Star of the show - Sports - Al-Ahram Weekly
Modern pentathlon's most thrilling talent confirmed her arrival on the top scene on the final day of a historic 2025 Pentathlon World Cup in Cairo.
She is 14-year-old Farida Khalil of Egypt who, according to The International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM), has been sweeping up age-group world titles for the past couple of years. Khalil was unleashed on the seniors in the week they tackled the obstacle for the first time – and showed them how it was done across all five disciplines, winning the gold medal in style.
At the Modern Pentathlon World Cup, held from 25 February to 1 March at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Khalil received her gold medal from International Olympic Committee member Aya Medani, who herself competed in the first of her three Olympic Games at the age of 15. Few would be surprised if Khalil became a star of LA28, such has been her meteoric development.
After a surprising defeat in fencing, Khalil stood out in the obstacle - which replaced equestrian - and swimming, securing gold by a remarkable margin of 19sec with the third-fastest laser run time. Two individual neutral athletes (AIN) status joined Khalil on the podium for the first time, as Viyaleta Hureyeva comfortably secured silver and Anastasiya Malashenoka claimed bronze under pressure from Paris 2024 Olympic champion Michelle Gulyas of Hungary, who was forced to accept fourth place as a new generation signaled their intent to shake up the sport on the road to Los Angeles 2028. Gulyas was expected to be the main threat to Khalil in the women's final.
Khalil shared her feelings after winning first place. 'I am very happy to get this medal, and I worked very hard to get it,' Khalil told journalists. 'It is something special. All the hard work I did in the last few years went into getting this medal, and it's the first step towards getting the Olympic medal.'
Asked how she had managed her fasting obligations during the month of Ramadan which began 1 March, Kahlil said her dream 'is bigger than any kind of fasting. I showed that I needed to get this medal, and I got it.'
Fresh from a breakthrough fifth place at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Matteo Cicinelli of Italy took his confidence to a whole new level with gold in the men's final.
A consistent performer across all five disciplines and mastering the new format, Cicinelli was runner-up in fencing, sixth fastest in the obstacle and second fastest in swimming, before chewing up the 10sec lead held by Mohanad Shaaban of Egypt in the laser run. The Egyptian ended up having to hold on for bronze, as Mihali Koleszar of Hungary joined Cicinelli in becoming a first-time pentathlon World Cup medalist with an impressive silver, finishing just 9sec behind the champion.
'I have to take the bronze medal,' Shaaban told the media after the tournament. 'Maybe this is the first time I got a medal in Cairo. In the shooting today, I struggled too much. Maybe it was a bad day, but I'm happy because I did the new obstacle race very well.
'I'm also happy that the youngest Shaaban [Shaaban's brother] is in the top 10, as well as Mohamed Hassan and Moutaz Mohamed. Congratulations to all of them; we have a very good team, and with the new discipline I believe Egypt will be the best in it.
'I'm happy that I got the bronze medal, but in my situation, I should have got the gold medal because I'm a good shooter and a good runner. After the first shoot was so bad, I told myself there would be a good finish, so save the energy,' Shaaban said.
The five-day event which took place at the sports complex of AUC, was the season-opening Pentathlon World Cup. AUC was playing host for the fourth time. This year there were 35 countries competing for the UIPM trophy. UIPM is the international governing body of the modern pentathlon.
Modern pentathlon got rid of its horse competitions after the Paris Games and instead brought in obstacle courses following high-profile instances of animal abuse.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 6 March, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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