With seven medals, hosts Egypt finished top of the medals table at the Under-17 Modern Pentathlon Championships, wrapping up the five-day event by winning four gold, two silver and a bronze.
Altogether 210 athletes from 35 nations took part in the first global youth competition to feature a five-discipline pentathlon run according to the sequence: fencing, obstacle, swimming, and laser run — combining shooting and running — that will be adopted in the modern pentathlon after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Farida Khalil drew the love of the crowd and made history as the first youth athlete to become individual world champion in the women’s final. Khalil was followed by Nadja Farmand of Germany and Annachiara Allara of Italy who claimed silver and bronze, respectively. The Egyptian female team doubled up with the team gold with Germany taking silver and Hungary bronze.
“It’s a great feeling and I thank God for this great accomplishment,” Khalil told the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) official website. “I’ve been working hard for about two years to reach this stage. I took it one step at a time. Whenever I finished one discipline, I focused on the next one and never told myself that the competition was over, even if I was doing well. I am very thankful for the inclusion of obstacle. I love riding, I love horses, but I think with riding I would have a very long way to prepare for it and train for it. Obstacle is very easy and quick for me to adapt and I feel that having five disciplines at this age gave me an advantage.”
Men’s bronze medalist Tamer Sadek said how he was very proud with his victory. “I would love to thank my coaches and my mother. At the beginning of the season it was so hard. I had a bad ankle injury, but thank God with all my doctors and coaches’ help, I made it to the World Championships and did my best. The last 600 m was such a hard competition between all the athletes but thank God I came third. I would like to congratulate all my fellow athletes. I think running is the best sport in pentathlon. I broke my 200 m record in swimming and obstacles too and I did very well in fencing. My dream is to compete in the Los Angeles Olympics 2028. Obstacle was so much fun and it felt so good to be competing.”
Having won the women’s individual and team gold a day before, and the women’s relay silver earlier in the week, Khalil completed a fruitful week with a significant podium finish — two gold and two silver medals as she signed off with a mixed relay silver alongside men’s teammate Omar Amer.
There was also a second bronze medal of the championships thanks to Linda Haraszin and Marcell Hugo Gyurka holding off the challenge of the Czech Republic’s Jakub Samiec and Alexandra Fernanades, as the world’s leading U-17s became the first in history to compete for world titles in a full, five-discipline pentathlon.
Egypt’s silver medalist Amer told journalists that the competition was difficult. “We were looking for the gold medal. We will stay positive and thankful for the silver medal. I think my first three shots were not good but after that it was okay. Obstacle was so good, swimming, fencing. I love the modern pentathlon. It was so beautiful to compete in front of our families here. I can’t describe this moment. Sure Egyptians are happy for us.”
UIPM Secretary-General Shiny Fang said the U-17 World Championships included a full pentathlon for the first time including fencing and the new obstacle race on top of swimming and laser run. “It makes a huge difference in the requirement of athletes to reach a competitive level across all disciplines, but our athletes met this challenge successfully and with incredible versatility.
“Seeing so many young, smiling faces around the competition is extremely inspiring; it’s like seeing the future of the sport-dynamic: embracing and super exciting. We had some educational workshops during the World Championships attended by retired athletes and current coaches, where our young athletes shared their motivations and ambitions. Being future Olympians is one of their shared dreams and wishes, but through the sport they also want to make friends, experience challenges and do their best for their country.”