- 2 years ago
Men's Semi Final A
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00 [Music]
00:00:15 Well, hello and welcome to day two of live coverage here from Sofia on the fourth World Cup of the 2024 season.
00:00:26 It is time now for men's semi-final day here in Sofia. The sun is shining, the rain has broken.
00:00:33 It's beautiful conditions here as we look forward to finding out who our 18 best athletes are here on men's semi-final day.
00:00:42 14 degrees Celsius, absolutely no snow on the peaks of those mountains as we look forward to welcoming the first 18 athletes in semi-final A.
00:00:53 Let's take a look at the new format then which starts with qualifications where the athlete numbers are reduced to two groups of 18 with semi-final A and B taking place.
00:01:01 After the semi-finals we are left with the 18 best athletes to contest in the final.
00:01:06 The event taking place over a condensed 90 minute duration, five disciplines with 18 athletes up against each other and competing for the medals.
00:01:14 Well, today is of course semi-finals day, so no riding. The riding rules point scoring system is on your screens right now though.
00:01:20 We'll go into great detail later on in the competition.
00:01:23 It's then over to the fencing bonus round for the one-on-one bouts with the conclusion of the fencing action.
00:01:30 Two points for every victory there.
00:01:33 The action then moves swiftly over to the pool for the heats of the 200 meter freestyle here in Sofia.
00:01:40 It's a 50 meter pool which sometimes does contribute to some slower times.
00:01:45 We conclude with the ever dramatic later on. Five laps of the 600 meter circuit with four laser shooting rounds where the athletes have to shoot the five targets.
00:01:54 Well, the first over the finish line as always is the winner. This is the new format. It's brutal, it's ruthless, it's unapologetic, it's fast, frantic and a new challenge for the athletes to overcome.
00:02:05 Welcome to Modern Pentathlon 2024. It's the Olympic year everybody, so strap yourselves in.
00:02:12 And these right here on your screen are the Olympic rankings after the World Cup in Budapest.
00:02:18 Ahmed El-Ghendi who's already qualified his spot is top of the pile.
00:02:21 Muhtasim Mohamed who will be in semi-final B in second place.
00:02:24 Shababum is not here nor is Giorgio Milan.
00:02:27 And Chang Wang Seo rounds off the top five.
00:02:30 Wong Tai Chung has made a little bit of movement forward but he's already qualified his spot.
00:02:34 So has Mohamed Shaban but he is locked in a battle with his Egyptian teammates for ranking points.
00:02:40 And it's important for the Egyptians to finish this competition as well as they possibly can.
00:02:45 Work to do for the likes of Christopher Patt and Miles Pillage who have their eyes set on a spot in Tokyo.
00:02:51 Valentin Pras already secured his spot last year.
00:02:55 So we begin the day by taking a look at the fencing ranking round which happened yesterday.
00:03:02 And here in semi-final A, Valentin Pras who is in semi-final B.
00:03:08 We'll focus on him a little bit later on your screens there.
00:03:11 But we'll see the scores coming up on your screens now.
00:03:13 Pierre de Jourdan has had a good fencing ranking round.
00:03:18 Alongside him, Mohamed Shaban.
00:03:20 Both those athletes on 23 victories.
00:03:23 Patrick Gog and Christian Tillichens had a German 3 and 4.
00:03:27 But it's all about getting inside that top 9 today which is currently occupied by Moultaz Mohamed.
00:03:32 The highest ranked Egyptian in semi-final A.
00:03:36 And trying to close in on him is the likes of Giorgio Micheli who is a further 5 points adrift after the ranking round.
00:03:46 So we begin our live coverage with the fencing bonus round which is the conclusion of the fencing discipline.
00:03:53 And we welcome into the commentary box Alida Van Der Merwe who is our co-commentator to join us here in Sofia Bulgaria.
00:04:03 Welcome to the commentary box Alida. Good to have you here on a lovely Sunday day here in Sofia.
00:04:07 Yeah, thank you very much James.
00:04:09 It is a lovely day today and it's really lifting up everyone's spirits I must say.
00:04:14 So we're going to have a stellar performance from everyone today hopefully.
00:04:20 But we are just focusing on that top 9 to qualify for the finals.
00:04:25 It's a tricky part of the competition for the athletes to navigate isn't it?
00:04:30 They have to really put the effort in to get themselves just even into the final.
00:04:35 Pentathlon is a brutal sport.
00:04:38 It requires the absolute best athletes in the world to be good at not just one but five sports.
00:04:43 And our first live action to bring you coverage of today is the fencing bonus round.
00:04:50 Now for those of you new to the sport the ranking round happens the day before and that is when a significant chunk of pentathlon points are earned.
00:04:58 If you've had a good ranking round you know you're in for a pretty good day especially with semifinals with no riding which is of course the random horses allocated to the athletes and that can really mix things up.
00:05:09 But fencing bonus round each athlete goes up against each other.
00:05:13 The athletes are higher ranked than them and it's worth two points for every victory.
00:05:17 So if you got a little run you can get some quite important points.
00:05:21 It's Roberto Michele taking on Christian Klees.
00:05:26 Klees from Croatia, Michele from Italy.
00:05:30 Michele on the left, Klees on the right.
00:05:33 And it is Michele who gets that first victory of the day.
00:05:37 So two points for Michele.
00:05:39 Christian Klees went for the attack there but Michele was there for the defence.
00:05:46 We've got two brothers here in the semifinal today, Roberto Michele and Giorgio Michele who is a bit higher up in the ranking who we'll welcome later on to the piste.
00:05:56 So up next, Lukas Gutowski makes his way to the fencing bonus round piste.
00:06:14 Gutowski is an Olympian having qualified for Tokyo finishing 12th in the 2020 Olympic Games.
00:06:22 He's won 224 European Championships.
00:06:26 Sorry, no, he came second in the European Championships in Wrocław, Poland.
00:06:41 So Michele is on the left, Gutowski on the right.
00:06:46 And it's Gutowski on the right hand side who gets the touch.
00:06:51 Michele is just applying the pressure there, waiting for his attack but Gutowski got the point.
00:06:58 We need to explain a new concept in fencing bonus round.
00:07:02 You know where I'm going with this, don't you?
00:07:04 I know where you're going with this.
00:07:05 It's called the MVP. Do you want to explain, Lina?
00:07:08 Well, so MVP originally stating most valuable player.
00:07:13 Well, we changed this up to most valuable.
00:07:15 We? We? We?
00:07:16 I'm giving some copyright, so...
00:07:17 No, no, you changed this. You take 100% of this.
00:07:20 We're going for most valuable pentathlete in this bonus round.
00:07:23 And yesterday it was, do you remember?
00:07:25 Emma Whittaker on three touches.
00:07:27 So three touches was the benchmark sent by Emma Whittaker yesterday.
00:07:31 I think it was in semi-final B, wasn't it?
00:07:33 So who is going to be the MVP of fencing bonus round here in Sofia?
00:07:37 Currently it's shared by Michele and Gutowski.
00:07:40 Gutowski on the right hand side of the table.
00:07:42 Martin Vlak on the left.
00:07:43 Martin Vlak, an excellent laser runner with work to do.
00:07:46 He got just 14 touches in the ranking round.
00:07:50 Double touch there.
00:07:51 So when both athletes touch each other at the same time,
00:07:54 no victory is given. That was the case there.
00:07:57 Vlak is very light on his feet there and just waiting for the attack.
00:08:03 Another double point, which is no point.
00:08:06 So Vlak is waiting for that attack from his opponent.
00:08:10 Now Vlak will want to make up some time here,
00:08:13 because he didn't have a good fencing ranking round.
00:08:16 Gutowski got it.
00:08:21 So that is a second victory for the Polish athlete.
00:08:25 He moves on to two.
00:08:27 We will now be welcoming the Spanish athlete, Christian Camuso.
00:08:34 Camuso having a good event here.
00:08:38 This is his first semi-final for a while.
00:08:43 He is in 14th place.
00:08:47 He has got some work to do.
00:08:49 He has to make up 20 points on Muhtaz Mohammed.
00:08:54 It is a tough ask from 14th place.
00:08:57 He has got Martin Vlak behind him.
00:08:59 He has got some quick runners in front of him.
00:09:02 So he really could do with these extra points.
00:09:04 Camuso on the right hand side.
00:09:06 Gutowski on the left.
00:09:09 We get instructions back. Gutowski on the right hand side.
00:09:13 Gutkowski going for the attack as he should.
00:09:17 And executing that really well.
00:09:20 He is on a roll here with three wins in a row.
00:09:23 So that puts Gutkowski on 1-1.
00:09:26 He is now four points behind Martin Vlak.
00:09:30 Our standing MVP athlete for this bonus round.
00:09:36 Three wins is good.
00:09:39 Six points is equivalent to an extra touch in the ranking round.
00:09:43 A little bit extra on top.
00:09:45 A touch with change.
00:09:47 Next up is Wujim Park.
