Pentathlon WC Sofia 2024

UIPM TV

Men's Final

Transcript

00:00:00 [Music]

00:00:15 Yeah, hello, welcome back to Sofia, Bulgaria. It's time to conclude Super Sunday here in the

00:00:25 fourth World Cup of the 2024 Pentathlon season. The women's final was absolutely exhilarating.

00:00:33 Strap yourselves in, we're about to go again and maybe even have a more exciting final because the

00:00:38 men's ranking round has really made things very tight heading into the final here in the second

00:00:44 part of Super Sunday. The weather conditions are dry at the moment but there is the threat of

00:00:48 thunderstorms in the sky a little bit later today. So get your bodies out folks, we could be in for a

00:00:54 rocky few disciplines. Right, let's begin with the description of the new format which starts with

00:01:00 qualifications where the athletic numbers are reduced to two groups of 18 with semifinals A and B

00:01:04 taking place. After the semifinals we're left with the 18 best athletes who contest in the final. The

00:01:09 event takes place over a condensed 90 minute duration with five disciplines, 18 super athletes

00:01:14 up against each other competing for the medals. Today is of course finals day so we introduced

00:01:20 riding into the competition, the riding rules point scoring system on your screens now. We're

00:01:24 going to go into greater detail in a few minutes time when we start with the riding. Then things

00:01:27 move over to the fencing bonus round for the one-on-one bouts with the conclusion of the fencing

00:01:35 action. Two points per bout victory added to your score. We then move over to the pool for the heats

00:01:39 of the 200 meter freestyle here in Sofia. It's a 50 meter pool and then we conclude with the ever

00:01:45 dramatic laser run. Five laps of the 600 meter circuit with four laser shooting rounds where the

00:01:50 athletes have to shoot the five targets. The first over the finish line is the winner. This is modern

00:01:56 pentathlon. It's the new format, it's brutal, it's ruthless and it's unapologetic. It's fast, it's

00:02:01 frantic and a new challenge for athletes to overcome. Welcome one and all to modern pentathlon

00:02:07 2024. It's Olympic year everybody so strap yourselves in. Those are the medals that we're

00:02:13 competing for here in Sofia and those are the Olympic rackings after the World Cup in Budapest.

00:02:20 Ahmed El-Ghendi who's not here in Sofia is top of the pile but he's already qualified. We see a little

00:02:25 queue next to some of those athletes names. That means they've already qualified for various,

00:02:29 from various events that they've competed in over the past year or so. But the athletes without a

00:02:35 queue by their name, well they are battling to try and get themselves an Olympic qualification.

00:02:41 Lots of internal battles going on between the nations which we will describe to you

00:02:46 over the next hour and a half or so. This is modern pentathlon. A new format is completed over 90

00:02:51 minutes. Let's bring ourselves up to speed as to where we are currently because of course fencing

00:02:56 ranking round happened a couple of days ago. Big pentathlon points up for grabs in ranking round.

00:03:02 As Chang Wang Seo would tell you, his face looking a little bit forlorn there and some pause for

00:03:07 thought there for Valentin Praz who was the gold medalist this time last year in Sofia. So let's

00:03:12 bring ourselves up to speed with those scores. Pierre de Jardin and Mohamed Shaban share the lead

00:03:18 with 23 victories each. Christian Zillikens, Alexander Dallenbach and Patrick Dogg all locked

00:03:24 on 22 victories. It's 21 for El-Ghendi, it's 20 for Demeter and Praz and Sepp, Sepp of course picking

00:03:31 up a silver medal in the previous World Cup. This folks is very very tight and congested. We are

00:03:39 building up to quite possibly one of the most dramatic pentathlon finals in modern times. Cannot

00:03:47 wait to get stuck into this competition folks and let's bring into the conversation Alida Vandermerve

00:03:53 who has joined us in the commentary box over the course of the action here in Sofia. Alida of course

00:03:59 a retired athlete now but an expert on pentathlon and a pleasure to have you in the commentary box

00:04:03 Alida, welcome. Yes thank you very much James, really good to be here and welcome to those who are

00:04:08 tuning in and watching the first discipline of the day which is the horse riding starting with

