2026 European Modern Pentathlon Championships: Ozyuksel (TUR) and Gromadskii (RUS) are icons of Istanbul

Ilke Ozyuksel provided host nation Türkiye with an exquisite gold medal as Egor Gromadskii marked the return of Russia on Finals day at the 2026 European Modern Pentathlon Championships in Istanbul (TUR).

Three-time Olympian Ozyuksel (TUR) provided followers, fans and dignitaries with a champagne moment in the morning as she came from behind to defeat Anastasiya Arol of Belarus by 5sec to become European champion for the first time, with world No.1 Blanka Guzi earning bronze for Hungary.

The win followed a career-first Pentathlon World Cup individual gold medal for the 29-year-old in Pazardzhik (BUL) earlier this season and marked her first European senior podium since winning bronze in 2017.

The local hero reached the Top 2 in Fencing, beaten only by Arol (BRL), before Pentathlon World Cup Final silver medallist Katharina Jurt of Switzerland set the pace in Obstacle Racing with a slick time of 31.59sec.

Guzi (HUN) stormed back with a Swimming best of 1min 00.78sec and secured bronze with the day’s fastest Laser Run, completing the course in 11:09.64 under pressure from team-mate Blanka Bauer (HUN). World junior champion Malgorzata Karbownik of Poland performed strongly across all disciplines but was unable to finish Laser Run.

Hungary took the Team gold medal ahead of silver medallists Switzerland, while Belarus picked up bronze.

Later, Gromadskii (RUS) was a surprise winner of his comeback competition, winning an intriguing Men’s Final by 7sec from Botond Tamas (HUN). Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Giorgio Malan of Italy overcame a last place in Obstacle Racing to snatch bronze with a new world record Laser Run time of 9min 56.38sec.

Gromadskii (RUS) had a stellar breakthrough as a young pentathlete, winning Youth Olympic Games silver in 2018 and world junior silver in 2021, both behind Ahmed Elgendy of Egypt, who went on to win Olympic silver and gold while Gromadskii (RUS) and his team-mates went into competitive exile.

The return of Gromadskii (RUS) to become European champion with a new Overall world record of 1,606 points shows the level of training that has been continuing behind the scenes. The 25-year-old won the Fencing Direct Elimination after a Top 2 showdown with Malan (ITA) and remained steady across all disciplines thereafter.

The standout Obstacle Racing performance came from Uladzislau Melkaziorau (BLR), who timed 24.38 before Matteo Bovenzi (ITA) dominated Swimming in 52.04. The exceptional Laser Run of Malan (ITA) enabled him to storm past the likes of Yuriy Kovalchuk of Ukraine, Marvin Dogue of Germany and Ugo Fleurot of France for a memorable bronze medal, but he couldn’t rein in the top two.