00:09:50 From 13th position all the way to 10th position,
00:09:56 the athletes are all on the same points in the ranking round.
00:10:00 So these bonus points will make a big difference for the major line start.
00:10:04 It makes a difference as well, doesn't it?
00:10:07 So Wujim Park versus Gutkowski. Gutkowski gets another touch.
00:10:13 It's four now.
00:10:15 Gutkowski was just ready for that attack.
00:10:21 He is really on a roll this morning.
00:10:24 As you can see, counterattack there.
00:10:27 Parry for Rippos.
00:10:30 And now Gutkowski.
00:10:33 We will now welcome Esteban Bustos from Chile.
00:10:45 Esteban had competed in the Tokyo Olympic Games
00:10:52 and gold in the 2019 South American Senior Championships.
00:10:56 So he will be looking to qualify for this Olympic Games.
00:10:59 So Bustos missed out on qualification at the Pan American Games.
00:11:09 Gutkowski, four victories to his name.
00:11:13 Can he make it double figures with a fifth victory?
00:11:16 No, he can't. Bustos breaks that run from Gutkowski.
00:11:21 Picks up his first win and jumps a couple of places in the standings as well.
00:11:25 A really good fencing there from Bustos.
00:11:28 So light on the feet, good footwork and just ready for that fast reaction that he did so well there.
00:11:52 I'll be welcoming Daniel Leronovic,
00:11:55 who will be looking to make a final this season.
00:11:58 Has not made one yet, but he will be aiming for that.
00:12:02 Daniel Leronovic is a very consistent semi-finalist.
00:12:09 And there he is with the flesh.
00:12:11 Fully committed himself to that.
00:12:14 Congratulations again and we thank the members of the Olympic Committee for their welcome.
00:12:20 Also representing Italy, Giorgio Micheli.
00:12:25 So Giorgio Micheli, the second of the Micheli brothers.
00:12:28 Celebrating his 22nd birthday, a few days before the beginning of May.
00:12:32 Just hearing now from the venue announcer that he celebrated his birthday the other day.
00:12:38 So happy birthday to Giorgio Micheli, 22 years of age.
00:12:43 He was a gold medalist at the 2022 European Junior Championships.
00:12:47 It's a family of good pentathlon stock system.
00:12:51 Elena is a two times reigning world champion.
00:12:56 So Giorgio versus Daniel.
00:13:06 Oh, and Giorgio gets the foot touch.
00:13:08 Perfect timing there from Micheli.
00:13:13 Micheli can really make a difference here with his points.
00:13:29 He's only five points away from Muhtaz Mohammed.
00:13:31 So let's see what he can do there.
00:13:34 Muhtaz Mohammed had a really good season so far.
00:13:37 Sylvia and Kairos, Sylvia and Sofia.
00:13:40 So Muhtaz Mohammed is one of the informed Egyptian athletes looking to get himself
00:13:57 an unlikely Olympic qualification.
00:14:00 I say unlikely just because the caliber of his teammates is he loses that bout to Micheli.
00:14:05 He makes it two victories.
00:14:07 But yeah, Muhtaz Mohammed has been a really impressive athlete this year.
00:14:10 He's won, as you said, a couple of silver medals in World Cups.
00:14:15 A bit impressed with him so far this season.
00:14:18 He's got a good attitude, a good head on those shoulders.
00:14:21 And here is the Olympic silver medalist from Rio.
00:14:29 World Championship bronze medalist from 2018, multiple World Cup medalist Pavel Timoshenko.
00:14:34 Yep, Timoshenko really brings his expertise to this sport.
00:14:42 Micheli versus Timoshenko. Micheli on two victories.
00:14:47 Timoshenko often gets at least one victory in fencing bonus round.
00:14:51 It's unusual not to see Timoshenko pick up at least one win.
00:14:55 He's got good fencing. Enjoyable watch this.
00:14:59 And it is Timoshenko who does get that victory in the end.
00:15:02 Yep, Micheli knew he had to fight for that point as if he didn't have priority.
00:15:08 But Timoshenko was just waiting for that attack and did a counterattack there.
00:15:13 I'd love to see the statistics on how many times Timoshenko has won at least one bout in fencing bonus round.
00:15:22 I cannot remember him.
00:15:24 It obviously probably happened, but I can't remember him not winning at least one.
00:15:27 He's very consistent in picking up points in fencing bonus round.
00:15:31 Clearly takes his part of the competition seriously.
00:15:35 Yeah, you can really see he's really relaxed on the bonus round.
00:15:38 And there are a couple of nerves out of experience.
00:15:42 You get those nerves on the bonus round.
00:15:45 It's just having to calm yourself down and recollaborate your thoughts.
00:15:49 Ben Stamater was fifth in Budapest heading into the final.
00:15:52 That was actually in first place, but his last shoot was a little bit slower.
00:15:56 But he still managed to top five finish as he looks to qualify for the Olympic Games.
00:15:59 And gets himself a victory versus Timoshenko.
00:16:03 Just putting together some good results, Stamater.
00:16:05 He got 20 victories in the ranking round.
00:16:08 His teammate Balashev is up next.
00:16:11 Balashev obviously picking up a medal in front of his home crowd in Budapest.
00:16:16 He was a silver medalist in Budapest. Had a really good battle with Mohamed El-Ghandi.
00:16:23 He won gold.
00:16:24 So here we go.
00:16:37 Stamater versus Jep.
00:16:39 I always feel these matches are the toughest.
00:16:43 Because you train with your teammates and you know what they're going to do.
00:16:48 So it's just having to figure out now on the piece, on the spot, what to do here.
00:16:52 And Stamater gets another victory over his teammate.
00:16:59 So his teammate...
00:17:00 So Stamater with those two victories.
00:17:19 Next up then is Maric Gric.
00:17:26 [Countdown]
00:17:29 So Demeter will be planning his attack now without priority.
00:17:37 And we'll see if Maric Gric will get that counterattack.
00:17:42 Both light on their feet.
00:17:45 A lot of searching from Demeter.
00:17:52 Searching for that right timing.
00:17:55 But it's for Maric Gric.
00:17:57 Yeah, good touch there from Gric. Took his time.
00:17:59 Plans attack.
00:18:01 Moves up now to sixth place.
00:18:03 Just a couple of points behind Bence.
00:18:05 Who obviously climbed above Maric Gric with his two victories.
00:18:10 Christian Zilikins.
00:18:14 Gold medalist from 2019 World Cup in CsÃkás Fedevá in Hungary.
00:18:21 Zilikins, yeah, he is in a really comfortable position with his fencing results.
00:18:26 So it will be tough for everyone below from fifth all the way down to climbing their way up.
00:18:33 And also what it's lent itself to is this interesting sub-story amongst the German male team
00:18:39 as they are all vying for qualification for the Olympic Games.
00:18:42 Zilikins, Dogg and Liebig.
00:18:44 So it's all about getting into the final today.
00:18:47 And you feel from that position Zilikins and Dogg in semi-final A are in a good position.
00:18:53 Dogg's in third, Zilikins in fourth.
00:18:55 22 each in the ranking now.
00:18:58 10 to go in this bout.
00:19:00 And Gric gets the touch and is delighted.
00:19:03 And that puts Gric back up into fifth place ahead of Demeter again.
00:19:13 It's really interesting to see in the bonus round how athletes who have the priority,
00:19:18 they know they just have to wait for their opponent to attack.
00:19:22 And I think it puts a lot more pressure on the person who has to attack.
00:19:25 You know, you have to get that right timing.
00:19:27 You know that the opponent is just going to wait for you to defend.
00:19:30 So really impressive there from Maric Gric.
00:19:36 So we're into the top three. Patrick Dogg who had a phenomenal fencing ranking round in Ankara was in first place.
00:19:47 I think it was 26 victories.
00:19:49 And in the end it all came unstuck on the riding.
00:19:52 But Patrick's been in good form this season.
00:19:54 It's just not quite clicked for him. Could this be the event?
00:19:57 He's got to get past Maric Gric who makes it now three victories for Gric.
00:20:04 Gric is heading towards that title of four victories set by Lukas Kikowski.
00:20:10 And it is now time for Mahan Esheban who got a bronze in the previous event in Budapest.
00:20:23 Gold in Ankara last year.
00:20:25 Yeah, but he's had a tough start to the season.
00:20:27 He did get that bronze, which is obviously so important for him.
00:20:33 Yes, we are very familiar with Mahan Esheban with his performance last year.
00:20:38 Gold in Ankara, silver in Budapest, gold in the World Cup final.
00:20:42 So he'll be one to look out for.
00:20:45 Esheban versus Gric. Gric with three victories to his name.
00:20:51 Esheban is such a good fencer and I think wins this bout.
00:20:55 There we go. Gets the title.
00:20:59 Yeah, but Esheban really put himself at the end of the piece there.
00:21:01 Just waiting for Maric Gric to attack and did so very well.
00:21:06 Early prediction for gold, by the way, for me is Mahan Esheban.