00:04:13 Jean-Baptiste Mossier of France. Jean-Baptiste Mossier on horse three. Now this is the interesting thing

00:04:21 about pentathlon, you might think well poor old Jean-Baptiste Mossier is down in 18th place but

00:04:27 he is one of the fastest runners. He came fourth in Cairo earlier this year, he came 10th in Budapest

00:04:33 and don't forget this is all about getting Olympic ranking points. It's not just about winning those

00:04:37 medals, it's about finishing up as high as you can. So go clear on the riding course here and Jean-Baptiste

00:04:43 Mossier could well be a threat later on in the competition. Here we go then folks, we're underway

00:04:48 with the riding and our first athlete is on the course and looking to get himself up and running

00:04:54 in the best possible way. He's cleared obstacle one, cuts round now, it's a long gap between one and two.

00:05:00 We have seen athletes earlier this morning struggling with that broken line but

00:05:05 let's see, the men have had the chance to watch the ladies ride this morning so hopefully they'll

00:05:10 pick up on that. Yeah they could have learned from some of the mistakes, we saw quite a lot of

00:05:14 sort of lower scores didn't we from the women's ride as Jean-Baptiste clears 4A and 4B.

00:05:21 5 was a bit of a tricky obstacle earlier, he clips the top of it but it doesn't go down.

00:05:25 Makes his way to number six and then seven which is also a bit of a broken line there meaning it's

00:05:31 not straight off to each other so he has to recollect himself just as he did there. A clear

00:05:37 ride here, could be could be quite an ominous sign for the rest of the field couldn't it? We've got a

00:05:41 very good laser runner on our hands here. Over towards 8A, very high over 8A but still keeps it clear.

00:05:46 It's a time of 69 seconds so one minute and nine seconds to get in that time limit. I think he might

00:05:52 just go over here but that won't be too much of a worry as he heads towards obstacle nine, clears

00:05:56 obstacle nine, one to go then, heading flat out towards 10. Are we going to see a perfect score

00:06:00 from Jean-Baptiste Meussier? Nearly, it's a 2.99 and that is absolutely superb from the young Frenchman

00:06:07 who has given himself a really good grounding in this first ride of the day. Yep just one

00:06:12 time penalty there because of the one time second over the required time but great ride there from

00:06:18 2.99, 300 with splitting hairs aren't we? That is about as good as it gets so great ride there from

00:06:24 Jean-Baptiste and we welcome now Chang Wang Seo, gold medalist from Ankara, you remember a leader

00:06:31 he was in very good form earlier on in the campaign of this World Cup series. It's not a usual spot we

00:06:37 find Seo in but we know he is capable of climbing up the ladder. But you know what, there's a long ways to go in this

00:06:43 competition and Chang Wang Seo is an absolute beast, he is capable of pulling off miracles in this sport

00:06:50 and we follow him around the course as he takes a knockdown onto two.

00:06:55 So I mean a 2.93 would still be okay but it starts to put the pressure on the leader doesn't it?

00:07:02 Yeah no definitely as he makes his way to number four A and B and clears that double, it is a one

00:07:10 stride double as he makes his way to number five and left to number six. Right through the middle of

00:07:17 the course then towards obstacle six this is a great course here in Bulgaria, it's a challenging

00:07:23 course heading towards seven, clears the vertical seven now it's 8A and 8B. We've seen a couple of

00:07:29 refusals this morning into 8A but Seo clears 8A, knocks down 8B so 2.86 now the score for the Korean

00:07:41 Su to go. This would be okay but can't afford any more knockdowns now especially given how tight the

00:07:48 field is. Towards 10, clears 10 and it's a 2.86 for Seo, not too bad at all.

