Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final 2024: Hungary’s Michelle Gulyas and Balazs win mixed relay title

Hungary’s Michelle Gulyas and Balazs Szep formed a winning combination clinching the mixed relay title at the UIPM Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final 2024 in Ankara, Türkiye on Sunday (26 May).

Victory means Hungary bow out of the World Cup final with two titles in the bag, with Csaba Bohm winning the men’s title a day earlier.

The Hungarian pair amassed a total score of 1381 points, edging Egypt (1372) into second place, and the Republic of Korea (1341) finishing third.

Gulyas and Szep finished the fencing in second place courtesy of 27 victories before they moved to the top of the leaderboard following the swimming leg. The duo clocked the fastest swim time of one minute, 57.94 seconds (1:57.94).

The Hungarians consolidated their lead with a strong performance in the riding round where they got 293 points for their efforts, four points behind Egypt, who notched up the best score.

Egypt’s Salma Abdelmaksoud and Ahmed Hamed emerged as Hungary’s biggest threat as they moved from third place to second ahead of the laser run round.

Abdelmaksoud and Hamed produced the best laser run leg crossing the line in 12:41.20 but it was not enough to knock Hungary out of first place. Hungary had the third-best laser run clocking 12:53.00.

The event was the penultimate opportunity for pentathletes to earn ranking points towards Paris 2024 qualification, with the UIPM 2024 Pentathlon World Championships in Zhengzhou (9-16 June) as the final qualifier.