00:21:10 Obviously a long, long way to go.
00:21:12 That's the secure spot in the final.
00:21:15 But I think Esheban is looking in very good form.
00:21:18 He won a medal at every event he competes at last year, Mahan Esheban.
00:21:21 And he didn't have a good time of things in Cairo or in Ankara.
00:21:27 In Budapest, picked up a bronze medal, which he was disappointed with.
00:21:30 He wanted more and I think he is fired up.
00:21:32 And my favorite for gold.
00:21:34 Pierre de Jardin is the highest ranked athlete from the fencing ranker in the semifinal A.
00:21:40 A bronze medalist in Sofia in 2018.
00:21:44 Can he repeat that feat and pick up his first medal for six years?
00:21:50 That's great management there from Mahan Esheban.
00:21:56 He picks up a second victory and moves clear at the top.
00:21:59 Esheban is looking very, very locked in and focused.
00:22:03 Yeah, now he's hungry to prove himself from earlier in the season.
00:22:08 So he's here to make a statement.
00:22:10 So that concludes the fencing bonus round action.
00:22:16 And our MVP, our most valuable pentathlete is Lucas Gutosky with four victories.
00:22:24 Taking him from 185 to 189.
00:22:27 It's Mahan Esheban, top of the pile on 244.
00:22:29 Pierre de Jardin in second.
00:22:30 Dorgan Zilikins locked on 235 points in third and fourth place.
00:22:34 Interesting battle emerging there.
00:22:36 Maric reaching fifth with Demeter in sixth.
00:22:38 Zheb in seventh to Mishenko in eighth.
00:22:40 And Moultas Mohamed in ninth place.
00:22:43 Those are your top nine.
00:22:44 220 for Moutas Mohamed.
00:22:47 And it is Giorgio Micheli to point behind Moutas in tenth place.
00:22:51 And it's a bit of a drop off. Seven points the gap between them.
00:22:54 Leonorowicz, Bustos, Park, Kamito in 14th.
00:22:58 Martin Black in 15th, Gutosky in 16th.
00:23:01 Micheli in 17th.
00:23:02 Christian Klies with a lot of work to do down in 18th place.
00:23:07 So that concludes your fencing bonus rounds.
00:23:10 Let's watch the replays before heading to the swim.
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00:23:56 So welcome back to Sofia for World Cup 4 of the 2024 season.
00:24:06 Swimming is next on the agenda.
00:24:09 We've completed the fencing discipline.
00:24:11 It's now time for the 200 meter freestyle in this 50 meter pool here in Sofia.
00:24:18 Two and a half minutes gets you 250 points.
00:24:20 Every second you drop costs you two points off your score.
00:24:23 And there it is, the pool here in Sofia.
00:24:27 As we build up to coverage, we're going to go to an athlete or coach poolside in a moment's time.
00:24:34 And let's hear the thoughts of Hungarian athlete Benz Temeter.
00:24:40 Which we spoke to a couple of days ago to hear how he warms up for the swimming.
00:24:45 Benz Temeter, always good to speak to you my friend.
00:24:48 We're here talking about the transition from fencing to swimming.
00:24:52 And the challenges that athletes are put under to obviously get themselves ready from fencing to swimming.
00:24:58 What's it like from your point of view, this transition?
00:25:00 Yeah, now it was very difficult for me because in the fencing hall, just 15 victories and 14 defeats.
00:25:11 So I was very disappointed.
00:25:14 I tried to concentrate to the next event, swimming.
00:25:20 And tried to forget everything because of the fencing.
00:25:26 It was very hard now because the fencing was the hardest event for me.
00:25:35 But in the swimming, you have to forget everything before and try to concentrate.
00:25:45 Now it was a little bit slower in the swimming pool.
00:25:50 And unfortunately the time wasn't so good, but now it's maybe enough to the qualification.
00:26:00 Slow swimming pool here in Sofia, would you say?
00:26:03 Compared to some of the other pools you've swum in this year, which this pool here is a little bit slower.
00:26:08 Yeah, because usually nowadays, yeah, the fencing is swimming in a short, short swimming pool.
00:26:18 And now it's easier to swim in the short.
00:26:24 It's eight laps and maybe you can rest a little bit in the turns.
00:26:31 Now it was harder than I thought before.
00:26:36 But, yeah, maybe I tried to concentrate on the next event.
00:26:45 For example, in the semi-final I tried to swim better.
00:26:50 And if you are having, you know, slightly worse competition than you were hoping for,
00:26:57 do you try to make up time in the swimming pool?
00:26:59 Do you try to swim as fast as you can to try, or do you save the energy for laser run?
00:27:04 Maybe. Usually in the qualification I try to swim the fastest when I can.
00:27:13 But in the semi-final and final I try to save a little bit of energy for the laser run.
00:27:24 Sometimes it's very hard to find good speed during the swimming.
00:27:34 But now in qualification I think everybody tries to swim as fast as they can.
00:27:40 - Chrissy, best of luck for the rest of your competition, man. - Thank you so much.
00:27:43 - Thank you so much for your time. - Thank you.
00:27:45 Ben Stemmeter giving us his thoughts in how he prepares for the swimming discipline.
00:27:51 We can head over now to Alexandre Dallenbach, a Swiss athlete, to hear his thoughts ahead of the swim.
00:27:57 Transition is a key area for sure.
00:28:00 As a bad athlete I think it's the essence you have to be ready.
00:28:02 Whether you have a small gap, a big gap, you just have to be prepared.
00:28:05 Transition as fast as you can.
00:28:06 Make sure you recover from the swim because obviously you build lactic acid.
00:28:10 So you have to take everything into account to handle your swim and then move on to the fencing,
00:28:15 which is a sport where you have to be awake.
00:28:18 You're obviously one of the quickest swimmers out there, Alex.
00:28:22 How much are you pushing during the swim?
00:28:25 Because I know you're capable of doing a time of 1.55, but how close are you likely to get that here?
00:28:32 You're always playing with the limit.
00:28:33 You're trying to push and at the same time control your swim.
00:28:36 I don't know if that makes sense.
00:28:37 You're obviously close to your maximum, but you just keep that little push you could have for the last 25 meters.
00:28:43 If you were to do a swimming race where you'd spread out, you just don't do it.
00:28:47 You keep it in.
00:28:48 And listen, pentathlon is about giving it absolutely everything, but it's also about managing time,
00:28:53 it's about managing your energy.
00:28:55 It's very much about managing your body in different ways, especially in this new format.
00:28:59 I think you are right in terms of managing your body, but what makes a champion in pentathlon is who manages their emotions the best.
00:29:06 I think that's what makes a difference, people who are capable to handle their emotions during the fencing,
00:29:10 obviously during the laser run where you have to sprint out and come to the range and calm down and be at peace with yourself.
00:29:17 So it's really something that tests all your skills, mental, physical and emotional.
00:29:22 And obviously it's Olympic year, so there's just that extra level of importance on every event.
00:29:27 Do you feel that when you're out there competing? Do you feel that difference in energy?
00:29:31 Well, obviously you can feel a difference of tension compared to the other years.
00:29:34 Everybody's fighting for those spots.
00:29:37 Some people are really feeling the pressure coming out because we are at the end of the road now and there's only a few spots left.
00:29:44 So it is a year like no other year, of course.
00:29:48 Alexandre Dallenbach giving us his thoughts ahead of the swimming.
00:29:52 Let's hear now from British athlete Myles Pillage.
00:29:56 You're renowned for being very quick in the pool.
00:29:59 What do you do to prepare yourself coming from the fencing hall to the swimming?
00:30:03 What is your procedure here?
00:30:05 With the new format, with the limited amount of time, obviously we do have an opportunity to get in the pool in the general warm-up at the start.
00:30:11 But our team, we don't really do that.
00:30:14 We generally just prepare dry side warm-up, lots of Thera-band work, med ball work,
00:30:19 trying to generate a little bit of power before we then get in the pool.
00:30:22 You are kind of limited in what you can do, but we're all adapted to this no warm-up situation now.
00:30:28 So we're all kind of used to it.
00:30:30 The pool here in Sofia is a 50-metre pool.
00:30:32 We've had a couple of 25-metre pools in the events prior to this.
00:30:35 How does that affect you?
00:30:37 I mean, look, I just think there's a danger of overthinking it.
00:30:41 It's still 200 metres of swim.
00:30:43 The majority, we train short course, we race short course.
00:30:47 Olympics is going to be short course.
00:30:49 That's what we're preparing for.
00:30:51 It's a bit of a change when we come long course.
00:30:53 It's not something that we're used to, but largely we race it the same race.
00:30:57 It will feel a little bit harder, I think, but it's the same thing.
00:31:01 It's a bit slower, isn't it?
00:31:03 Ultimately, because there's less turns and you don't have that kick-offer wall which propels you forward.
00:31:06 Is that the reason it's going to be slower?
00:31:08 Yeah, for sure.
