CAIRO, December 30th (AMSP/CGTN) – – Modern pentathlon is witnessing a shift in the balance of power. Egypt dominated the sport this year with Ahmed El Gendy claiming the crowning glory when he won gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics with a world record to boot. Gendy’s compatriots bagged world titles in every age category as the sport enjoys a massive boom in the North African nation.
2024 was the best year yet for Egypt in Modern Pentathlon. The country’s biggest star, Ahmed EL Gendy, won the nation’s first gold medal in the sport at the Paris 2024 Summer Games. It was the country’s ninth Olympic gold on record. El Gendy, the silver Medallist from Tokyo 2020, also shattered the Olympic and the world records in Paris.
“This was exactly what we’ve been working for, during the past three or four years. This was our target. And to achieve this target during the biggest spectacle in the world, this was something very special for us. Unfortunately, we reached the finals, but we weren’t able to get any medals,” said Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation President Sherif El Erian.
EL Gendy’s gold medal sparked a boom among aspiring modern pentathletes in Egypt. 17-year-old Alia Enayat is one of them. She scooped the World Under 19 Championships title, just a month after the Paris Games. Enayat also holds the world Laser Run and African titles.
“Egypt is currently the strongest country in Modern Pentathlon, especially after the gold medal won by Ahmed El Gendy. This medal has been an unbelievable inspiration to all of us. He has achieved everything and now, we all want to be like him… it made us realize how strong we are,” said Alia Enayat, World Under 19 Champion.
Besides the Olympics, Egyptians captured the world Under 17 and Under 19 titles for men and women this year.
The country also mopped up four of the eight awards on offer at the International Union for Modern Pentathlon’s General Assembly in November. Moataz Wael, a presumptive heir to El Gendy, was named the World Young Player of the Year.
“I train a lot. I train every day except Friday. I train in one day for seven hours every day, It’s hard. It needs consistency, patience… I try a lot of time management, to do all these disciplines while studying. It’s really hard. But a lot of coaches helped me organize this training with studying, but we managed to do it,” said Moataz Wael.
The number of athletes registering to the sport more than doubled in 2024.
To expand its talent pool, the national federation signed an agreement with a holding company to introduce the sport in every major Egyptian city.
That is of course thanks to El Gendy, who’s made Modern Pentathlon one of only four sports that brought Olympic gold medals to Egypt. In the LA 2028 Summer games Egypt is eyeing nothing less than two medals in the sport. And hopes it can become a global powerhouse in the sport for many years to come.
amsp/cgtn-abp
CGTN