After a massive day of competition, Egypt's Aya Medany won the title of the "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final. With less than a year to go until the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Medany put on a fantastic show across all five disciplines, and she was rewarded with a qualification position for next year's Olympics. She finished the day with 5,536 points, just eight points ahead of second-placed Elen Rublevska (LAT).
It was an emotional path to the top for Medany who started the day with a 182 (1,120 points) in the shooting discipline to rank ninth. Nineteen wins out of 35 bouts in the fencing discipline helped her maintain ranking, and as the competitors headed to the Ying Tung Natatorium for the swimming discipline Medany was still sitting in ninth place. A quick swim of 2:16.35 placed Medany in a great spot ahead with two final disciplines left at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium. The riding discipline saw the new World Cup champion score an additional 1,116 points, and with just the final discipline -- running -- to go, she was ready to attack in third position. She started the run with a handicap of nine seconds and immediately set the pace.
Rublevska entered the run in fourth place. But solid performances all day will give her plenty of encouragement and reassurance that she will be competitive in Beijing next year. Italy's Sara Bertoli was impressive to take the bronze medal, and while they were out of the medal rankings, Lada Jienbalanova (KAZ) and Russia's Tatiana Mouratova should be reasonably happy with their fourth and fifth place performances.
There were steady hands and cool heads as the competition kicked off at the Fencing Hall. Germany's Lena Schoneborn shot her way to the top with a score of 188 in shooting, for a total of 1,192 points. Mouratova and Belarus's Hanna Arkhipenka put in solid performances to pick up 1,156 and 1,144 points respectively before heading into the fencing competition.
Rublevska was a stand-out in the fencing discipline, recording 25 wins from 35 bouts. Katherine Linvigston (GBR) was close behind with 24 wins, and Poland's Edita Maloszyc was also successful with 23 wins. But it was Rublevska who was the most consistent in the two two disciplines, and she led the competition with 2,132 points ahead of Great Britain's Mhairi Spence and Livingston. Russia's Evdokia Gretchichnikova pulled out of the competition after the fencing discipline.
At the Ying Tung Natatorium all eyes were on USA's swimming sensation Sheila Taormina. After the four heats Taormina proved to be the fastest, finishing the 200m in 2:07.54. France's Amelie Caze and China's Xiu Xiu increased their scores substantially, finishing in 2:14.07 and 2:15.58 respectively. After completing more than half of the disciplines Caze stood at the top with a cumulative 3,324 points. But Spence (3,292 points) and Rublevska (3,284 points) were in good position with two disciplines remaining.
The riding and running disciplines can make or break a pentathlete's chances in a competition, and in a close encounter like today's, they are vital to a competitor's success. The outdoor arena at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium played host to both disciplines.
Heading into the riding competition, some nerves were beginning to show on the faces of the competitors. Riding is often the most challenging discipline, but Hungary's Vivien Mathe did well to achieve a perfect score. Bertoli and Poland's Edita Maloszyc both recorded scores of 1,172. The results of this discipline greatly influenced the standings heading into the handicapped 3000m run.
With a meager six-second start Caze was the first one off the blocks as the highest point-scorer (4,412 points) after four disciplines. Spence and Medany, who entered the final discipline with 4,388 and 4,376 points respectively, followed. However, Caze lost her lead within one lap from the start. Bertoli made great inroads to be just off the leading pace at the 1500m mark, but it was Spence, Medany and Rublevska who were the frontrunners. Medany led Rublevska and Bertoli with one lap to go, and with 200m left she streaked ahead and sprinted first across the line for the title. Caze scraped home in eighth position. The best time in the run was captured by Victoriia Tereshuk (UKR) at 9:36.18. She and her fellow competitors will have to improve substantially next year if they are to challenge the Olympic and World "Best Performance" running times of 08:29.00 and 09:10.69.
Medany's performance was not enough to challenge the nearly five-year old modern pentathlon "World Best Performance" overall total points of 5,720 (held by Great Britain's Georgina Harland), but if she continues to put in performances like today's then it won't be long before she takes this record as her own. This and the opportunity to secure the Olympic gold are now real possibilities for the latest modern pentathlon World Cup champion from Egypt.
On the local front, Chinese competitors, Liu Zhou (35th) and Xiu Xiu (19th), gave the local crowd plenty to cheer about during the day, with the pair scoring 4,068 and 5,264 points respectively.
Final standings:
1. Aya Medany (EGY)
2. Elen Rublevska (LAT)
3. Sara Bertoli (ITA)
4. Lada Jienbalanova (KAZ)
5. Tatiana Mouratova (RUS)
(BOCOG September 16, 2007)