00:31:09 I mean, some people will suit long course swimming when the turns aren't really a strength or whatever.
00:31:16 Other people will have a much bigger gap between their short course and long course PBs.
00:31:21 Yeah, long course is always generally a little bit slower.
00:31:24 But it's a still-level playing field.
00:31:27 It's not like you're still racing the same people and the gap's still the same.
00:31:30 As we mentioned, you are one of the fastest swimmers.
00:31:34 Definitely capable of a sub-two-minute swim.
00:31:37 But this year, and indeed last year as well, the swim time's a little bit slower than they were in the old format.
00:31:43 Just explain to us the reason for that.
00:31:45 Just because of the proximity of all the events together.
00:31:47 Even in qualification, less so in qualification, you've got bigger gaps, but it's still a factor.
00:31:52 I think it's more about energy conservation and getting maximal points over all the disciplines
00:31:57 rather than getting max in all of them individually, I think.
00:32:01 When you've got a fence, quite a long fence, 45 minutes after you get out of the pool,
00:32:07 it's not the best idea to be going absolutely flat out in the pool,
00:32:10 especially when the majority of the points we're getting are from the fencing.
00:32:13 It's just about getting that middle ground of maximal points with maximal energy conservation.
00:32:19 So ultimately, if you're losing five seconds in the swim, that's going to cost you ten points.
00:32:24 But the knock-on effect you could have later in the competition.
00:32:27 For example, in laser run, if you've got that extra five seconds you save from swimming,
00:32:32 that you can put into laser run, it's going to benefit you a great deal more.
00:32:35 Yeah, 100%.
00:32:36 When you're talking one second in the pool is two seconds in the run,
00:32:39 a second in the pool is quite a lot when you're talking about a two-minute race distance.
00:32:43 Whereas, you know, you're looking at ten minutes in the laser run, two seconds is not that much.
00:32:47 So it's not comparable really.
00:32:49 So yeah, you want to be going to that laser run at the start of it anyway, feeling as fresh as possible.
00:32:54 All right, well, listen, best of luck to all of you. Good luck in the competition.
00:32:56 Thank you very much.
00:32:57 Cheers.
00:32:58 British athlete Miles Pillage giving us his thoughts ahead of the swimming discipline.
00:33:04 And Pillage, I think, is one of the interesting athletes to hear from because he is such a quick swimmer.
00:33:10 He's such a natural swimmer as well.
00:33:12 And interesting to hear how the different athletes plan their way around the discipline,
00:33:17 the transitions and getting themselves ready for the swimming.
00:33:19 Yeah, and I think a really important thing that Miles picked up on is
00:33:24 athletes are sort of preparing for a 25-meter pool and having to now adapt to a 50-meter pool
00:33:29 will be a bit challenging for them, I think mentally too.
00:33:32 Yeah.
00:33:33 Just a quick note on the start list for Swimming Heat 1 in Lane 5.
00:33:37 Lukasz Kutkowski has withdrawn from the competition.
00:33:41 We're not too sure why.
00:33:43 We are going to try and find out soon.
00:33:45 But yeah, time now for the start of Swimming Heat 1.
00:33:50 Woojin Park from Korea is our first athlete to come out.
00:33:55 He's in Lane 2.
00:33:59 Alongside Woojin, who was ninth in Ankara last year, is Christian Kamisa.
00:34:04 He is competing in his first final of the year.
00:34:11 Sorry, first semi-final of the year.
00:34:15 Martin Vlak, fifth in Ankara this year and last year.
00:34:18 Brondin Budapest in 2023.
00:34:21 Alongside him, Roberto Micheli.
00:34:25 There he is, Roberto Micheli.
00:34:33 Team Relay Gold medalist at the Europeans in 2021.
00:34:38 And then in Lane 7, Christian Klees, sixth at the IPM Tanger in Kyrgyzstan last year.
00:34:46 Those are your six athletes for Swimming Heat 1.
00:34:48 I say six athletes, it's five athletes because Lukasz Kutkowski is a did-not-start.
00:34:52 So we will try and get his thoughts ahead of the start of the Laser Run.
00:34:57 Not too sure what's happened there.
00:34:59 I have a feeling that the times for the men's today will be around about 2.10.
00:35:09 Hopefully below 2.10.
00:35:12 But we have heard that the athletes do feel slow in the pool, so let's see what the times will be for today.
00:35:22 Here we go then, Swimming Heat 1 about to get underway.
00:35:28 And Swimming Heat 1 underway here in Sofia, Bulgaria in the semi-final.
00:35:36 A.
00:35:37 Micheli really extending, soaring up strong.
00:35:46 So just been informed that Lukasz Kutkowski has withdrawn with a muscle injury, our sources have told us.
00:35:58 So sorry to hear that Lukasz, we wish you the best.
00:36:01 First hundred meters of Swimming Heat 1 is away.
00:36:06 And Roberto Micheli is in the lead as things stand.
00:36:12 As we approach the halfway stage, Micheli is only drawing further and further heads.
00:36:26 As he hits the halfway stage at 1 minute point 41.
00:36:31 Wozniak Park is two seconds further back.
00:36:33 Christian Cluess looking to make up time.
00:36:35 He's currently in 18th place overall and needs to really make an impact in this competition.
00:36:43 Micheli is really showing some good stroke style here and keeping up his stroke rate.
00:36:53 And you can see now from the third lap going into the fourth lap, he will pick that up a bit.
00:36:58 Good underwater work there.
00:37:04 So this is a really good stuff here by Micheli as he makes his way into the final 50 meters, final 25 meters of this first Swimming Heat.
00:37:20 Looking to get as close to around the time of 2.05 as he can.
00:37:26 I think we'll probably go a bit over that, although we're in those final few meters.
00:37:30 Here we go. Micheli. It is a time of 2.04.86, which is his fastest time in the last 12 months by one hundredth of a second.
00:37:43 Micheli has done a very good swim there.
00:37:47 Wozniak Park coming home in second place. I think it was Comiso who took third.
00:37:52 So I just seen a replay there of Micheli.
00:38:09 Just having seen Roberto Micheli, we'll be welcoming Giorgio Micheli in the next heat.
00:38:19 And it looks like it's quite a good swimming family. I mean, his sister too.
00:38:24 The Michelis are quick, aren't they? It's funny, isn't it?
00:38:27 There's something in their genes that makes them quick.
00:38:30 These are the standings after the first Swimming Heats.
00:38:33 So Swimming Heats to start list on the screen.
00:38:52 Balazs Dzep, Pavel Timoshenko, Moultas Mahama, Giorgio Micheli, Daniel Lanovich and Esteban Bustos.
00:39:05 Balazs Dzep is first out on the back of that silver medal from Budapest.
00:39:15 He's in a good position at the team stand. Seventh place overall.
00:39:18 Timoshenko, who follows out. Dzep, silver medalist from Rio 2016.
00:39:24 World Championship bronze medalist 2018.
00:39:27 Moultas Mahama, the two-time silver medalist this year.
00:39:31 Throwing some punches as he comes out.
00:39:33 Like I said earlier, he's got good energy, Moultas Mahama.
00:39:37 Giorgio Micheli, highest ranked Micheli at this competition.
00:39:41 Three Michelis competing in pentathlon.
00:39:45 And then finally, Daniel Lanovich looking to make his first final of the year.
00:39:51 He had a really good bonus round, so he must be in good spirits with that.
00:39:57 Esteban Bustos was an Olympian in Tokyo and is looking to qualify his spots for Paris.
00:40:14 So these are your athletes for the second of three swimming heats.
00:40:35 And off we go. The second swimming heats underway.
00:40:40 Athletes from Hungary, Ukraine, Egypt, Italy, Poland and Chile in the pool.
00:40:55 And it's a fast start, this second swimming heat.
00:40:59 You can see some splashing together.
00:41:01 Yeah.
00:41:04 A couple of really quick swims potentially coming from Mohamed and Micheli.
00:41:09 Mohamed is very quick in the pool, by the way.
00:41:13 You can see Micheli setting the pace.
00:41:18 You can see Mohamed will not let him go far in the race.
00:41:22 I think it's just really just finding that pace, like we said in the 200,
00:41:26 just finding that 50 meter pace that they each have.
00:41:29 I must say this is a lightning fast start from these two athletes at the turn.
00:41:35 Moultas, Mohamed and Georgia Micheli separated by a point 23.
00:41:39 If they're turning about under a minute on the 100, I think it could come close to about 2.02, probably.
00:41:47 Usually they drop off in the second 100. I'm going to guess a time of 2.04.
00:41:53 Yeah.
00:41:55 But still a lot to play for.
00:41:58 And they are absolutely stroke for stroke.
00:42:01 Moultas, Mohamed has edged into a lead in the final turn,
00:42:05 kicks off the wall, nails the turn and makes up a couple of strokes in that final turn.
00:42:12 But it is still very close between these two athletes.
00:42:16 Final 25 meters or so of this second swimming heat.
00:42:21 It's been a really exciting heat this.
