UIPM 2026 Pentathlon Junior World Championships: three world records as Ukraine boss Men’s Qualification
Three new junior world records added sparkle to a day of gritty effort as 36 men qualified for the Semi-finals on the second day of the UIPM 2026 Pentathlon Junior World Championships in Kaunas (LTU).
Alessandro Boero of Italy stormed through the pack in Qualification Heat A to dramatically clinch the 12th and last place with a new Laser Run record of 10min 23sec. His incredible comeback enabled him to end the hopes of 13th-placed Keigo Ito of Japan by a single second. But by the end of the day, Boero’s name would no longer be in the record books.
Heat A was finally dominated by powerful Ukraine duo Oleg Rybak (European champion) and Danylo Sych (2025 world silver medallist) and Dan Vorlicek of Czechia.
Ukrainians also impressed in Qualification Heat B with Maksym Kovalchuk (UKR) and Oleksandr Chernyshev (UKR) occupying 2nd and 3rd place respectively, albeit neither could stop Sebastian Forrest of Great Britain leading the way with a daily high points tally of 1,573.
There were three world records in Qualification Heat C as Matteo Bovenzi (ITA) set a new 25m Swimming standard of 50.41sec, before Mohamed Hassan of Egypt took Obstacle Racing to a new level for the U22 age group with a remarkable 20.82.
Hassan (EGY) qualified comfortably alongside top-ranked team-mate Sief Soliman (EGY) and former senior world silver medallist Mohamed Elgendy (EGY), but the top 12 was almost upset by an extraordinary comeback by Reuben Cawley (GBR), whose exceptional and unprecedented time of 9:53.06 raised him up from 24th to 14th overall.
Watch and follow
The UIPM 2026 Pentathlon Junior & U17 World Championships take place from July 23-29, with livestream of the Junior Semi-finals and Finals available to watch free on YouTube based on the following schedule (TV times listed in Central European Summer Time):
Saturday July 25
- U17 Men’s Qualification
- Junior Women’s Semi-finals
- Semi-final A (09:00)
- Semi-final B (15:00)
Sunday July 26
- U17 Women’s Qualification
- Junior Men’s Semi-finals
- Semi-final A (09:00)
- Semi-final B (15:00)
Monday July 27
- U17 Men’s Final
- Junior Finals
- Women’s Final (09:00)
- Men’s Final (14:00)
Tuesday July 28
- U17 Women’s Final
- Junior Women’s Relay & Men’s Relay
Wednesday July 29
- U17 Mixed Relay
- Junior Mixed Relay
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