00:07:58 We will then be welcoming the athlete from Great Britain Miles Pillage. So Miles Pillage is

00:08:05 effectively in a battle with his teammate Charlie Brown to try and get a qualification spot for the

00:08:11 Olympics but Great Britain only have one athlete currently qualified for the Olympic Games and that

00:08:17 is the reigning gold medalist Zhou Chung who's not here at this event. Charlie Brown hasn't qualified

00:08:23 for this final so Miles Pillage now flying the flag solo for Team GB. He's a good rider and he's

00:08:32 a good laser runner as well so Pillage could go clear here and could maybe attack the competition

00:08:39 later on. Good start under the careful guidance of Giabina, the British riding coach famous in

00:08:46 these parts for her guidance over the horses. Clears 4A but knocks down 4B. Seven points off

00:08:55 the score of Pillage. Over towards five, gets away with it, skims the top of the pole but it doesn't

00:09:00 get knocked down. Luckily the weather's held off for these athletes so they're good conditions here

00:09:05 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Straight towards seven now before it cuts round right towards 8A and 8B.

00:09:12 8A and 8B consist of an offset and an upright so Miles will have to focus on that

00:09:18 transition. And oh nearly a refusal into 8B, he manages to recover with just a knockdown.

00:09:26 Heart in your mouth moment there for Pillage. Two to go. He's currently matching the score of

00:09:30 Chang Wangseo. Clears nine and he's going to lose a couple of seconds of his time here as well

00:09:38 and it's job done for Pillage. It's a 2.82. I think he would have probably hoped for a better

00:09:44 score given that he is down in 16th place and it's going to be a tough day I think for Pillage

00:09:49 who is a quick swimmer by the way so will make up some places after swimming. He's gonna have to,

00:09:53 I think, Lee, to look to try and pick up some fencing bonus round wins to try and make up some

00:09:57 of those points. Yeah I mean that's been terrifying for you. It can change throughout the whole

00:10:02 competition. That's what we saw this morning where Blanca Guzzi started in 13th position and took

00:10:06 that gold medal. So anything can happen throughout the whole day. Now welcome Leronowicz from Poland.

00:10:13 Yeah Leronowicz qualified yesterday alongside, I think it was Pillage, it was a good battle that

00:10:21 Leronowicz consistently making finals. What can he do here on this course? 10 seconds in, gets past

00:10:28 obstacle two over towards three. Navigating the early parts of this course well.

00:10:35 Over towards 4A.

00:10:37 Smooth as you like this from Leronowicz as he heads now towards five. Knocked down on five and

00:10:45 the horse loses its footing a little bit but well controlled by Leronowicz.

00:10:50 Over six towards seven.

00:10:54 Knocked down for seven.

00:10:57 Athletes have been struggling with this combination here so it is an oxer two strides to the upright

00:11:04 which Leronowicz clears. So indeed. Picked up an extra stride long there in the middle didn't he?

00:11:11 So time-wise this is looking great by the way. He has just those two knockdowns at the moment so

00:11:17 I think this would be okay for Leronowicz. We're seeing a score of 286 and an average score of 286

00:11:24 I would say so far. We've had a 299 from Jean-Baptiste Morsier. He will shoot up the standings as you can

00:11:30 see in a moment's time and then up next it is Moultas Mohamed. Moultas Mohamed has shown promising

00:11:38 performances this season. Took 12th place last year in Sofia so he will be

00:11:46 willing to redeem that position. He was ninth in Cairo and silver in Cairo this year

00:11:51 might I add. Yeah Moultas Mohamed with those two silvers is one of the in-form athletes

00:11:57 but he is a little bit further down the rankings than he would have liked. We have this

00:12:02 epic internal battle amongst the Egyptian teams and that is not the start that Mohamed

00:12:07 would have wanted. A knockdown on the first oxer. Over two. So it's now a case of making sure

00:12:18 doesn't panic, doesn't worry. It is one knockdown for Moultas Mohamed.

00:12:25 Makes his way to number five. He then has to control himself with this turning and make

00:12:31 it away to number six. So two knockdowns now for Moultas Mohamed and like we were saying a minute

00:12:38 ago 286 is the average score at the moment but that's now a third knockdown for Mohamed

00:12:42 and it's now a damage limitation. He can't afford any more knockdowns if he realistically wants to

00:12:48 be in with a chance of a medal and it's another knockdown this time for Moultas Mohamed.

00:12:53 Through 8b. We see that one happening a lot don't we Elida?