00:42:23 Micheli and Mohamed are pushing this as far as it will go.
00:42:29 Mohamed has now opened up a bit more of a gap over Micheli.
00:42:33 We guess the time of 2.04 is going to be under that.
00:42:36 Moultas, Mohamed of Egypt with a swim of 2.03.33.
00:42:41 Nearly two seconds ahead of Georgia Micheli in the end.
00:42:45 That's a massive swim from Moultas, Mohamed yet coming home in third place.
00:42:50 End standings on that one.
00:42:52 Yeah, I think Mohamed's last tumble turn really made a difference there.
00:42:58 It just shows how big a difference that makes because just before the third lap he was neck and neck with Micheli.
00:43:05 And after that turn he just dragged his way through and got that lead.
00:43:10 But really good swim there from both the athletes.
00:43:13 So just seeing the replays end of that second swimming heat before we line ourselves up for swimming heat three.
00:43:26 The athletes from swimming heat one will be slowly making their way to the Laser Run arena already, by the way.
00:43:38 So there we go. Those are your standings.
00:43:42 And you can see Moultas, Mohamed has moved provisionally into first place,
00:43:45 which means he will start the Laser Run at the absolute worst in seventh place.
00:43:52 I think he will possibly leap ahead of maybe Christian Zillekens, not the fastest swimmer.
00:44:01 Definitely that was the fastest in swimming heat, swimming heat two.
00:44:09 Swimming heat three, Mahala Shabam, Pieter Jordan, Patrick Dock, Christian Zillekens, Marit Grieten, Benz Demeter are your six athletes.
00:44:17 Yes, so in this semifinal will be a battle between the two German athletes for that Olympic ranking spot.
00:44:25 Mahala Shabam out first, he's currently top of the pile.
00:44:28 He extended his lead after taking victories in fencing bonus rounds.
00:44:32 Multiple World Cup medalists, World Cup final gold medalists last year.
00:44:41 Pieter Jordan looking to win his first medal in six years after winning here in Bulgaria in 2018.
00:44:48 A silver medal, I think it was, if memory serves, correct?
00:44:50 Patrick Dock, a bronze medalist in Budapest in 2021.
00:44:55 Intriguing battle between him and his German colleague Christian Zillekens,
00:45:02 who was a gold medalist in Czechoslovakia in 2019.
00:45:06 Took a break from the sport due to injury, but is back and looking in good shape.
00:45:11 Marit Grieten, a consistent figure in pentathlon.
00:45:16 He's in a good position in fifth place overall.
00:45:20 I'm talking fifth place, Benz Demeter coming in fifth in Budapest in the previous World Cup.
00:45:27 Now looking to go one better, maybe get himself on the podium if he can get himself safely into the final here.
00:45:36 And Sofia.
00:45:38 So in the last two heats, we've seen times of 2.04 and 2.02,
00:45:54 so it will be interesting to see what this heat can do.
00:46:02 So Swimming Heat 3 is underway.
00:46:06 And the final of the Swimming Heats at the end of this heat, we will know the handicap start list for the Laser Run.
00:46:12 Athletes all in the pool and vying for positions.
00:46:18 Mohamed Chabanne, Marit Grieten, Benz Demeter could be the ones setting the fastest times.
00:46:26 First turn, it's pretty level across the board.
00:46:30 I think we peaked in excitement factor in Swimming Heat 2.
00:46:33 There was definitely a battle there between the last two athletes,
00:46:37 but it seems like it's usually from the second lap we see that the first two or the leader drag their way through.
00:46:44 Yeah, they start to break, don't they?
00:46:46 Looks like Marit Grieten, maybe on the side of your screen there, Mohamed Chabanne.
00:46:50 Yeah, Chabanne and Grieten are going stroke for stroke with Benz Demeter.
00:46:55 Is that Demeter at the front of your shot?
00:46:58 Yeah, that's Demeter at the lead actually.
00:47:00 That's Chabanne, Grieten and there's Demeter.
00:47:03 So, yeah, Chabanne has built a 1.16 second lead.
00:47:08 Chabanne is setting the pace there to just save some energy for that last lap,
00:47:17 because that is the one that matters most.
00:47:20 So, here we go.
00:47:25 We're getting to the business end now of this third and final Swimming Heat.
00:47:29 These athletes will shoot out of the pool in the transition for Laser Run.
00:47:32 It's just 15 minutes to get themselves out of the pool, across the bridge and then to the Laser Run arena.
00:47:38 So, Mohamed Chabanne is still in first place.
00:47:41 He is looking very determined here in Sofia.
00:47:45 He's needed a string of results to go his way.
00:47:48 He's had to compete at every World Cup this season,
00:47:51 which I'm not sure would have been his plan at the beginning of the year.
00:47:56 That is the level of competition in that Egyptian team.
00:47:59 So, final few moments of this swimming race.
00:48:02 There we go. We pick up the athletes as they're coming towards the finish line.
00:48:06 And is it going to be Chabanne or is it going to be Grieten?
00:48:09 It is Chabanne, 0.41 ahead of Grieten, Demeter 2.12 further back.
00:48:14 And that will mix things up.
00:48:15 I think that will work in the favor of Moultas Mouhamed.
00:48:20 As he looks to close in on those above him.
00:48:24 It was just interesting what we had in the interviews earlier,
00:48:33 how athletes view how much energy to use in each race.
00:48:38 I think it just really determines on your confidence in your disciplines.
00:48:42 And if you're confident when you're running,
00:48:45 you'll probably be able to be in the position to save your energy.
00:48:49 But, I mean, let's face it, if you're in the pool and you're competing against your competitors,
00:48:53 I feel like that competitive spirit will just come through.
00:48:56 And, you know, you just want to give it your all.
00:48:58 So, it is a fine line between that.
00:49:02 That's very true.
00:49:04 So, Moultas Mouhamed will be top of the pile.
00:49:08 But by how many points? Let's find out as we see the standings.
00:49:12 And look at that. I meant Chabanne, sorry.
00:49:14 But look at that. Moultas Mouhamed has climbed up into second place.
00:49:18 That's a really big jump.
00:49:20 And it's now an Egyptian 1-2 with Mac Greach in third place.
00:49:24 Pierre de Jardin in fourth, Patrick Dogg in fifth, Giorgio Micheli has risen four places to sixth place.
00:49:30 Jep in seventh, Zilikins in eighth, Benz Demeter.
00:49:33 Look at how tight that is.
00:49:35 Absolutely wild. Six seconds separates second and ninth.
00:49:43 This is going to really maybe be a very exciting laser run.
00:49:48 We'll be back with all the build-up to the frantic end to semi-final B live here from Sofia.
00:49:54 Let's just take a look back at the highlights of the swim.
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00:50:39 Welcome back to Sofia, Bulgaria for the continuation of semi-final A.
00:50:47 In fact, the conclusion of semi-final A because we are now about to transport you digitally
00:50:55 from the swimming pool to the start of the laser run.
00:50:58 It's a way longer walk, by the way, here in Sofia.
00:51:00 Five 600-meter laps with a handicap start dictating the order.
00:51:06 Now for the first lap, which is the formation lap, the athletes arrive at the shooting series.
00:51:09 Four 10-meter shoots.
00:51:12 And if you get out of the shooting range in time around 10 seconds, you'll have a smile on your face.
00:51:16 If it's longer than that, you'll be struggling a little bit.
00:51:20 The athletes have to do that four times and things can really mix up.
00:51:23 And when you've got a laser run as close and as competitive as we've got here in Sofia,
00:51:32 I'm sure this is going to prove to be a very exciting race.
00:51:37 Let's take a look at some of those times.
00:51:39 In fact, this is one of the closest I've seen.
00:51:42 The top 10 separated by just 26 seconds.
00:51:46 No one is safe.
00:51:51 Let's take a look then at what it's like from an athlete's point of view.
00:51:56 But bear in mind, this was filmed a couple of days ago and you can see it's a little bit of a mud box.
00:52:01 So we'll mention that in a minute as to how that's changed today.
00:52:04 But this is the point of view from Penelope Nica, a Greek athlete.
00:52:09 As you can see, 12 minutes until the start of the discipline.
00:52:13 But Penelope Nica shooting five out of five there, turning ahead before she's even hit that fifth shot.
00:52:19 So athletes come around the corner and it's a lot drier today, by the way.
00:52:22 So it's not as perilous as it was yesterday for the women's semifinals.
00:52:26 We are due a bit more rain tomorrow, so that could make it a little bit muddier again.
00:52:31 And just seeing some key points of the course here, Elida.
00:52:35 Yeah, no, there are some sharp turns where athletes are going to have to, I mean,
00:52:40 if athletes are running neck and neck against each other, it's going to be a bit tricky.
00:52:44 But it is drier today, so that won't be much like this turn here, especially.
00:52:50 So I don't think it will be much of a problem.
00:52:52 But the LOC has put out some sawdust for the muddy conditions, so they have the conditions sorted out.
