-mates Balazs Szep (HUN) and Richard Bereczki (HUN), with Mohamed (EGY) only conceding one time penalty.

With so many eyes on the performance of French athletes ahead of Paris 2024, it was Christopher Patte (FRA) – a former gold medallist here – who had the responsibility of taking the last ride. And his chances of a repeat triumph came to a shuddering halt as a series of refusals led to the only elimination of the Final.

 

Fencing

Patte (FRA) had the edge on the piste, both in the Ranking Round where he scored 24V/11D and in the Bonus Round where he denied Marvin Dogue of Germany in the last bout for four additional points.

Dogue (GER) and Kasperczak (POL) each scored 23 victories, with Elgendy (EGY) in a clutch of athletes who managed 20V/15D. The star of the Bonus Round with five victories was Szep (HUN).

Swimming

Mohamed (EGY), the 2023 Under 19 world champion, showed once again that the Olympic medallist in his team was not going to cruise to the finish line. With a swim of 2:02.56 he outpaced Elgendy (EGY, 2:03.64) and Csaba Bohm (HUN, 2:04.12) to notch another 305 points.

 

Laser Run

Having started alongside Elgendy (EGY), Kasperczak (POL) briefly overtook the favourite after the first shoot, while Mohamed (EGY) shook off Charles Brown (GBR) and started to work on his 9sec deficit. That changed on the fourth 600m, as the teenager gave everything in pursuit of Elgendy (EGY) and turned the race into a duel.

The two-time winner used all his experience to stay calm, especially at the shooting range where his last three visits all lasted less than 8sec. An exceptional mastery of the technical and mental aspects of laser shooting allowed him to set off on the final lap with a 56sec cushion that proved to be just enough.

A pack containing Valentin Belaud (FRA), Dogue (GER) and Bohm (HUN) looked menacing, but none of them had the staying power to shoot well back-to-back, leading to the remarkable sight of two bespectacled Egyptians in their all-black outfits being roared around the course in a race for glory.

Mourcia (FRA) was superb in Laser Run, with a time of 9:58 enabling him to finish an impressive 4th and put further pressure on the French Olympic team selectors.

President’s reaction

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: “Here in Cairo, throughout the first competition of the Paris 2024 Olympic season we have seen female and male athletes who have been prepared at a high level.

“This morning in the Women’s Final we saw a fantastic competition with a very exciting Laser Run climax with many athletes changing places. The horses selected through the Army were very good, ensuring that conditions for all athletes were similar – which is the basis of a successful competition.

“It was a great achievement for the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation to have the first two places in the Men’s Final, but also congratulations to our Hungarian athlete who won the Women’s Final with a big difference to 2nd place.

“It was good also to see a Korean female athlete on the podium, underlining the global movement of Modern Pentathlon – and this is what we want see, with athletes from different continents competing for success. Now we look forward to a great Mixed Relay event tomorrow.”

 

Watch and follow

UIPM 2024 Pentathlon World Cup Cairo concludes tomorrow (March 10) with the Mixed Relay.

Live stream is available on UIPM TV and all competition results are available at the UIPM website and via the UIPM Central app.