00:12:58 Yeah Mohamed seems to be finding good pace here but not necessarily the right

00:13:02 distance between the jumps but makes his way to the last jump of this course and clear so indeed

00:13:09 is a point of 272 which could cost him a few seconds but we know he is fast in the pool so

00:13:16 still anything to happen with this athlete here. Yeah I think that's probably the end of Moultas

00:13:22 Mohamed's hopes for a medal given... Listen we don't know what's going to happen. I think we have

00:13:30 to judge this each ride at a time but Moultas Mohamed won't be happy with that. Shwilo next out on the course

00:13:39 and here the athlete makes his way out onto the course. Knocks down obstacle one

00:13:50 Lowe makes his way to number two and through the broken line has to reposition himself in the center

00:13:57 of the jump as he does so clearly takes a left turn there has to rebalance himself for this double

00:14:03 one stride in between so it's a good recovery from Lowe as he gets past five into the business

00:14:13 end of this ride now right through the middle a bit of a hesitation through six

00:14:18 recovers into seven now this arguably the trickiest part of the course 8a and 8b clears this

00:14:26 and we could be looking at a 293 clears a oh just about gets past b two to go time-wise it's looking

00:14:37 absolutely fine over nine and i think we're about to see a 293 here

00:14:42 no one's seemingly really struggling with 10 and there it is at 293 good stuff

00:14:49 good right there from Lowe of China we will now be welcoming Demeter of Hungary

00:15:02 so Ben's Demeter was in with a good shout of gold in Budapest his final chutes was slow which allowed

00:15:08 the athletes in front to go past in India up settling for a fifth place spends Demeter

00:15:13 multiple world cup medalists his wife and daughter have flown out to Bulgaria to see him compete and

00:15:20 it was a nervy start over the oxer into one that's a tricky start of the course that isn't it leader

00:15:25 yeah no starting with an oxer does bring a few challenges mentally as well

00:15:29 yeah no starting with an oxer does bring a few challenges mentally too but he knocks number two

00:15:34 makes his way to number three and clears that he will have to rebalance himself as he makes his way

00:15:40 to the double not the most convincing start this from Demeter as he knocks down 4a as well

00:15:46 the horse is not looking super comfortable up there is another knockdown for Demeter

00:15:53 this is starting to get costly now 279 he cannot afford any more knockdowns

00:15:58 and they have to find his rhythm and he's just knocking it through

00:16:04 so this is not looking particularly good for Demeter as he gets another knockdown that's now 258

00:16:16 for Demeter two to go last obstacle things stand he's lost 42 points and clears obstacle 10 so it

00:16:29 is a 258 we haven't seen a perfect score yet but the closest we've got this for this final is Murcia

00:16:42 of France with 299 so we still need to see a perfect score from these riders but we now welcome

00:16:49 Prad of France so Valentin Brad's the reigning champion here in Sofia gold medalist last year

00:16:58 he's a two times world cup final winner he's confident going into this competition

00:17:04 yeah it seems very relaxed with the horse here

00:17:08 the horse looks up for this doesn't it there we go good start by

00:17:12 Valentin Prad and you feel if Prad goes clear here he could be a threat for a medal position

00:17:18 hesitation into two he's done well to get over that but it does suggest maybe there

00:17:23 could be problems later in the course Prad's now heading into the first of two double obstacles

00:17:32 good stuff from Prad's oh my goodness me

00:17:36 that was intense he's got through it this is great riding from Prad's I have to say

00:17:43 yeah no really well recovered there but it just seems as if they're still finding that

00:17:48 right timing for takeoff clips the front left corner of seven will he get through

00:17:54 the tricky 8 a.m b he will I'll tell you what if he comes out of this and he's cut left by the way

00:17:59 and taking a bit of a shortcut rather than going around the outside shaving time off his right I

00:18:05 don't even need to do that this is a lightning fast run from Prad's and that is a brilliant

00:18:10 ride from Valentin Prad's it's a 293 just a one knockdown he overcame some really tricky moments

00:18:16 there and Prad's I think is uh looking pretty good yeah given how tight things are looking at

00:18:25 top scores now in the riding of 299 293 so he is putting himself in a really good position

00:18:31 in 11th place and I think uh you wouldn't bet against Prad's getting a medal at this point

00:18:37 so Balasep is one of the in-form athletes he's very good on the laser run he picked up a silver

