Egypt secures 4 spots in Pentathlon World Championships finals

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ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Host nation Egypt secured two spots in the women's finals of the 2022 Pentathlon World Championships held by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) here on Friday.

One of the youngest pentathletes in the competition, Malak Ismail, 17, persistently managed to prove herself in the semifinals of fencing, swimming and laser run, which combines both shooting and running, to reach Saturday's 18-athlete finals with her teammate Salma Abdel-Maksoud.

"We worked very hard in training to reach this level of performance. Competing with all these strong foreign athletes gives me a very big experience, given that this is my first year to compete with seniors," she told Xinhua after finishing the laser run.

"Our Egyptian team is now very strong whether in men's or women's competitions," Ismail added.

On Thursday, Egypt's Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist Ahmed El-Gendy and his younger brother Mohamed qualified for the men's finals, which will also be held on Saturday.

Egypt has won a gold in the women's team relay and a silver in the men's team relay.

The progress was a result of "systematic plans" implemented by the country's modern pentathlon federation over the past decade, according to Hesham Suleiman, running coach of the Egyptian team.

"The planning focuses on preparing athletes from a young age. Now our pentathlon team has become one of the best in the world, and our athletes managed to stand on all winner podiums starting from eight years old," Suleiman said.

Italy's 2019 silver medalist Elena Micheli topped the women's overall standings and made an easy way to the finals through outstanding performances in fencing and laser run.

"This kind of competition is quite tiring, and the hot weather makes it even more difficult. But I trained hard for this and I hope for the best in the finals tomorrow," Micheli told Xinhua.

Other finalists came from Hungary, South Korea, Mexico, Britain, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, France, Spain, the Czech Republic and Germany.

Oliver Mayan of Mexico was the only one of her eight-athlete team - four men and four women - to make it to the finals.

"I achieved the eighth place in the Pentathlon World Championships in Mexico, but I hope I make a big achievement in the finals," said the Mexican athlete.

Gathering modern athletes from over 40 countries and regions, the championships that started on July 24 is held in Alexandria's Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, which provides competition venues and also accommodation to all participants.

UIPM President Klaus Schormann expressed happiness with the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation's organization of the big event and the adequate facilities that provide comfort to participating athletes. Enditem

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