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UIPM 2016 YOUTH A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: JEONG CLAIMS GOLD FOR KOREA WITH SENSATIONAL SPRINT FINISH

Tetrathlon

An incredible sprint finish allowed Jeong Youngjin of Korea to win gold in the Men’s Individual Final at the UIPM 2016 World Youth A Championships.

Jeong, 18, started the closing Combined Event in 9th place but showed true grit, conviction and stamina to move past the leaders one by one.

With 30 metres to go, Jeong (KOR) was still trailing Ivan Khamtsou of Belarus but he overtook him on the final bend of the University of Limerick cross-country circuit and sprinted down the straight to victory, to raucous encouragement from his Korean team-mates.

Defeat was hard to take for Khamtsou (BLR), whose consistent performance throughout the Tetrathlon disciplines had put him in pole position, but the silver medallist would have to acknowledge on reflection that he was beaten by a very special performance – Jeong (KOR) bettered his Combined Event time by almost 30 seconds.

 

Andrei Zuev (RUS) took bronze as Russia claimed team silver behind winners Korea, with the Belarus team taking bronze.

“You could tell from that finish that there is a desire and a passion for the sport, and they are willing to fight for their results,” said Martin Dawe, the UIPM Executive Board Member for Marketing.

“Again, following the ladies, some of the results today have been really good and this is very good for our sport.”

It could be said that Jeong (KOR) timed his performance to perfection in that nobody saw him coming. The Combined Event was the only discipline in which he came 1st.

It was in the Fencing that Khamtsou (BLR) and Jeong (KOR) really staked their claims on a podium place. With 23 victories from 35 bouts, Khamtsou (BLR) was only beaten by Radion Khripchenko (KYR), who managed 24 wins. When the pair met again in the final bout of the Bonus Round, Khamtsou (BLR) emerged victorious. Jeong was ranked 3rd in Fencing with 22 wins.

Swimming was dominated by Myles Pillage (GBR), who was not only the only athlete to go under 2 minutes, but also his time of 1:59.66 was almost four seconds quicker than his nearest rival, Marc Troya (SPA).

Jeong (KOR) went on to start the Combined Event 25 seconds adrift of Khamtsou (BLR), but the tightness of the field was underlined by the fact that there were seven men between them.

Both showed composure at the Shooting range but it was the Korean who prevailed on sheer stamina, in a dramatic finish, to be crowned world champion.

The 2016 UIPM World Youth A Championships conclude tomorrow (July 18) with the Women’s, Men’s and Mixed Relays.

For live results go topentathlon.org.

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