Paris 2024: Ahmed Elgendy wins Egypt's first gold medal in the men's modern pentathlon. Team GB's Joe Choong ninth
Published 10/08/2024 at 22:06 GMT+1
Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy has secured Africa’s first ever gold medal in the men’s modern pentathlon, dominating across all five disciplines to improve on his silver medal from Tokyo 2020. Team Great Britain’s reigning Olympic champion Joe Choong was left with too much to do in the laser run, finishing ninth.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy crowned a dominant performance in the men’s modern pentathlon to take his country and continent's first-ever gold in the event in the laser run.
The 24-year-old entered the final round of the event with a 17-point advantage, and led throughout with no slip-ups in the five 600m runs or four shooting rounds.
He was able to treat his final run as something of a victory lap, rounding the final corner and drinking in the applause from a raucous French crowd, before crossing the line and dropping to the floor in prayer.
The Egyptian had given himself the best shot at gold by ranking second in Thursday’s fencing ranking round - winning 24 and losing 11 bouts to give himself a 245 point head-start entering the first of the finals rounds.
A faultless 300 points in the showjumping kept Elgendy at the top of the table, while his compatriot Mohanad Shaban was eliminated - his horse throwing him to the ground.
His dominance in the fencing ranking meant he would be the last pentathlete to enter the winner-stays-on fencing bonus - a bout he lost against South Korea’s Woongtae Jun - but it had no real impact on his place at the top of the table.
A solid swim - where he finished second in his heat - would solidify his advantage, and he would start with a 17-second lead over second-placed Alexandre Dallenbach (Switzerland) and Jun.
Elgendy had clear track in front of him and wasn’t taking any chances - extending his lead to 20 seconds midway through the second running leg.
His shooting improved with every round too, allowing him to ease up a little on the runs without risking his position.
Behind him though, a battle for the remaining medal spots was underway. A terrible first round in the shooting range saw Dallenbach sink like a stone, with Japan’s Taishu Sato and Jun coming to the fore.
It looked like it would be a straight shoot-out between the duo, until the final lap, when a poor shot put Jun under pressure from a chasing pack of Italians.
The South Korean appeared to be flagging, while Italy’s Giorgio Malan was in the ascendency. When Malan kicked as he passed Jun on the final lap, the latter had no response - eventually dropping to sixth overall.
The move would see the Italian claim bronze, while Sato secured silver.
It wasn’t to be for Team Great Britain’s reigning Olympic champion Joe Choong though. A poor fencing ranking round left the 29-year-old with it all to do, and entering the laser run in 14th with a 50-second disadvantage on Elgendy, it would take a miracle for him to win back-to-back medals.
The Brit battled valiantly, but the deficit prooved too much, although a surge in the final lap good enough to see him finish ninth.
Bryson and French through to the women’s finals
The Chateau de Versailles venue also witnessed the women’s semi-finals before the action got underway for the men.
Team Great Britain’s Kate French and Kerenza Bryson were both competing in semi-final A, with each giving themselves a good shot at progressing after ranking in third and fifth respectively in Thursday’s fencing ranking round.
Both had solid showjumping rounds, Bryson scoring a perfect 300 aboard Galant De Bois Brule, while French only clipped one fence to score 293 on Carioka D’Illiat. There was drama elsewhere in the field though - Germany’s Annika Zillekens suffering a near-repeat of her refusal misfortune from Tokyo 2020, while Egypt’s Salma Abdelmaksoud was thrown from her house to be eliminated.
After French and Bryson’s impressive fencing ranking round, there was less opportunity to rack up the points in the subsequent bonus round, while both had middling swims.
But it didn’t matter in the laser run, Bryson’s advantage enough for her to take the win, while reigning Olympic champion French finished comfortably in the qualifying spots in fifth.
In the other semi-final, home favourite Elodie Clouvel took the win in the laser run, while there was confusion in the opening showjumping round when Mexico’s Mariana Arceo kept riding despite being eliminated after three refusals.
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