UIPM 2018 Tetrathlon U19 World Championships: Italy retain Women’s Relay gold again

Alice Rinaudo celebrated her second gold medal of the UIPM 2018 Under 19 Tetrathlon World Championships as she teamed up with Maria Lea Lopez to win the Women’s Relay for Italy for the third year in succession.

Rinaudo (ITA) won the Women’s Individual Final on Tuesday after setting a new world record in Fencing, and Lopez (ITA) followed her home to claim the silver medal. Today the Italian duo were on top of the podium together wearing gold medals and huge smiles.

Gu Yewen, the individual bronze medallist, also returned to the podium after winning silver for China alongside Yuan Xin.

China were promoted to 2nd position after Egypt (Mariam Amer & Amira Kandil) were relegated to 3rd for the violation of a clothing rule. They had to accept bronze after being given a 10sec penalty when the Jury of Appeal ruled that they had worn non-conforming/matching clothing.

Behind the medallists, Korea (Lee Hwayoung & Yoon Yangji) finished 4th among the 20 competing nations ahead of Russia (Yana Solovyeva & Viktoria Novikova) in 5th and France (Clemence Reboisson & Elise Coste) in 6th.

Rinaudo (ITA) said: “It feels fantastic to win this gold medal. After the Fencing, we didn’t believe this could happen because although we won the Fencing, we didn’t have such a big score.

“But we remained positive and even after Maria’s first shoot, we kept hoping, and here we are, world champions for the second time.”

Lopez (ITA), who won gold in Prague (CZE) in 2017 alongside Beatrice Mercuri, added: “There isn’t much difference because a World Championships gold medal always feels the same. I’m really happy to share this medal with Alice.”

FENCING

Italy (Rinaudo/Lopez) were the best performers on the piste as they emerged from the Ranking Round with 29V/9D and two extra points in the Bonus Round. Egypt (Amer/Kandil) and China (Gu/Yuan) each managed 27D/11D.

SWIMMING

The fastest swimmers were Egypt (Amer/Kandil) with a time of 2:04.06, but China (Gu/Yuan) were not far behind on 2:04.85 and Spain (Andrea Medina Gonzalez & Laura Heredia) timed 3rd with 2:05.35.

LASER-RUN

The results of the first two disciplines were reflected in the line-up for the decisive Laser-Run. Italy (Rinaudo/Lopez) set off with a slender 6sec advantage over Egypt (Amer/Kandil) and 7sec over China (Gu/Yuan).

Gu (CHN) took the lead from Rinaudo (ITA) after the 2nd shoot and then Amer (EGY) claimed the initiative after a perfect 3rd shoot. A truly gripping contest continued on the 3rd running lap with Lopez (ITA) and Amer (EGY) leaving the range together for the final circuit.

That was where Lopez (ITA) finally made the decisive break from Amer (EGY), who managed to hold off the challenge of Yuan (CHN), finishing 2nd by only 1sec before those two places were reversed by competition officials.

The dramatic conclusion was watched by Joao Paulo Rebelo, Portugal’s Secretary of State for Sport and Youth, who said: “For Portugal, every international competition that can take place here is good news for us.

“Portugal, as you know, is a country well known for the capacity of organisation of this kind of event and of course we usually have good weather. For this one, the weather was challenging, but I’m sure that lots of countries are used to this weather in April.

“There are good conditions for practising sports here in Portugal and we organise these events very well. We are proud of Manuel Barosso, President of the Portuguese Modern Pentathlon Federation, and I congratulate them and UIPM for staging this excellent event in Caldas da Rainha.”

The biggest-ever gathering of teenage pentathletes has assembled for the UIPM 2018 Under 19 Tetrathlon World Championships, with more than 220 athletes registered to take part across seven days of competition.

The action continues tomorrow (April 13) with the Men’s Relay before the Mixed Relay concludes the competition on April 14. For results visit the UIPM website.