UIPM 2025 Pentathlon Relay World Championships: Egypt and France seniors reign in Alexandria (EGY)

· Egypt (Ismail & Khalil) celebrate runaway women’s gold

· Gripping finish sees France (Bories & Rochat) steal men’s prize

· Medals for Hungary, Poland and Czechia on opening day

It was a golden Tuesday for Egypt and France as the opening day of the UIPM 2025 Pentathlon Relay World Championships saw two senior races which were breathtaking in contrasting ways.

There was joy for the host nation in Alexandria (EGY) as Malak Ismail and the sport’s current phenom Farida Khalil combined to deliver an utterly dominant Women’s Relay gold for Egypt. Khalil (EGY) followed recent World Junior Championships and World Cup Final individual triumphs with yet another prize for her swelling collection while Hungary (Kinga Dulai & Blanka Guzi) took silver with bronze going to Poland (Malgorzata Karbownik & Adrianna Kapala).

The Men’s Relay was eye-catching for just how closely fought it became. France (Leo Bories & Mathis Rochat) found the final kick mere metres from the finish to overtake Czechia (Marek Grycz & Matej Lukes) with bronze going to Egypt (Moutaz Mohamed & Omar Wael).

Senior Women’s Relay

Having racked up two historic gold medals in the past two weeks, Khalil had her eye on making it a rapid hat-trick alongside Egyptian compatriot Ismail. A pairing of the current World No.1 and No.8 respectively made the host nation the hottest of favourites among the six competing nations, representing four continents.

They duly delivered in some style, with a brilliant all-round performance. While Poland (Karbownik/Kapala) were the best performers in Fencing, Egypt (Ismail/Khalil) stepped things up from there. They dominated Obstacle by going a full eight seconds faster than the rest of the field and were five seconds better than the rest in the pool with the Korea duo of Olympic bronze medallist Seungmin Seong & Yuri Kim next fastest. All of which meant they stayed free of danger in the Laser Run before crossing the line 28 seconds ahead of Hungary (Dulai/Guzi) with Poland (Karbownik/Kapala) taking bronze.

Gold medalist Ismail (EGY) said: “It was a very nice competition. It was a little bit hard. We started Fencing in second position and showed great determination to stay in that position. The OCR and Swimming was very good. In Laser Run, we finished with the gold medal.”

Her teammate Khalil (EGY) added: “It was a happy day. I want to thank Malak because she helped me going through this day. The competition was good, we made a big lead in Obstacle and swimming and it’s a great to get the gold at the end of the day.”

Senior Men's Relay

On paper the men’s race looked more evenly-balanced with eight competing nations in total: France, Czechia, Egypt, Poland, Sweden, Mexico, Mali and Kuwait. The inclusion of the latter two nations was a further sign of positive growth for the sport in two areas of focus for UIPM development, West Africa and the Middle East.

Mexico have made a name for themselves as Relay specialists in recent years and the experienced duo of Manuel Padilla & Duilio Carrillo got off to a flying start picking up maximum points in Fencing. Obstacle has proven a favoured discipline for the new generation and France (Bories/Rochat) and Czechia (Grycz/Lukes) led the way as the only two nations to go under 1 minute to move into contention. The French duo (Bories/Rochat) were then also fastest in the pool to give themselves a cushion over Czechia (Grycz/Lukes), Egypt (Mohamed/Wael) and Poland (Kamil Kasperczak & Maciej Klimek).

It didn’t prove to be enough as Czechia (Grycz/Lukes) reeled in the 17-second advantage in a gripping Laser Run. It culminated in Lukes and Bories being side by side in the final visit to the range, split seconds between them before Lukes took off in front. However Bories reeled in the leader on the final straight to give France (Bories/Rochat) gold.

Gold medalist Rochat (FRA) said: “We didn’t start well the day in Fencing. We were not in the rhythm immediately, and it had been some time since we competed. We had some time in between, got motivated, and got it on. We knew Obstacle would be one of our strengths, swimming too, and that it would come down to the Laser running. We gave everything, especially Léo at the end!”

His teammate Bories (FRA) added: “In Laser Run, Mathis did the work, it went really well, but then my shooting was not great, so I had to come back on Lukes. I gave everything I had to finish the day and bring something for us.Coaches told us that Mathis should go first, and if it went well, I would deliver. It was a good day.”

Watch and follow

The UIPM 2025 Pentathlon Relay World Championships continues tomorrow (July 9) with the Women's and Men’s Junior competitions. All competition results are available at the UIPM website.