UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup Budapest: Gnedtchik (BLR) and Erdos (HUN) hustle to reach Women’s Final

• Laser Run drama sees duo clinch final qualification places
• Guzi (HUN) and Bryson (GBR) among top qualifiers in Semi-final A
• Hureyeva (AIN) wins Semi-final B; Seong (KOR), Micheli (ITA), Ozyuksel (TUR) qualify

A galactic array of talent will compete in the Friday night Women’s Final at UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup Budapest after two Semi-finals defined by a late, great hustle.

Competing in national colours at this level for the first time, Mariya Gnedtchik of Belarus soared up the leaderboard in Semi-final A Laser Run to clinch the 9th and final place in the decider. Later, Rita Erdos of Hungary repeated the trick with a six-place gain to line up in the showpiece.

The Final line-up will pit this season’s two gold medallists, Blanka Guzi (HUN) and Ilke Ozyuksel of Türkiye against an Olympic medallist in Seungmin Seong of Korea, a two-time world champion in Elena Micheli of Italy, and a multiple world-level medallist in Kerenza Bryson of Great Britain – among other standout talents.

Semi-final A

Fencing

Guzi (HUN) would have hoped to make progress from the Top 16 after going 2-0 up against Nadja Farmand of Germany, but the higher seed came back impressively to prevail 5-2. Paula Valencia of Guatemala showed the same tenacity and opportunism to strike twice in the last 3sec to defeat the higher-seeded Sumin Shin (KOR).

In the Top 4 Farmand (GER) continued to impress, holding off Laura Heredia of Spain with another 5-2 scoreline.  Valencia (GUA) fought tenaciously in her Top 4 bout with Bryson (GBR) and it went right to the final seconds, the top seed finally prevailing 3-2.

Bryson (GBR) took confidence from that success and defended and countered with textbook efficiency in the Top 2 bout, defeating Farmand (GER) comfortably to take the maximum 250 points forward.

Obstacle

Much was expected of world record-holder Florina Jurt (SUI) but she faulted on the Flying Hoops and incurred a fault that effectively put her out of the competition. Guzi (HUN) followed up with a safe and solid 33.52sec.

Orsolya Varga (HUN) then set the course alight with a blistering 29.58. Lucie Hlavackova of Czechia followed up with a 33 and Valencia (GUA) looked really sharp for a 32. Farmand (GER) did enough in winning the final race versus Bryson (GBR) to move clear in the overall standings, three points ahead of Valencia (GUA) with Bryson (GBR) and Hlavackova (CZE) also in the top four.

Swimming

Amina Tagirova (AIN) set the quickest time in the first of three heats, hitting the wall in 1min 0.78sec before Guzi (HUN) was just half a second slower in the second.

Finally it was Valencia (GUA) whose 1:01.24  victory in the final heat enabled her to assume the overall lead, going into Laser Run with a 9sec advantage over Farmand (GER) with Hlavackova (CZE), Bryson (GBR), Heredia (ESP) and Varga (HUN) in the chasing pack and Guzi (HUN) also starting inside the top nine.

Laser Run

Starting with a mountain to climb, Gnedtchik (BLR) impressively stuck to her process, and it wasn’t until the final shoot that she was rewarded with the precious prize of a top-nine place, leaving Farmand (GER) stuck on the range to gallop away for a decisive time of 11min 31.42sec. With an even better time of 11:30.48, Emma Meszaros (HUN) almost added a further twist, only to fall 4sec short.

It was a real confidence boost for Louison Cazaly (FRA) and Heredia (ESP) as they crossed the line just ahead of Guzi (HUN), Bryson (GBR), Hlavackova (CZE) and Valencia (GUA), with Olivia Green (GBR) and Tagirova (AIN) also doing enough to earn a Final place.

Semi-final B

Fencing

A Semi-final of endless intrigue started with 2025 bronze medallist Coline Flavin (FRA) marching through the Top 16, Top 8 and Top 4 to attain 244 points – which would prove vital to her Final hopes. She was only stopped in the Top 2 by Ludovica Montecchia (ITA), the unstoppable top seed who had won 28 bouts in the Seeding Round.

Haydy Morsy of Egypt also made it to the Top 4 while Seong (KOR) and Micheli (ITA) also made encouraging progress.

Obstacle

There was no doubt about the star of Obstacle as Jana Attia (EGY) stormed the course with supreme athleticism for a time of 27.87. But Diana Rajncsak (HUN) and Mathilde Derval (FRA) also smashed the 30sec mark to create a really busy leaderboard, with Poppy Clark (GBR) also recording an excellent 30.34.

Several athletes atoned for a slip or a fault to keep their hopes alive, and there was only one elimination as Rebecca Langrehr of United States faltered twice on Obstacle No.7, the Climbing Holds.

Swimming

It was in the pool that some of the more familiar names of previous Olympic cycles resurfaced. Micheli (ITA) nailed a best time of 1:01.09, with Seong (KOR) only a quarter-second slower and Ozyuksel (TUR) timing 1:02. Hureyeva (BLR) also showed her class with a 1:01.86 that took her 12 points clear overall.

Laser Run

Two-time Pentathlon World Cup Cairo medallist Hureyeva (BLR) protected her advantage throughout the five circuits, finally easing up to finish in a group. The big movers from outside the top 10 were Anna Jurt (SUI) with a best time of 11:30.94, Clark (GBR) and Ozyuksel (TUR).

Erdos (HUN) found herself in a cat-and-mouse battle with compatriot Rajncsak (HUN) after passing Montecchia (ITA) and Attia (EGY), and while her shooting wasn’t always on point, the 2024 world bronze medallist had enough in the tank to finish 8th in 11:35, with Flavin (FRA) holding on in 9th.

Watch and follow

UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup Budapest takes place from June 9-13, with live stream of the Semi-finals and Finals available free on UIPM’s YouTube streaming service.

Daily schedule with stream start times (Central European Summer Time) as follows:

• Friday June 12: Men’s Semi-final A (09:00), Men’s Semi-final B (12:30) | Women’s Final (16:00)  
• Saturday June 13: Men’s Final (11:00).