World Military Games 2019: Glory for Clouvel (FRA) and host nation in Wuhan (CHN)

Elodie Clouvel of France became the World Military Games Modern Pentathlon champion after a typically resilient performance in the Women’s Final in Wuhan (CHN).

Silver went to Gulnaz Gubaydullina of Russia, while Salma Abdelmaksoud of Egypt won bronze and host nation China enjoyed a satisfying team gold medal.

Clouvel (FRA) was the top performer in Fencing, scoring 26V/9D, and second-fastest in the Swimming pool with a time of 2:12.54.

However, the Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist almost came unstuck in Riding, conceding 52 penalty points to allow her rivals to catch up in the overall standings.

Clouvel (FRA) needed to show her class in the Laser Run and she did just that, emerging with the second-fastest time of 12:18.38 to win by 8sec from Gubaydullina (RUS) with Abdelmaksoud (EGY) a further 10sec behind.

Anna Maliszewska of Poland finished 4th and the next two places went to local favourites Bian Yufei (CHN) and Wang Wei (CHN), leading China to the team gold medal with help from 14th-placed Wang Shiqi (CHN).

Russia claimed team silver thanks to Gubaydullina, Adelina Ibatullina (13th) and Kseniia Fraltsova (16th), while team bronze went to the Poland team of Maliszewska, Oktawia Nowacka (15th) and Natalia Dominiak (21st).

The global gathering of military competitions always draws a strong field as many of the world’s leading pentathletes seek to add another Category A medal to their portfolio.

Modern Pentathlon is one of 31 sports on the programme in Wuhan (CHN), where the official slogan is ‘Military Glory / World Peace’.

The Men’s Final takes place Friday, October 25 and the Mixed Relay on Saturday, October 26.

The competition is overseen by CISM Modern Pentathlon and its President, Col Nilton Rolim, and the UIPM Technical Delegate Dmitrii Menshikov, with UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann also in attendance.

Referees, judges and volunteers are provided by the Chinese Modern Pentathlon Association, which is preparing for a big year in 2020 as Xiamen (CHN) hosts the UIPM World Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships in May and the UIPM Congress in November.