00:53:00 Yeah, this is quite a muddy one, this one here, but it is a lot drier than it was yesterday.
00:53:05 Sun has been shining down all day today.
00:53:07 So that is what it looks like to complete a lap of this course.
00:53:13 And we're going to go and try and grab the thoughts of an athlete.
00:53:16 Ideally, Lucas Sotos, if we can find him.
00:53:19 And over to you, Elida, to keep the crowds entertained as we head to trackside to try and get an interview.
00:53:27 Yeah, no, so our starting list, we will have the first two Egyptian athletes, Mahmoud Chaban and Mottaz Mohamed,
00:53:36 who is only 14 seconds away from each other.
00:53:40 But right after Mottaz Mohamed is Mark Gritsch.
00:53:44 And then after is Pierre de Georges, Patrick Dog, Georgia McKellie, Balazs Sepp and Ben Stameter.
00:53:53 We are looking for athletes to make that top nine places to qualify for Super Sunday finals.
00:54:02 So athletes will now just be finishing their last preparations for the Laser Run start.
00:54:09 They'll be putting their vests on and putting their numbers on.
00:54:17 And just those last mental preparations before the start.
00:54:23 It has been interesting to see the different take on the shoes.
00:54:27 Some athletes have been running with spikes and some with normal running shoes.
00:54:31 But I think it really just depends on each athlete for themselves.
00:54:35 Up you go, Tim Flacht.
00:54:44 Yes, some of the teammates, Rebecca Langer helping her teammates from Germany get ready for the race there.
00:54:52 And in your view, we have the athlete from Chile, Esteban Bustos.
00:55:00 Very interesting about Esteban Bustos, who's actually following in the steps of his brother,
00:55:07 who competed in the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
00:55:14 We have Pierre de Jourdan. I think one of his best fencing performances in a while.
00:55:21 He has been injured last season, so good comeback from him.
00:55:26 And a very well-known Patrick Dog. His brother has qualified.
00:55:35 And I think between the two athletes, Patrick Dog and Christian Zillekens,
00:55:40 they will be fighting for that position for the Olympic ranking.
00:55:45 So it will be a battle among teammates in this event.
00:55:50 As well as between Muhtasim Mohamed and Mohamed Chaban, who are placed first and second.
00:55:56 Patrick Dog is in fifth position currently, so should comfortably make it to the semifinal.
00:56:04 But anything can happen.
00:56:06 In your view there, you have Rujan Park.
00:56:09 He will be starting in 11th position, about 15 seconds away from the 9th position,
00:56:16 so could make up for some work there.
00:56:19 You have Muhtasim Mohamed, who's starting at second.
00:56:25 Christian Zillekens starting at 9th position there.
00:56:31 We'll be starting together with Benz Demeter in 8th position.
00:56:37 So three of those athletes actually, Balazs Tsep, Benz Demeter and Christian Zillekens,
00:56:43 will start together in 7th, 8th and 9th position.
00:56:48 Martin Vlacht, we know him very well for his amazing laser run performance.
00:56:56 I think it was in the Tokyo Olympics where he started about 25th position
00:57:02 and ended up in 5th place at the Olympic Games.
00:57:05 But for now we're going to James for a live interview.
00:57:10 Anika Zillekens, always a pleasure to speak to you.
00:57:13 Obviously enjoying yourself a little bit more today, because you don't have to compete until Super Sunday.
00:57:18 We're reflecting on the men's semifinal.
00:57:22 It's very close, it's very frantic and it's just 20 seconds separating the top nine.
00:57:27 This could be a really interesting laser run. What do you think?
00:57:29 I think it will be a really interesting laser run.
00:57:31 It gets really close after the swimming, like the right person swims fast, the right person swims slow.
00:57:36 I think for our boys it's quite good, they're good in laser runs.
00:57:40 So I hope that Christian can get up from the 9th to the front position really fast.
00:57:44 Christian is in 9th place. He had a break with injury, didn't he?
00:57:47 But he seems to be back and competing pretty much to his best now.
00:57:50 Yes, I'm really happy for him. He had a good fencing.
00:57:53 This was a tough session, like the last years were not so easy for him.
00:57:56 So I'm happy that he's back in the fight for the Olympic spot.
00:57:59 It's a really interesting battle with the German male athletes, isn't it?
00:58:03 You've got Patrick Dogg, Fabian Lieb, Christian Zillekens, all trying to get themselves that final German Olympic spot.
00:58:10 It's a really interesting topic of conversation, isn't it?
00:58:13 It's so exciting. They're all friends.
00:58:15 Marvin is already through, so I think it's a fair fight.
00:58:19 But they will fight till the end. They go to the World Cup final, they go to the World Championships.
00:58:23 And then we will see who will go to the Olympics.
00:58:26 What's interesting about this event, they've all fenced really well.
00:58:28 Patrick and Christian, both with 22, I think. Fabian got 20.
00:58:33 They are all bringing their A-game to this event.
00:58:36 It's really interesting for the Germans, because now they will see who of these three,
00:58:40 which two will fly to the World Cup final, because Marvin will go.
00:58:43 So two of them, and they will decide this in the final, I think.
00:58:46 With so many athletes so close together, anything can happen in semifinals.
00:58:51 You yourself know how tough it is to get through to finals.
00:58:54 This could be a really exciting semifinal, I think.
00:58:56 I think it will be so exciting. I think the shooting will play a big role.
00:58:59 It was the same yesterday. And I hope it will be a nice race today in the sun.
00:59:04 Annika, always good to speak to you. Thank you so much for your time.
00:59:06 Thank you. Bye.
00:59:09 There you have it from Annika Zillikens, who actually was perfect yesterday.
00:59:14 She will be performing or competing on Sunday's final.
00:59:19 And hopefully we'll have Christian Zillikens on the final there with her.
00:59:24 So athletes are waiting for the start of the Laser Run.
00:59:30 Just like we said, finishing those last preparations there.
00:59:35 Pierre de Jourdan will be looking to make this final in a really comfortable position in fourth place.
00:59:42 So we have Pierre de Jourdan in the shooting range.
00:59:51 It's been a bit of a wait for him to pick up a medal, his last medal coming in 2018 in Sofia.
00:59:55 Let's take a look at some of his statistics then as he goes into this semifinal in fourth place.
01:00:03 So that bronze that he picked up in Sofia in 2018 is the only medal he's won to date.
01:00:11 But let's see how he compares with some of the other athletes.
01:00:16 His overall performance then, he's below average in fencing and in swimming.
01:00:22 But he is 6% above average in Laser Run.
01:00:26 So it could be a good Laser Run this for the French athlete Pierre de Jourdan.
01:00:30 And we'll see how he starts and finishes races.
01:00:34 You can see his consistency moving up.
01:00:37 18th to 17th in Cairo, 10th to 16th in Ankara, 9th to 6th in Sofia last year, 16th to 11th in Cairo last year.
01:00:45 And you feel that Pierre de Jourdan will confidently get himself into Super Sunday's final
01:00:52 if he can compete to the level we know he can reach in Laser Run.
01:00:56 Pierre de Jourdan, French athlete in a good position earlier to qualify for the final.
01:01:00 Yeah, I know. I think he's had a really good fencing performance or one of the best in the season for him.
01:01:08 So he's put himself in a really comfortable position to qualify.
01:01:12 But it is a tough field here and spaces are quite close to each other.
01:01:18 But I think he will be eyeing up that final qualification for today.
01:01:24 Mohamed Chaban is an athlete in form at this event, having come into the competition on the back of a bronze medal.
01:01:30 Let's take a look at his statistics because we know he is one of the best athletes in the world with so many medals picked up last year.
01:01:39 He picked up a medal at every event he competed at.
01:01:42 World Championship silver and bronze.
01:01:44 He's picked up five World Cup medals, Olympic ranking of 11th.
01:01:50 Let's see his performance compared to others.
01:01:52 He's 10% above average with fencing, 2% above average in swimming, 1% above average in Laser Run.
01:01:58 Mohamed Chaban is very much one of the athletes who is consistently above average.
01:02:04 What about his Laser Run handicaps?
01:02:07 He is pretty much starting and finishing in similar positions.
01:02:12 Ankara he had to withdraw because of the riding.
01:02:16 But he started third, finished third and he'll be looking to get himself at the top of the podium here in Bulgaria.
01:02:25 Mohamed Chaban is one of the athletes to watch here.
01:02:29 So we are just a couple of minutes away from the start of the Laser Run.
01:02:35 Chaban is getting those final few shoots.
01:02:39 So the shooting range is now closed, which means we are getting very close to the starts of our first Laser Run.
01:02:52 So just confirming that Kokoschki has withdrawn from the competition.
01:02:57 We believe it's a muscle issue.
01:02:59 So the athletes now all making their way on to the start/finish line.
01:03:05 So 1 minute 24 separating 17th place and 1st place.
01:03:11 But it's that battle for 9th place that we are really curious about.
01:03:15 It's currently Christian Zilikens.
