THE Men’s final of the 2024 Pentathlon World Cup in Budapest saw Egyptian pentathlete Mohamed Al-Gendi and Balazs Szep of Hungary emerging from the pack to stun the leaders and win gold and silver respectively in an epic finish.
Mohanad Shaaban added yet another medal for the North African powerhouse nation.
Egypt have now won six of the nine medals in the men’s finals during this Pentathlon World Cup season, a treasure chest of glory shared by four athletes. A fifth team member, Ahmed Hamed, finished fourth as Egypt and Hungary filled the entire top six.
“I’m so happy with this result,” Al-Gendi said. “I have been training for such a moment. In the last two World Cups I was not able to get a podium due to the riding and a mistake in the shooting. I am so happy with this medal.
“At the beginning of the laser run I didn’t think that I could get gold, or even a medal, because it was so hard during the race. I was closing and closing, so I’m so happy that I did it – the last 600m was so hard for me.
“I’m sharing a room with my brother Ahmed and I’m so happy to get a medal. It’s my first medal in a World Cup and it’s a gold medal. I was just waiting for this moment for two years, and finally I got it.”
Teammate bronze medalist Shaaban told the media that the race was tough. “The Egyptian team has so much competition with each other, and the Hungarians are so strong. It was a hard race in the laser run, and until the last race we didn’t know who would win the competition,” he said. “I am back to the podium but I don’t feel happy because I can perform better than I did in this race. Maybe the shooting was too bad today, and maybe in the next competition it will be all good.”
* A version of this article appears in print in the 2 May, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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