Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final 2024: Gintare Venckauskaite and Csaba Bohm triumph in Ankara
Lithuania’s Gintare Venckauskaite and Hungary's Csaba Bohm came out on top in the women's and men's competitions at the UIPM Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final in Ankara, Türkiye on Sunday (25 May).
Venckauskaite produced the second-fastest laser run leg to send her to the top of the women's standings with a winning total of 1422 points, live on Olympic Channel.
Mariya Gnedtchik finished the competition in second place, 17 points behind the Lithuanian ace, moving from 11th place after the semi-final to claim a podium spot.
Local hero and world bronze medallist İlke Özyüksel rounded out the podium in third place (1400 points).
Saturday’s race did not go as planned for French stars Marie Oteiza and Elodie Clouvel, who came into the final as the top two qualifiers.
Oteiza led the charge leading her compatriot by a comfortable 15 points. But her second and fourth shooting series proved detrimental to her chances of salvaging her chances of a top finish. Clouvel finished eighth with Oteiza settling for ninth place on 1384 and 1373 points, respectively.
Oteiza went into the laser run with a point lead over Clouvel lying second with Venckauskaite in sixth place, 18 points behind. But Venckauskaite delivered a dominant shooting and run leg to race home to victory while Oteiza capitulated.
“I feel very good, I am on cloud number nine. I am proud of myself that I was able to execute my plan,” Venckauskaite said.
“I felt the pressure from the very beginning (of the laser run)…so I did all the round at 100 percent.”
The event was the penultimate opportunity for pentathletes to earn ranking points towards Paris 2024 qualification, with the UIPM 2024 Pentathlon World Championships in Zhengzhou (9-16 June) the final qualifier.
Hungary's Bohm finishes with a bang
The men’s final came to an exhilarating conclusion with Hungary’s Bohm earning interest with his two-second advantage going into the laser run to capture the title. Just 40 seconds separated the top nine athletes setting up a mouth-watering conclusion to the race.
Bohm started two seconds ahead of Frenchman Valentin Prades on the final leg where he built on that advantage with pin-point shooting and a strong running performance.
He extended his lead to five seconds, then nine after the first two rounds of shooting.
Bohm lost some ground after the third round but pulled away at the final stop to race home in comfort, taking the victory with a winning score of 1535 points.
Although the top-five finish mirrored the starting sequence, it did not quite reflect the battle for silver and bronze.
Prades, Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy, and Emiliano Hernandez of Mexico played musical chairs for second and third. Prades (1525) ultimately edged Elgendy (1524) with Hernandez taking third.
The action from Ankara was streamed live on the Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices, where event replays are also available.
Races from 17 June 2023 to 17 June 2024 offer points that contribute to the UIPM Olympic Ranking, which can help athletes secure a quota berth to the Paris 2024 Games.
UIPM Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final, 25 May 2024, Women's results (top 10):
- Gintare Venckauskaite (LTU) – 1422 points
- Mariya Gnedtchik (AIN) – 1405
- İlke Özyüksel (TUR) – 1400
- Seong Seungmin (KOR) – 1396
- Alice Sotero (ITA) – 1396
- Salma Abdelmaksoud (EGY) – 1393
- Blanka Guzi (HUN) – 1391
- Elodie Clouvel (FRA) – 1384
- Marie Oteiza (FRA) – 1373
- Kerenza Bryson (GBR) – 1367
UIPM Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final, 25 May 2024, Men's results (top 10):
- Csaba Bohm (HUN) – 1535 points
- Valentin Prades (FRA) – 1525
- Ahmed Elgendy (EGY) – 1524
- Emiliano Hernandez (MEX) – 1509
- Woongtae Jun (KOR) – 1496
- Moutaz Mohamed (EGY) – 1492
- Balazs Szep (HUN) – 1486
- Changwan Seo (KOR) – 1484
- Jean-Baptiste Mourcia (FRA) – 1481
- Marvin Faly Dogue (GER) – 1480