CISM 2018 Pentathlon Military World Championships: Wang and Zhang claim Mixed Relay title for China

Wang Wei and Zhang Linbin drove China to Mixed Relay gold at the CISM 2018 Pentathlon Military World Championships and left rivals with an idea of what to expect next year.

The 7th World Military Games will take place in 2019 in Wuhan (CHN) and the host nation will have a reputation to defend in the pentathlon event after winning two medals at this week’s CISM gathering in Budapest (HUN).

A day after Zhang (CHN) finished second in the Men’s Individual event, he teamed up with Wang (CHN) to defeat a number of more celebrated opponents. Italy (Elena Micheli / Valerio Grasselli) secured silver and Russia (Gulnaz Gubaydullina / Ilya Shugarov) claimed bronze.

The USA returned to the military pentathlon scene after a period of absence and were rewarded with 4th place in the Mixed Relay thanks to Samantha Achterberg and Amro Elgeziry.

Italy (Micheli / Grasselli) and China (Wang / Zhang) began to emerge as contenders for gold on the Fencing piste, an altercation that was won narrowly by the Italians.

One of the perennial contenders for gold at this competition is France, but today the defending champions Elodie Clouvel and Valentin Belaud suffered elimination during Riding.

The Laser Run was highly eventful, with the podium positions changing hands repeatedly, but eventually Zhang (CHN) summoned the stamina to move clear in the last 80m.

Italy (Micheli / Grasselli) were the most consistent team and won the Challenge Cup for the best results across all disciplines. A Fair Play prize was also awarded by CISM to Matteo Cicinelli (ITA).

CISM Modern Pentathlon President, Lt Col Nilton Rolim, said: “The last day of the 46th Military World Championships brought us an exciting final moment where we saw China and Italy challenging for the gold medal, and there was another important moment when Greece came back to participate in CISM Modern Pentathlon competitions.

“The Honved Sports Club, Hungarian Modern Pentathlon Association and the Hungarian Defence Forces provided a fantastic field of play and a perfect atmosphere for our athletes and we had a wonderful time here in Budapest.

“I hope to see everyone again at the 7th World Military Games in Wuhan in 2019.”