UIPM 2017 Junior World Championships: Hosts Hungary win Women’s Relay gold

Host nation Hungary enjoyed the best possible start to the UIPM 2017 Junior World Championships as they claimed gold in the Women's Relay.

Anna Zs Toth and Eszter Varga (HUN) held their lead throughout the Laser-Run to enjoy a comfortable victory in front of an appreciative home crowd.

Behind them, a dramatic race for silver ended with Italy (Aurora Tognetti & Elena Micheli) finishing 3secs ahead of bronze medallists Guatemala (Isabel Brand & Sophia Hernandez).

Argentina (Ayelen Balsalobre & Juliana Borgarucci) had the best of the Fencing, defeating Hungary (Zs Toth/Varga) in the Bonus Round after each scored 20V/10D in the Ranking Round.

Italy (Tognetti/Micheli) were fastest in Swimming with a time of 2:06,12, but it was in the Riding arena that Hungary (Zs Toth/Varga) took control of the competition.

Like the Czech Republic (Barbora Ciprova & Aranka Chalupnikova), the host nation enjoyed a perfect score of 300 and capitalised on the elimination of Argentina (Balsalobre/Borgarucci).

Hungary (Zs Toth/Varga) began the Laser-Run with an 18sec advantage over Italy (Tognetti/Micheli) with 2016 champions Russia (Alena Popova & Sofia Serkina) lurking only 5sec further behind.

However, Guatemala (Brand/Hernandez) overcame the defending champions with surprising ease to earn a place the podium.

A total of 172 athletes from 27 countries are taking part in the championships.

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann said: "Hungary enjoyed an excellent victory today in these wonderful facilities and we look forward to seeing whether they can win more gold medals during the rest of the competition."

Gyula Bretz, President of the Hungarian Modern Pentathlon Association and UIPM Honorary Member, said: "We are very happy with this first victory; I'm sure it will not be the story of all seven days!

"It is important to acclimatise because it is going to become very hot in the coming days and we have a very nice outdoor venue here at the stadium where we are staging the Fencing Bonus Round, Riding and Laser-Run.

"We are very satisfied with the organisation."

The UIPM 2017 Junior World Championships is taking place from August 8-14 and the action continues tomorrow (August 9) with the Men's Relay.

All results are available in real time at the UIPM website.