01:03:18 I mean to be fair it does drop off quite a bit from the 9th place downwards.
01:03:27 But it's those top 9 that are also close.
01:03:29 And that just really puts pressure on everyone from 1st to 9th place.
01:03:33 I think maybe with the exception of Mohamed Chaban who is a cool head and has a 14 second advantage over everyone.
01:03:39 It's a really close race this.
01:03:41 But I must say Martin Vlacht, do you think we can look out for him?
01:03:46 100% as we see the start list on your screen there.
01:03:48 Martin Vlacht.
01:03:49 Who we want to look out for.
01:03:50 I would actually go as far as saying Martin Vlacht will make it through to the final.
01:03:53 We have seen him do it time and time again.
01:03:55 Just starting from there and bowling his way up.
01:03:57 Curious to see how Christian Camiso can get himself up from that position.
01:04:02 He needs a perfect laser run.
01:04:03 But he's an athlete that looks in pretty good form here.
01:04:06 It has to be said.
01:04:07 He really had to battle for his position in the semifinal.
01:04:12 So Christian Camiso will be pumped.
01:04:14 Knows what he's got to do.
01:04:15 He's got to put another performance maybe even better than he did to get himself into this semifinal.
01:04:21 But it's all about Mohamed Chaban who is 14 seconds ahead of everyone.
01:04:25 He's had a perfect day so far.
01:04:28 And looking to safely navigate his route into Super Sundays Final.
01:04:33 It's all about the top nine.
01:04:34 It's men's semifinal A.
01:04:35 And Mohamed Chaban leads us out of the start blocks.
01:04:39 Past the laser shooting round.
01:04:40 Because of course that is the formation lap.
01:04:44 And Chaban is away on the course.
01:04:47 And in a good position here at the start of this race.
01:04:53 He's chased about by a series of athletes.
01:04:55 Look at that. The top nine all on course pretty much at once.
01:05:00 I think this is quite tense by the way.
01:05:02 I think anyone inside that top nine Olympic hopes could be made and lost even in this next few minutes.
01:05:09 So this is a gripping semifinal leader.
01:05:12 And one I'm looking forward to watching.
01:05:14 Yeah, I think it will all come down to the shooting at the end of the day.
01:05:17 We saw yesterday how things just changed with the women's semifinal with the shooting.
01:05:21 So today will be all about the shooting in this really tight pack of athletes.
01:05:25 Wujim Park is in 11th place.
01:05:28 Keep an eye on him.
01:05:29 Pavlo Timoshenko has not been running quite to the level he has in previous years.
01:05:35 So I'm not sure if he's going to be the one that will be the athlete to push and break into that top nine.
01:05:43 There's Ben Stemmeter.
01:05:45 He's now dropped down to ninth place.
01:05:47 So all eyes on Ben Stemmeter as things stand as he occupies that final qualification spot for Super Sunday.
01:05:53 You can see 20 seconds still the gap between ninth and first.
01:05:59 Mortez Mohamed is making a little bit of a dash of things, but doesn't have to push too hard here.
01:06:05 Yeah, I think with this first lap in the race before they go into the shooting,
01:06:09 just setting that pace, not getting too fast, but finding a good rhythm
01:06:13 and just getting all the nerves up before they go to the first shooting in the shooting series.
01:06:16 Does that happen? Do the nerves come out?
01:06:18 I think if you go directly to the shooting range, definitely.
01:06:24 But I think once you just get that first, that's why I personally am in favor of the first lap,
01:06:30 just to get that all out.
01:06:31 And I've experienced it before, but it's different from athlete to athlete.
01:06:36 So let's see as the first athlete makes his way to the shooting range.
01:06:42 Mortez Mohamed is at the range. I watched him warming up earlier and he was looking good shooting form.
01:06:47 It's three out of five for Chabane. Five out of five for Chabane.
01:06:51 Chabane in very good form and he's away. What about the rest of the chasing pack?
01:06:59 Mortez Mohamed is three for five. Away goes Pierre de Jardin.
01:07:05 Away goes Mortez Mohamed. Zilikins is away. Aziz Grich. Dog's away.
01:07:13 Demeter is away. What about the chasing pack? McKellie is away.
01:07:16 So that top nine are still out now in front of everyone chasing them.
01:07:23 Let's see a little bit further back. So the top nine have a good advantage here, by the way.
01:07:29 No one's really making a case. Leonorowicz is away.
01:07:32 Timoshenko is now out of the range. There is Wujim Park.
01:07:39 Camizo is chasing down. Bustos is trying to make ways through.
01:07:43 But actually we built this up to be one of the more exciting semis.
01:07:47 Go on, Elida. What have you noticed?
01:07:50 Just counting the athletes in order so far.
01:07:53 But it looks like Giorgio McKellie is holding on ninth position so far.
01:07:57 So we'll guarantee his position for the finals.
01:08:02 Daniel Leonorowicz is in tenth place and chasing down.
01:08:06 And Pavlo Timoshenko. Esteban Bustos is trying to get past Wujim Park a bit further back.
01:08:11 Christian Camizo is not too far behind.
01:08:16 But these are your top nine. It's the battle further back that's probably more interesting.
01:08:21 In fact, Martin Vlak has now caught Christian Camizo.
01:08:25 So Vlak has made up only 11 seconds actually to be fair.
01:08:31 Is Vlak the one to keep an eye on?
01:08:33 It's going to be hard for him today because the gap is a bit bigger.
01:08:36 And the fact that the first group has had a really good shooting round.
01:08:39 I think he's going to have to make some effort if he really wants to make it to the next final.
01:08:43 But it's still too early.
01:08:45 It's still early, but we've still got three shooting routines to go.
01:08:50 And Mohamed... Mohamed Chaban is at the range.
01:08:55 One out of the five, two out of the five for Chaban, three out of the five for Chaban, four out of the five for Chaban.
01:09:00 It's five out of five for Mohamed Chaban who is looking like the Mohamed Chaban of 2023.
01:09:06 I think honestly he's nailed on for a potential gold here.
01:09:11 Muhtasim Mohamed is three for five.
01:09:14 Alongside him, Marek Gryc is also three for five.
01:09:18 Away he goes, Pierre de Jardin.
01:09:20 Such a solid laser and Eshcept, by the way, moved up into second place.
01:09:23 So Christian Zillekens is away.
01:09:27 Demeter is away, as is Dog, as is Gryc.
01:09:31 Micheli is a little bit stuck at the range, but does get away.
01:09:34 Now can any of the chasing pack catch up?
01:09:39 In lane 12, Daniel Onorowicz is the closest athlete to putting pressure on Micheli.
01:09:47 Also, Rujim Park, Bustos Timoshenko is not too far off.
01:09:53 Kamiso, but Vlak is still not making the progress he needs at the halfway stage of this race.
01:10:01 The top nine have a nine second gap.
01:10:05 Giorgio Micheli is slowly being reeled in, though.
01:10:09 And that is that final qualification spot.
01:10:12 This race could burst into life at the next couple of shooting routines.
01:10:17 Can Leonorowicz keep putting pressure on Micheli?
01:10:22 I must say Esteban Bustos is making way to catch up with the Polish athlete.
01:10:29 The Vlak attack has been launched, by the way.
01:10:31 He's just moved past Christian Kamiso.
01:10:44 So you can see Micheli there and further back, Daniel Onorowicz is making steady progress
01:10:55 as he tries to reel in the Italian.
01:11:01 Esteban Bustos is trying to keep pace with Onorowicz.
01:11:04 I'll tell you what, Onorowicz is looking focused here as Mahan Shaban makes his way back to the range.
01:11:10 One out of five, two out of five for Shaban.
01:11:14 Three out of five. Shaban's shooting is looking electric here, by the way.
01:11:17 Mahan Shaban with another superb shoot.
01:11:20 He is away and just one to go for him.
01:11:23 So the Chasing Pack make their way to the range.
01:11:27 Bar-Sheppard is looking in superb form here in Sofia.
01:11:31 What about Moultas Mohamed?
01:11:33 Moultas Mohamed then gets away in third place.
01:11:36 He's lit up his five targets.
01:11:39 One shooting routine to go.
01:11:41 Pierre de Jardin shakes his head, but I still think that was a pretty good shoot from him.
01:11:44 Ben Stemmeter and Griech are away.
01:11:47 Zillikens is away.
01:11:48 So it's Patrick Dogg that is now going to be potentially at risk of being caught.
01:11:53 And Patrick Dogg has dropped out of the top nine.
01:11:57 Onorowicz has got past Dogg.
01:11:59 And this is Patrick Dogg's Olympic hopes now on the line as he's been reeled in by Daniel Onorowicz.
01:12:07 And Onorowicz, who had his target set on that top nine, we said this race could explode into life.
01:12:13 And Patrick Dogg and Daniel Onorowicz are now in a battle.
01:12:17 And Micheli is not too far ahead either.
01:12:19 So it's a three-way battle for ninth place now.
