Modern Pentathlon at Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Men’s Semi-final B reaction

Modern Pentathlon competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games moved to the stunning surrounds of the Palace of Versailles on Friday where the Men’s Semi-finals took place. Here is a rapid round-up of athlete reaction from the Mixed Zone after Semi-final B:

Woongtae Jun (KOR), 2nd in Semi-final B: “Tomorrow I want to go the podium, I don’t mind about the colour of the medal. I’m having a great competition and looking forward to the Final here in Paris. Today was a very nice warm-up. I made a little mistake in the Riding and today because it was a Semi-final, it was OK but tomorrow is the Final of the competition and it will not be so easy. My partner Changwan Seo is also going to the Final so I’m very happy. It’s a great competition arena which is nice, very good for performance. Tomorrow I hope to show what I can do in the Final. There are so many people at the competition, so I’m very happy. It’s a very good experience for pentathletes. Pentathlon is a beautiful sport and now that the five disciplines take place in only 90 minutes, it is difficult for athletes when we have Qualification, Semi-finals and Finals. At the Olympic Games we only have Semi-finals and Finals. The new rules create a lot of excitement for the many people watching here.”

Giorgio Malan (ITA), 3rd in Semi-final B: “I feel good. It was my first Olympic Games. I love to be in the final and I’m super happy. The feelings in the sport are not up to my absolute best but this is OK, today is the Semi-final. Tomorrow is the Final and I will do my very best. In Swimming I think I can do one second faster and in shooting I can do better but today with the crowd it was difficult, but very cool.

"Here it’s so beautiful, the crowd, my family, my friends are here. In my mind it means more. I enjoyed it very much. It’s like a dream. Every athlete wants to go to an Olympic Games for this and now I feel it in my skin. It’s very cool. I hope to enjoy the race tomorrow and give my best and then I will see the results.”

Marvin Dogue (GER), 6th in Semi-final B: “I’m happy with a little bit of relief. The group was quite tough, you know. With the Semi-finals in the Fencing you never know. But now I’m happy to compete tomorrow again and let’s see what’s going to happen.

"It always takes some time, the same with Fencing, you need the first 20 minutes to adapt because you’re not used to the situation, but I really enjoyed it in the end. The horses were really perfect. They were great. With mine I got two knockdowns but I talked to my coach beforehand and knew [the horse] had had two knockdowns in the pre-Riding so then you think, two knockdowns is OK. I hope tomorrow I will have a better ride and then we will see.”

Balazs Szep (HUN), 7th in Semi-final B: “This is my first Olympic Games. I am so happy. It’s all a little bit unbelievable for me to have qualified for the Final. This was a hard day, I believed it would have been a little bit easier. Today I didn’t have my strongest, in every sport there was a little bit of a mistakes so tomorrow I want to do a little bit better. It’s very good to compete here in front of the crowds. My mother is here. It’s a very good feeling with the French people. I like it.”

Joseph Choong (GBR), 8th in Semi-final B: “There’s quite a lot of relief, to be honest. I knew I needed almost a perfect day. I just made a mistake on the horse on 5 and 6, two down. I didn’t really lose any ground but I didn’t gain it, so I kinda thought that was likely it. It’s been a real battle.

"I had to really collect myself after every event, especially after last night. I’m just pleased that my Olympics isn’t over yet. I think last night really helped, just to get away from the Olympic bubble for a bit for a meal with my girlfriend, friends and family. It just sort of released a little bit of the pressure and almost reset, to remember what I’m doing it for. It made a big different mentally. It was able to make the difference today.

"Unfortunately I think the medal results are out of my hands. I think I’m relying on some mistakes at the top of the field if I want to get close there. I thought my physicals were in the right place. It’s quite reassuring that I can put together a good performance tomorrow.”

Mohanad Shaban (EGY), 9th in Semi-final B: “We began the day with not a perfect score in the Fencing yesterday. At the beginning of this day, my horse wasn’t very good and I lost 14 points. Then in the Bonus Round I didn’t get any bonus. In the Swimming I did 2:04, it’s really bad. Then the Laser Run was not very good but at least I qualified today.

"Tomorrow is a new day and a new competition, I hope to do better. For me I have self-confidence and trust myself that I have a great finish in the last lap. I knew where I needed to be after the final laser shooting and to see that I could catch the 9th place so i could qualify. I did it tactically.”

Charles Brown (GBR), 10th in Semi-final B: “That was almost what I wanted in this competition, the first step anyway. I just missed out, so I'm not making tomorrow's Final despite doing everything I could. I tried my hardest today but unfortunately, the Fencing Ranking Round yesterday was just too low a score to climb back up.

"This has been a dream come true. It’s been incredible. I'm so grateful to have this experience. I worked so hard for this and it's something that Team GB have done a really good job, making this experience really good as well as the French crowd. That was amazing to see. I could still hear my family and friends loud and clear as well as the French. There was so much noise, sometimes I couldn’t tell if it was French or English. No matter what the crowd was doing, I was going to try my hardest.”

Vladyslav Chekan (UKR), 11th in Semi-final B: “In my opinion I have had a tough first Olympic experience in the Fencing round, because I had to compete with this much noise around me, with people screaming. But today was just wonderful. It was a fairytale for me. From the horse riding to the running, everything was a dream. I was so close.

"I started in the 9th place and usually at previous competitions, I start at a position 8-11 and usually I have to run to the Finals. Today I tried my best but my opponents were better than usual. They were so prepared. I know that I pushed everything I had until the last metres.

"I just finished junior years last year, and already have competed with Obstacle race back to the Junior World Championships. I’m a guy who was OK and maybe even good with changing the horse to the obstacle, because of the horse draw, every Olympic Games something bad happening to the athletes. And it’s so painful when you train all your life, a sports career is so small compared to the whole life so when a horse is destroying all your preparation, it was not so good. Obstacle in this moment is much better because it’s all in your hands.”

Andres Fernandez (GUA), 13th in Semi-final B: “I am happy. It’s a lot. For now, it’s a lot of emotions. I enjoyed it very very much from the first event to the finish line. It’s an unforgettable experience. It’s what we all dream about. I would like to have been able to give my country so much more, to make them more proud. I know they are proud. But it’s tough. I am really happy and I am grateful to everyone. I am never going to forget this. I am going to work to make sure this will not be my last.”

Oleksandr Tovkai (UKR), 17th in Semi-final B: “To be honest, I don’t know what happened because in the warm-up everything went OK. It was normal. I had a good horse and everything was fine. Then something happened on an obstacle, I can’t explain it. Maybe a horse was afraid, maybe I lost control for a moment. Then I lost myself after it. I was so nervous about it, when I had that refusal I couldn’t imagine what was next. I will continue my sports career after the Olympics and try the new format.”