UIPM 2025 Pentathlon U19 World Championships: Khalil (EGY) digs deep to keep slam bid going
Farida Khalil of Egypt continued her year of unprecedented dominance by adding the UIPM 2025 U19 Pentathlon World Championships title to her swelling collection of global titles. But if the result of the Women’s Final in Druskininkai (LTU) was a familiar one, the nature of it was less so.
While Khalil (EGY), who is also World Junior and U17 champion as well as winner of the World Cup Final at Senior level, has made it a habit of scorching away from the field, Friday’s action in the scenic spa town was gripping right to the end. The current World No.1 was forced to dig deep by a richly talented field which showed the strength in depth across the world at underage level.
On a day when many previous marks were smashed, it took a new world record points total from 14-year-old phenomenon Khalil (EGY) to hold off the fast-finishing Hanna Jakubowska of Poland, whose brilliant Laser Run performance secured silver. Amaya El-Masri of Germany claimed a thoroughly deserved bronze having impressed hugely in the early part of a cracking Final.
True to her nature Khalil (EGY) already had eyes on completing a four-title slam at next week’s UIPM 2025 Pentathlon World Championships in Kaunas (LTU). Her performance here helped the Egyptians to win Team gold, with silver going to Germany and Hungary taking bronze.
Champion’s Reaction
Gold medalist Khalil (EGY) said: “I had to work very hard for this medal today and now the most important job for me is next week at the Senior World Championships. I really want to win the gold there too.
“In the Fencing it wasn’t really my day but I put in a lot of effort to get back. It’s totally different in the U19 than in the Seniors, having competed in Seniors for the last six months. I gave it 100 per cent in Obstacle and Swimming to get back in touch with the rest and in the Laser Run I worked very hard for this result.
“I want to thank my family, especially my brothers who have helped me sustain this kind of performance. I also want to thank my mother and father who have worked so hard for me, too.”
Fencing
El-Masri (GER) laid down a marker from the first action, claiming 26V/9D to lead the 36 finalists on the piste. Team-mate Nadja Fermand (GER) was closest with 24 victories while Vivienne Meyer of Switzerland, bronze medalist at last month’s European U19 Championships, got off to a hot start with 23 wins.
Obstacle
In the Women’s Qualification it was a German athlete leading the way over Obstacle in both groups. Again the country’s representatives showed they are particularly adept over the challenging course as El-Masri (GER) smashed the U19 world record with a blistering time of 26.77sec.
Khalil (EGY), sitting in 8th position after Fencing, had to make up ground, but her time of 28.82 was good for second-fastest. Chloe Johnson of Great Britain also cracked the 30sec mark.
Swimming
When it comes to speed at underage level in UIPM events, there is one name to always look out for once the action moves to the pool. Wakana Uchiyama of Japan yet again destroyed the field in Swimming, clocking a jaw-dropping 2min 06.97sec. To put that in context, just one of her 35 competitors could get within 5sec of that time, home talent Martina Rutkauskaite of Lithuania.
Laser Run
Khalil (EGY) may have felt almost out of place as the competitors lined up for the decisive combined discipline. It was El-Masri (GER) who sat atop the leaderboard and set off in front of the field with the World No.1 in chasing mode. But as she has proven over her utterly prolific last 18 months, Khalil (EGY) can do most things very well indeed. She ran hard and shot accurately to hunt down the leader but then had to hold off Jakubowska (POL) who’d started in 5th but raced up into 2nd.
It would prove to be a hard-won but rewarding silver for Jakubowska (POL), who could take plenty of heart knowing she had got within 16 seconds of Khalil (EGY). At last month’s World Cup Final, Olympic medalist Seungmin Seong of Korea was the only senior pentathlete who had finished within 30sec of the tyro.
El-Masri (GER) hung on for bronze despite a remarkable Laser Run performance from 17-year-old Ganah Elgindy (EGY), who had started in 19th but scorched through the field in a rapid 11:27.05, easily the fastest time of the day, to finish 4th. Diana Rajncsak (HUN) was 5th while Farmand (GER) completed the top six.
WATCH AND FOLLOW
The UIPM 2025 Pentathlon U19 World Championships concludes tomorrow (August 23) with the Men’s Final, after which the UIPM 2025 Pentathlon World Championships takes place in Kaunas (LTU) from August 26-30. Live coverage of the Semi-finals and Finals will be free to watch on UIPM YouTube.
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