00:18:46 it was nearly a gold by the way in Budapest and again this is one of those riders you feel now

00:18:52 if he goes clear here could be watching a medalist in front of us clears obstacle one which has been

00:18:59 quite tricky for some of the other athletes 10th place at the moment and only 15 points off the

00:19:05 lead gets away with obstacle two oh my goodness me just gets past three tip has taken a different

00:19:13 line there and he makes his way to number four a and b one stride and clears still not a good

00:19:19 roll here because as he knocks number five felt that was coming yeah he really needs to find his

00:19:28 rhythm again to get through the course

00:19:29 so we're at the over the halfway stage now and it's a refusal into seven so we just lost pace

00:19:40 didn't quite get the angle right and there is a refusal for step he's got to get this back

00:19:45 underway soon he's losing time this is nervy moments for balasep second refusal so two refusals

00:19:52 allows you to go to the next jump and tip is really need to get that rhythm again and

00:19:57 connection but he's going losing oh this could be an elimination here if he can make his way to

00:20:04 jump number eight a and b i mean even if he does this is serious points now i mean he's done well

00:20:11 to get this back on course but it is a third refusal for zepp and just like that his competition

00:20:18 comes unstuck balasep doesn't make it back to back podiums it is our first elimination of the

00:20:26 men's ride and balasep well you have to feel for sep because he was in a good position there but

00:20:33 there you go

00:20:39 very unfortunate for tip there but now we welcome our next athletes kasper jack from

00:20:45 poland so over to you kasper jack as he makes his way now on to the course

00:20:51 there we go up and running kasper shack is also just 15 points off the lead at this point of the

00:21:04 competition it's anyone's guess as to who wins gold it's really an exciting part of the competition

00:21:10 mohammed shaban has looked in good form in this competition but everyone's got to get past this

00:21:15 ride and there is points to be lost here it's not a straightforward ride at all it's going to mix

00:21:20 things up

00:21:20 heavy landing leap there yeah kasper jeopardy makes his way to number five well recovered

00:21:29 but knocks it he really has to rebalance himself and focus on the rest of the course

00:21:35 so over six two knockdowns now for kasper shack gets past seven so this is the tricky part of

00:21:46 the course but i think in general there's quite a few tricky parts of this course eight a now eight

00:21:52 b nicely done time wise it's looking okay nine is an oxer so we will have to

00:22:00 look out for that one in a big jump there but he makes his way to the last and final jump

00:22:06 nicely done so finishes the course well it's a 284 that's not too bad not at all considering

00:22:17 the other points in the horse riding today but let's not forget it is a technical course

00:22:22 and the athletes are riding and i must say i think they are sort of approaching the technical

00:22:29 parts a bit better than um yeah i think they've seen the women do the riding this morning and just

00:22:36 picked up on that so i think there's an advantage marik reach next up on the course as the leader

00:22:42 said there were lessons that we feel may have been learned from watching the female athletes

00:22:47 on the course marik reach slow and steady into that first obstacle i think that's a good way

00:22:51 of taking actually not giving too much speed just relaxing great posture horse looks comfortable

00:22:58 it's not the fastest ride you might need to pick up the pace a little bit a little bit slow into

00:23:02 two there especially with the upcoming doubles you will have to pick up the pace a bit clears free

00:23:08 now heading towards 4a and 4b

00:23:13 nicely done

00:23:18 and clears five so halfway around the course just the one knockdown so far for Grich

00:23:31 although six tumbles

00:23:34 and that's two knockdowns i think 286 is probably

00:23:38 what you're going to be aiming for 286 and above on this course it is tricky

00:23:45 and gets away with 8b and will probably steer at home now possibly just over the

00:23:54 one minute nine time allocation i think we're looking at a time of around

00:24:00 to a score around 282 here just knock down into that final obstacle so

00:24:11 so that is 274 points for for Grich 274 the score there for Grich and just like that

00:24:22 he lost some quite big points at the end of that so now this i feel is a very interesting part

00:24:30 of this final Fabian Liebig back after injury and looking in very good form in that battle yesterday

00:24:38 to get into the final we've got three Germans inside the top 10 Liebig, Zillikens and Dogg

