UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup Pazardzhik: Jurts (SUI) set the record straight in Women's Qualification

The second stop of the UIPM Pentathlon World Cup season got underway in Pazardzhik (BUL) in remarkably similar fashion to the first — with a pair of Swiss sisters catching the eye and crashing through the record books.

Twins Katharina and Florina Jurt of Switzerland joined their sister, Olympian Anna, in making it safely through Women’s Qualification and into Friday’s Semi-final. The young twins have a notable sibling rivalry when it comes to lowering world records on Obstacle.

In Group B, Katharina broke the Obstacle world record set last month at UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup Cairo in a time of 26.46sec. However she watched on as Florina duly stepped up in Group C and swung and sprinted her way back into the top spot with a blistering 26.25.

For good measure, elder sister Anna had been fastest over Obstacle among the 31 competitors in Group A and safely progressed. The Jurt family therefore will occupy three of the 36 spots in Friday’s Semi-finals.

UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup Pazardzhik: All you need to know

There was another relatively new record to tumble in the pool where Wakana Uchiyama of Japan set a new mark in 00:59.88.

Crossing the line alongside Anna Jurt was the returning Kerenza Bryson of Great Britain who impressed in her first competitive appearance since the 2024 Olympic final in Paris. She was one of three British athletes to progress to the semi-final stage. Fellow Olympians like Seungmin Seong of Korea, Ilke Ozyuksel of Türkiye and Laura Heredia of Spain also qualified comfortably.

Meanwhile Blanka Guzi of Hungary, who claimed gold in the Egyptian capital last month, looked smooth and assured as she too progressed with the silver medalist from that season-opener, Anastasiya Malashenoka, one of five Independent Neutral Athletes (AIN) to secure semi-final spots. In total 15 nations will be represented among the 36 semi-finalists.

Click here for a full list of the athletes who qualified for the Women's Semi-finals.

Watch and follow

UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup Pazardzhik takes place from May 13-17, 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:

•           Thursday May 14: Men’s Qualification

•           Friday May 15: Women’s Semi-final A (13:00); Women’s Semi-final B (16:00) | Men’s and Women’s Fencing Seeding Rounds

•           Saturday May 16: Men’s Semi-final A (09:00); Men’s Semi-final B (13:00)

•           Sunday May 17: Women’s Final (09:00), Men’s Final (13:00).