Rome, Italy
May 21, 2009 to May 24, 2009
UIPM PRESS RELEASE- MEN'S FINAL
PRESS RELEASE
MODERN PENTATHLON
Rome World Cup #4:
Men's Final
Rome, 23 May 2009 - The top 36 men lined up today for the last international competition prior to the World Championships in August. Russian, Ilia Frolov took line honours as he crossed in a sprint finish with Adam Marosi of Hungary. World Champion 2008, Frolov had yet to showcase his skills in the new combined format but proved he is more then capable. Christopher Patte, the 19 year old Frenchman had the competition of his young career when he crossed in third having risen from an 18th starting position, demonstrating his strong potential in the future of the sport.
On the pistes for the start to the day, Mihail Prokopenko (BLR) took the lead early after three rounds. Two rounds later and it was Italian Luigi Quatro who came through with the Kirpulyanskyy brothers - Pavlo and Dmytro following close. Halfway through however it was Riccardo De Luca (ITA) who had equalled the lead with Prokopenko. De Lucca continued to dominate through the remaining half of the fencing to lead at the end of the event with 1024 points (26V/9D). Meanwhile Prokopenko dropped to third (904 points) while Adam Marosi (HUN) rounded out the top three in second (928 points).
Taking a refreshing dip in the pool, the battle is between the two hottest swimmers in the sport - Amro El Geziry (EGY) and Nicolas Woodbridge. It was El Geziry, the stronger of the two who took out the event in 1:58.29, with Woodbridge following in 1:59.18. Marosi, kept his consistent form for third in 2:01.63 enough to push him to the lead overall after two events with 2272 points. El Geziry moved up into second while De Lucca moved back to third position.
In an unfortunate turn of events at the equestrian, De Lucca failed to ride resulting in 0 points and dropping down the field to final position. However, for Marosi the ride was golden with a perfect score of 1200 points cementing his position at the top of the table after three events. Three other athletes - Nicolas Woodbridge (GBR), Dong-soo Park (KOR) and Shinichi Tomii (JPN) also achieved 1200 points with perfect rounds.
Turning their attention to the combined event the final event of the day, Marosi started out as the clear favourite. A consistently strong athlete who has also adapted well to the combined format was sure to make the podium with a 25 second start on the rest of the field. Holding his lead until the very last moment when Ilia Frolov out ran him in a sprint finish. World Champion 2008, Frolov had not yet displayed his strength in the combined. Starting in seventh position with a 35 second handicap he gradually made up his ground with strong shooting and running having only 8 seconds separating him and Marosi as they set out for the final 1000 metres. Frolov gave everything in the last 50m with gold insight. Also, in a huge surprise Christopher Patte of France, took the bronze medal. Having started in 18th position, the young 19 year old had an amazing performance in 10:49.00, proving he has a lot of potential. Nicola Benedetti (ITA) had the best performance in the field in a time of 10:34.00
With 8 Italian athletes competing on home soil the competition was definitely in favour of a successful result for the host country. Unfortunately a podium position did not eventuate but two athletes in the top six is impressive! Fifth place went to Luigi Quatro (5960) and sixth place was Federico Giancamilli (5928).
PODIUM POSITIONS
Gold: Ilia Frolov (RUS) - 6060 Medal presented by Mr Joël Bouzou, UIPM Secretary General
Silver: Adam Marosi (HUN) - 6060 Medal presented by Mr Gyula Bretz, UIPM Treasurer
Bronze: Christopher Patte (FRA) - 6008 Medal presented by Mr Mauro Tirinannzi, UIPM Sport Director
The full results can be obtained on www.pentathlon.org
GENERAL INFORMATION
As has been demonstrated in the first three world cups of the season, the new combined event format is an exciting finish to the day of competition, with the changing momentum of the competition in the final 15 minutes. 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 broadcast the finals live via internet TV on 23 and 24 May. The broadcast will include highlights of the fence and swim events as well as live coverage of the riding and combined events.
The Rome World Cup is the fourth in a series of 5 events which will culminate in the World Cup final to be held in Rio de Janeiro 12-13 September. The 2009 World Championships will be held in London, England 13-17 August.