00:24:45 Fabian Liebig has an excellent laser run by the way as well so if Fabian Liebig goes clear here

00:24:52 i'd say he's one of the favorites for a medal i feel like i've said that about a lot of athletes but

00:24:56 Fabian is a quick runner we know that about him he just shoots a little bit slow yesterday as well

00:25:02 but anyway we focus on his ride first three clear he loses a bit of fitting there but makes his way

00:25:09 to number four a and b one stride nicely done that from Liebig now towards five

00:25:17 yeah Liebig will have to pick up the pace a bit but still seems to be going well so far

00:25:28 gets away with six this is looking good from Liebig

00:25:31 knocked down seven so first knockdown it's not going to be a clear score

00:25:34 8a and 8b to follow gets past a and clears b Liebig on a charge with two to go

00:25:46 timewise it's looking good as well Fabian Liebig with a statement right here heading towards

00:25:54 obstacle 10 and clears it that's a very good ride from Fabian Liebig at 2.92

00:26:01 and make no mistake about it Fabian Liebig is in with a chance of a medal here

00:26:07 very good ride from Liebig he'll be delighted with that yes definitely and as like James says

00:26:14 we have two more German athletes up here and there's an internal battle that's going to be

00:26:19 between them for ranking points but now we welcome Mohamed Elgendy of Egypt well this is another one

00:26:25 of those internal team battles we're keeping a keen eye on again the gold medalist in Budapest

00:26:31 he's worked hard on his riding let's see how he gets on in this tricky course here in Sofia

00:26:38 over towards two clears it so far so good for the young Egyptian oh and it's a refusal into three

00:26:48 and the grimace on the face of Elgendy tells you just how he feels about that well I mean look

00:26:56 there is still a chance to get a good score here for Elgendy but he has to focus has to concentrate

00:27:04 he's early on in this ride and that refusal doesn't have to mean it's the end of his chances

00:27:09 for a good score but he's got to get himself ready to get back underway and not lose too much time

00:27:15 that is true and Elgendy can now take a different approach without the broken line he can just

00:27:20 tackle that obstacle which is an oxer and does so indeed and makes his way to the next double

00:27:27 damage limitation now for Elgendy no more knockdowns and he will get an okay score time wise it's not

00:27:34 too punishing he has lost that turn for that refusal but it gets past five so at the halfway

00:27:39 stage time for Elgendy just to take stock relax into this ride picks up the speed through six

00:27:45 nicely done over seven clears it now 8A and 8B if he navigates this I think score wise it could be

00:27:54 an okay position he's such a good laser runner as well hits the brakes into 8B but so far this

00:28:01 isn't looking too bad for Elgendy time wise he's really kept that pace going clears nine Elgendy

00:28:08 towards ten brilliant that's absolutely fantastic given that he had that early refusal you felt

00:28:15 perhaps then he could be in trouble to get a 290 with the refusal that early in the ride

00:28:20 is astonishing brilliant work from Mohamed Elgendy who has pulled off an absolutely brilliant

00:28:26 recovery a 290 is a very good score and I think that could well I've said this about every athlete

00:28:34 today but that could well be Elgendy on the podium well that just shows the the drama we are in for

00:28:39 today in the laser run we move on quickly because it's Christian Zillikens now on the course another

00:28:43 one of these inter-team rivalries Liebig with a 293 there's only one German Olympic qualification

00:28:51 spot left it's Liebig, Zillikens and Dogg all battling for that final position Zillikens

00:28:58 knocks down two he's currently in fifth place

00:29:06 and it's looking pretty solid this so far from Zillikens

00:29:11 makes his way to jump number six number six and seven aren't directly right off to each other so

00:29:20 he has to rebalance and find the middle of the jump as he does so big jump there but he makes

00:29:27 his way to 8a and b again clear this part of the course and usually 9 and 10 are quite forgiving

00:29:33 oh no well a refusal into 8a and just like that Olympic hopes take a knock but he's recovered well

00:29:44 oh no and it's a second refusal so he can carry on needs to pick up the pace now 273 for Zillikens

00:29:53 it's not all over by any means but it has taken the sting out of his charge here

00:29:59 so nine clear needs to finish off strongly here towards 10 and there you go he has taken

