Cairo, Egypt
April 16, 2009 to April 19, 2009
UIPM PRESS RELEASE - WOMEN'S FINAL
PRESS RELEASE
MODERN PENTATHLON
Cairo World Cup #2:
Women's Final
Cairo, 18 April 2009 - In an exciting finale to the day's competition, Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania showed her preference and skill for the combined event, coming from fourth after three events to take the gold medal in the second World Cup of the season. Her speed on the run aided her from the beginning as she exited the range after the first shooting series in equal third and each of the next 1km rounds continued to make up ground. Aya Medany on home soil had the crowd wild with excitement as she took control of the lead after the second series of the shooting. But the speed of Asadauskaite could not be tamed and Medany was out run in the last 400m to take silver. Overall leader throughout the day Amelie Cazé of France fought hard and had an impressive run to complete the podium with the bronze medal.
To recap the day's events, Amelie Cazé of France was the leader throughout the day, having started with a strong fence where she scored the highest, an impressive 29V/6D, for 1092 points. In what was a repeat of the first World Cup in Mexico, Egyptian Aya Medany placed second with 1000 points. The two women show they are top of the international field in the moment with impressive bouts, confidently facing their opponents. To the pool the two competed in two separate heats based on their qualification times from Thursday. Medany in Heat 4 was the fastest with 2:16.00 earning her 1168 points, but it was not enough to topple Cazé who in Heat 5 touched for third in a time of 212.80 and 1208 points, extending her lead to 2304 over Medany's total of 2168. Hungarian Leila Gyenesei had the fastest swim in the pool with a time of 2:08.92.
Out on the riding course at the Cairo Equestrian Stadium, Cazé suffered a set-back with a difficult ride incurring a time penalty of 68 point and a further 40 points for obstacles. This placed her 22nd overall in the event and only resulting in 1092 points. However this was still enough to keep her in the lead overall after three events with a total 3396 points giving her a lead of 34 seconds as she heads to the combined event. As if to make the competition at the top more intense, Medany also had difficulties on the course , ironically earning the same points as Cazé (1092) but placing one better in the event as a result of finishing the course faster. So, again, after three events Medany sat behind Cazé on 3260 points. The best rides of the day were achieved by Donata Rimsaite (LTU) and Anfisa Kasyanava (BLR) who were 20 points short (1180) of a perfect score (1200) due to one knockdown on the course.
Heading to the combined, the top five pentathletes start within 52 seconds, a significant lead for Cazé with 34 seconds in advance of Medany. Following her was Polina Struchtkova (RUS) at 38 seconds, then Lucie Grolichova (CZE) and Laura Asadauskaite (LTU) both on 52 seconds.
In the combined event the intensity of competition left everyone with goose bumps and the crowd on the edge of their seats as the battle for gold was played out. As the leader Cazé headed out the start gate onto the range, taking three shots before Medany joined her to the delight of the home crowd. She was soon followed by Struchtkova, Grolichova and Asadauskaite. Cazé started her 1km as the other three reached their stations. Medany soon followed making up ground with her fast shooting skills. Returning to the range there only remained 10 metres between the two, with Medany running beside her in the range. The tension mounted when both missed their first shot. In the meantime Asadauskaite had made up ground to return in third position.
Cazé was the first to finish her five shots and back out, Medany followed within 20 metres. Asadauskaite wasted no time and fires out of the range in pursuit. For the third series Medany returns to the range in first. The crowd went wild! Cazé felt the pressure of Asadauskaite who made up significant time following with less then 2 metres. In the range Cazé and Medany are shot for shot after 3. Cazé missed the fourth and Medany had the advantage. Medany hit the next two and was out for the final 1km. The crowd was beside themselves with excitement, every one shouting for Medany, edging her along. Cazé is next, but Asadauskaite is too close and overtakes within the first 100m on the course. As the athletes slipped out of view the crowd waited in anticipation of their return with all hopes on Medany maintaining her lead from the powering Lithuanian. It is Asadauskaite who appears first and does not break a stride with the finish line in site and happily taking home the gold. Medany puts in a gallant effort in front of the fans but it is not enough, crossing the line for silver while Cazé received the bronze.
Full results and footage from the competition can be viewed on www.pentathlon.org
GENERAL INFORMATION
The 2009 World Cup Series of Modern Pentathlon now includes the new combined event format, adopted by the UIPM Congress in November 2008. The combined event is the continuous combination of the shoot and run disciplines, where athletes commence with 5 shots (in time limit of 70 seconds) followed by 1km run. This is repeated two further times for a total of 15 shots and 3km run. For more information on the combined event see www.pentathlon.org
So that fans around the world can watch these great athletes, and share in the excitement of the combined event, the UIPM will be broadcasting the finals live via internet TV on 28 and 29 March. The broadcast will include highlights of the fence and swim events as well as live coverage of the riding and combined events.
The Cairo World Cup is the second in a series of 5 events in the following two months which will culminate in the World Cup final to be held in Rio de Janeiro 12-13 September. The first competition was held in Mexico 26-29 March.
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UNION INTERNATIONALE DE PENTATHLON MODERNE (UIPM)
Tel. +377 9777 8555 Fax.+377 9777 8550
E-mail: uipm@pentathlon.org
Website: http://www.pentathlon.org
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