Rome, Italy

May 21, 2009 to May 24, 2009

UIPM PRESS RELEASE- WOMEN'S FINAL

 

 

                                                                              PRESS RELEASE

 


MODERN PENTATHLON

Rome World Cup #4:

Women's Final

 

 

Rome, 24 May 2009 - The top 36 women were in action today in the final day of competition at World Cup #4 in Rome. After taking home silver in two of the previous world cups, Aya Medany of Egypt finally had her golden moment, crossing the line with the Egyptian flag draped on her shoulders and happy to have had her moment. Silver medal went to Leila Gyenesei of Hungary who had consistently good performances through out the day and lead at the beginning of the combined event. Evdokia Gretchichnikova (RUS) rose from eleventh position at the start of the combined event to cross for the bronze.

 

In the first event of the day, fencing, Elena Rublevska (LAT) made her mark with 26 victories (9 defeats) to lead the field with 1024 points. She was closely followed by a group of three athletes - Adrienn Toth (HUN), Polina Struchtkova (RUS) and Anfisa Kasyanava (BLR), all with 976 points (24V/11D).  

 

At the pool, Gyenesei had an impressive swim in 2:09.71 to finish first in the field and giving her 1244 points placing her second overall after two events. Pre-competition favourite, Medany also had a good swim winning her heat receiving 1164 points and moving up the rank to sixth after two events. But it was Strutchtkova with the second fastest swim of the day, who took the top spot in the field after two events with a combined score of 2168 points heading to the equestrian.

 

It was a case of extremes at the equestrian, when seven athletes achieved the perfect score of 1200 and five athletes failed to complete the course all receiving 0 points. In what was a unique occurrence, the five athletes all received DNF (did not finish) for a range of reasons from making a jump in the wrong direction to not completing the ride in the obligatory time. On the other hand, the seven with perfect scores were relieved to have the additional points elevate them on the overall ranks, but only one athlete Sabrina Crognale (ITA) had enough points overall to push her into the top ten in ninth position. Gyenesei improved her overall position after three events to lead the field with a five second advantage at the start of the combined event.

 

Long gone has predicting the podium finish in modern pentathlon with the new combined event format. Gyenesei held her lead through the first two rounds, but Medany who started in fifth gradually made up ground in the first two runs to come into the final round of shooting only 10 seconds behind Gyenesei. Medany shot five from five while Gyenesei struggled with two misses to slow her down. As a result Medany led from the shoot to the final 1000m with a 15 second lead. Gyenesei exited the range second, followed a further 13 seconds later by Gretchichnikova in third. Medany ran with all her strength to ensure her lead and secure in the knowledge she was first, took the Egyptian flag from her supporters in the final 200 metres of the course. Crossing the line Medany was ecstatic that she finally had gold, after two silver medals in Mexico and Cairo. She also had the fastest time in the field completing the event in an impressive 12:12.04. Gyenesei and Gretchichnikova maintained their positions on the course to finish second and third respectively.  

 

Medany now shares the lead with Laura Asadauskaite in the World Cup Standings with 175 points. The World Cup standings set out the qualified athletes for the World Cup Final which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in September.

 

Of the six Italian athletes in the final, Allessia Pieretti relying on her long international experience was the most successful coming in at sixteenth with 5160 points.

 

 

PODIUM POSITIONS

Gold: Aya Medany (EGY) - 5656                         Medal presented by Mr Mauro Tirinannzi, UIPM Sport Director

Silver: Leila Gyenesei (HUN) - 5596                     Medal presented by Mr Gyula Bretz, UIPM Treasurer

Bronze: Evdokia Gretchichnikova (RUS) - 5544     Medal presented by Mr Fabio Pigozzi, UIPM Medical Chair

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

-END-

 

UNION INTERNATIONALE DE PENTATHLON MODERNE (UIPM)

Tel. +377 9777 8555 Fax.+377 9777 8550

E-mail: uipm@pentathlon.org

Website: http://www.pentathlon.org