01:12:21 Patrick Dogg has to stay on the tail of Daniel Onorowicz.
01:12:25 If he doesn't qualify for the final here, then it could be difficult for Patrick Dogg.
01:12:31 Knows how important this final shoot will be.
01:12:34 Patrick Dogg is giving this everything.
01:12:36 Daniel Onorowicz has really put in a good laser on here.
01:12:40 And he's opened up a bit of a gap.
01:12:43 Martin Vlak is still trying to make his way through as is Bustos.
01:12:46 It's all going to come down to this final shoot.
01:12:48 Who will keep their nerve for the final shooting routine?
01:12:53 The lead of this race is exhilarating.
01:12:55 No, it is changing up throughout the laps.
01:12:58 But, I mean, Mohamed Chaban's shooting.
01:13:01 You can't get better than five out of five, can you?
01:13:03 No.
01:13:04 Three times now.
01:13:05 Mohamed Chaban is going to win gold here.
01:13:07 I'm going to say it now.
01:13:08 He is looking incredibly focused.
01:13:11 We've still got some final A, some final B to come, by the way.
01:13:14 These are just the 18 athletes from this first semifinal.
01:13:17 All vying for those positions.
01:13:19 Will Daniel Onorowicz get past Micheli?
01:13:22 Could the battle turn into Dogg and Micheli?
01:13:24 Dogg's dropped off a little bit, by the way.
01:13:26 He really needs to find some time in the shooting range.
01:13:31 At the shooting range, it's Mohamed Chaban again.
01:13:33 Zeps, by the way, caught him up.
01:13:35 This is brilliant shooting from Chaban.
01:13:37 Three out of five for Chaban.
01:13:38 Four out of five for Chaban.
01:13:40 And the Hanesha ban, we will see you in the final.
01:13:44 Maltes Mohamed and Zeps shooting a little bit slower.
01:13:47 He's away now.
01:13:48 So it all comes down to this.
01:13:50 Dogg, Micheli, Onorowicz.
01:13:53 Dogg needs a very good shoot here.
01:13:56 So we have a look at the range.
01:13:59 And it's Micheli and Dogg next to each other.
01:14:01 It's two for Dogg.
01:14:03 It's two for Micheli.
01:14:04 It's three for Dogg.
01:14:05 It's four for Dogg.
01:14:06 It's four for Micheli.
01:14:07 Micheli and Dogg are away, neck and neck.
01:14:09 And this is now the battle for qualification for the final.
01:14:12 It's going to come down to running on the track.
01:14:13 But Martin Vlach has made his way into the picture.
01:14:16 It's Micheli, Dogg, and Vlach all battling.
01:14:19 You can see the grimace on the face of Patrick Dogg
01:14:22 as he tries to hang on to the tail of Roberto Micheli.
01:14:26 The battle further up is settled.
01:14:28 But there you can see Micheli, Dogg, and worryingly for Micheli and Dogg,
01:14:34 Martin Vlach, who has worked his socks off to get himself into this position.
01:14:40 It's the final lap, and Patrick Dogg digs deep.
01:14:43 He knows that Olympic qualification rests on these final few metres of semi-final A.
01:14:49 Micheli is ahead of him at the moment, but Dogg has had a sudden surge of pace
01:14:53 and is all over the back of the Italian.
01:14:56 A little bit of a slip there from Micheli,
01:14:58 and Dogg moves round the outside of Micheli and snatches back ninth place.
01:15:03 Olympic qualification is the aim of the game here in 2024,
01:15:08 and Patrick Dogg is giving this absolutely everything.
01:15:12 He's saved a bit of energy for this last lap,
01:15:15 and when it looked like despair for Patrick Dogg,
01:15:18 he has found an extra kick of energy, an extra kick of power,
01:15:22 and he's moved clear ahead.
01:15:24 And on the last lap, when it mattered most,
01:15:27 Patrick Dogg keeps that Olympic dream alive, and in doing so, qualifies, you feel now,
01:15:34 for Super Sunday.
01:15:36 That was hard work for Patrick Dogg, but he has done it.
01:15:42 Those are your top nine, and those will be the athletes taking part in the final.
01:15:48 Siobhan Mohamed, Desjardins, Zillikens, Lanorowicz, Greich, Demeter, Dogg, Desjardins,
01:15:58 and you have to feel for poor Micheli, who was beasting on that final lap.
01:16:06 Martin Vlack gave it absolutely everything, but maybe given a bit too much energy,
01:16:10 do you think, to get against that position, Alida?
01:16:13 I mean, James, like we said, Monumentathlon, it's brutal, it's ruthless, and unapologetic.
01:16:20 So, that is actually what we saw today.
01:16:25 Honestly, Siobhan Mohamed shooting just 5 out of 5, 4 times,
01:16:29 and it was just so great to see at the end of the race, Siobhan Mohamed and Chip,
01:16:33 just having a chat there in the beginning, and so relaxed and so calm,
01:16:37 that they know that they made it to the final.
01:16:40 What a fantastic race we had here.
01:16:43 Yeah, brilliant stuff, brilliant performance that there from all those athletes.
01:16:47 It was not easy for any of them, and Siobhan made it look easy,
01:16:50 but we can see him in the background out of your shot now, exhausted and catching his breath.
01:16:56 He had to make sure he put in the perfect performance.
01:17:00 Christian Klies still out on the track, Patrick Dogg just taking a moment to catch his breath.
01:17:08 He really gave that everything, didn't he?
01:17:10 Knew how much that meant, that's just how brutal pentathlon can be.
01:17:16 Yeah, no, he was definitely set on to make it to the final,
01:17:19 and you can see the facial expression, he's going to make it very determined, and he did so very well.
01:17:25 He's going to be aching tomorrow, by the way, isn't he? Super Sunday.
01:17:29 The conclusion of the individual competition here,
01:17:33 as Christian Klies makes his way over the finish line.
01:17:38 Cameras on Patrick Dogg, he's earned his time in the spotlight after that brilliant laser run.
01:17:44 So just seeing the replays there of Mahan Siobhan,
01:18:00 who was superb in that race. Moultaz Mohammed was brilliant.
01:18:04 Marik Greich, very solid out front there.
01:18:07 Yeah, I think we were just both so hopeful for Martin Vlak.
01:18:10 He was just two positions away, and he, like you said, the Vlak attack, but just not today.
01:18:19 Yeah, his shooting wasn't as good as he would have hoped it to have been.
01:18:25 Siobhan out in front, Vlak in the back of the shot, and Shortwell's time was unable to catch.
01:18:33 You can see McKelly just ran out of steam at the end there, didn't he?
01:18:38 Patrick Dogg saved a bit of a kick.
01:18:44 It's a nice battle that between Sepp and Siobhan, by the way.
01:18:48 It'll be interesting to see what happens on Sunday,
01:18:51 and let's keep in mind it'll be the athletes' third day competing,
01:18:55 so energy will be really hard to maintain, but everyone's in the same position,
01:19:01 and it's the top of the top athletes that we will have on Super Sunday.
01:19:06 Final shooting routine this time, and this is really where the pressure
01:19:17 was on those athletes' shoulders, and you can see
01:19:21 heading into the shooter range. This was a great battle between Dogg and McKelly.
01:19:26 They got away exactly the same time. McKelly had the edge at the beginning of that lap.
01:19:32 Famous semifinal, this one.
01:19:36 Hopefully we see the replays of when McKelly, you can see Siobhan and
01:19:41 Sepp just having a bit of fun there, but yeah, McKelly just lost his feet, didn't he?
01:19:46 And Dogg accelerated around the outside.
01:19:50 As you can see, he's delighted, had to give that everything.
01:19:55 I wonder what goes through those athletes' minds in those moments
01:19:59 where they know the Olympic qualification could rest on that.
01:20:04 So good work there from those top nine.
01:20:08 They're through to the final. We'll do it all again shortly with semifinal B.
01:20:14 Patrick Dogg with a big thumbs up to the camera.
01:20:18 So let's take a look at the official qualifications then, and you'll see a little queue next to
01:20:22 nine athletes' names because they've qualified for the final.
01:20:25 Siobhan, Sepp, Mohamed, Jordan, Zilikuns, Lanurowicz, Grich, Demeter and Dogg
01:20:32 all through to Super Sunday.
01:20:40 Daniel Lanurowicz also just made his way through the field, didn't he?
01:20:45 Starting in 12th position.
01:20:48 He had about almost 20 second gap between the ninth position in the start.
01:20:54 Yeah, that was a really good lap run by Lanurowicz.
01:20:57 McKelly, Vlach, Bustos, Timoshenko, Roberto McKelly, Camise, Park, Glees and Gorkowski.
01:21:03 Well, Gorkowski didn't start, but the other eight athletes
01:21:08 are able to make it through to Super Sunday.
01:21:10 That concludes our coverage here from semifinal A.
01:21:13 We'll be back to do it all again in a few hours time.
01:21:16 Thanks for tuning in and it's bye for now.
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