00:30:07 40 points off of his score so that's a costly ride that from Zillikens yeah no definitely and

00:30:14 let's just clarify the the rules there so you can have two refusals and go on to the next jump

00:30:19 the next jump will be an elimination and Zillikens recovered really well after that

00:30:24 so he's still in it for the race today

00:30:26 so Alexander Dallenbach next up on the course Alex has already qualified for the Olympics he

00:30:37 won his semi-final oh no it's a refusal into that first obstacle it's a tricky one that one so

00:30:44 the clock is stopped on two seconds so like we saw with Muhammad El-Ghendi Dallenbach still with a

00:30:51 chance to get a good score here we saw a 290 from El-Ghendi Dallenbach's gonna have to follow that

00:30:56 on he's only lost well around five seconds oh it's a second refusal oh no so Dallenbach cannot afford

00:31:04 to refuse again he's lost 12 seconds off of his time and obviously those 20 points for those two

00:31:10 refusals he's up against it now Dallenbach and it is damage limitation oh it's a third refusal

00:31:15 and unfortunately for Dallenbach it is an elimination and that's really sad because

00:31:22 he was having a good competition he's a lovely guy and we wish him nothing but the best it's

00:31:28 an elimination from Dallenbach and we're all a little bit downbeat by that yeah no we have seen

00:31:36 a really good performance here from Dallenbach from the qualifications all through the semis but

00:31:41 we will now then welcome our next athlete Patrick Dogg of Germany so Patrick Dogg was in a very good

00:31:51 position in Ankara he was in first place and was eliminated from the ride we refer back to that

00:31:59 German battle Zillikon's only managing a 260 Liebig got a 293 over to you Patrick Dogg to see

00:32:06 what you can do currently in third place obstacle one is tricky by the way get past that oh well

00:32:16 it's only a knockdown so an early scare for Patrick Dogg as he heads now in to two

00:32:24 clears two starting to find a bit of rhythm here and over three so he's recovered well here 293

00:32:32 as he heads towards 4a and 4b he seems to have found a really good rhythm he does

00:32:39 so should be a promising ride from here on you hope so for Patrick and he clears five so Patrick

00:32:46 Dogg with that exhilarating laser run which got him into this final getting in on the last lap

00:32:53 clears six now again you feel a significant part of the course coming up if he can get past

00:32:58 8a and 8b this would be a very good score a big bluster of wind which doesn't help

00:33:03 over towards 8a clears it 8b and he's cleared 8b this is looking good from Patrick Dogg here

00:33:10 he's got two to go timewise is looking okay he might lose a couple of points for time but if

00:33:15 he can just get this home now he'll be very happy with this ride one to go for Patrick Dogg of

00:33:22 Germany and he clears it it's a 292 for Patrick Dogg Liebig and Dogg keep that momentum going

00:33:32 and Patrick Dogg has put behind him those ghosts and those demons from Ankara and put together

00:33:41 a very good score well done Patrick he has kept himself in medal hopes

00:33:49 up next it's Mahan Esheban who also had a nervy ride in Ankara

00:33:54 looking very good here it has to be said if Mahan Esheban goes clear here he has to be the favorite

00:34:02 for gold heading towards obstacle one and clears it off we go so we refer to these inter-team

00:34:09 battles Esheban and El Gendy separated by 20 points slow and steady over two in towards three now

00:34:17 and it's a solid start to the ride from Esheban does Esheban get our first perfect score of the

00:34:23 men's riding over towards 4a clears 4a and 4b Esheban looking very confident here Adida

00:34:30 yes no definitely he's found seems to have found a really good rhythm to keep me out throughout the

00:34:35 the course of this jumping course over towards six cagely gets past and over towards seven now

00:34:45 this is very good from Esheban who is recovering well from that fall from Ankara he got a bronze

00:34:51 in Budapest can he go even better here oh just about gets past 8b this is looking good for

00:34:58 Esheban now time wise is looking good are we about to see our first perfect score is this the ride of

00:35:04 a gold medalist here in Sofia very slow and steady through nine one obstacle to go for Esheban and he

00:35:10 clears it it's a first perfect score of the day and Mohamed Esheban continues this excellent form

00:35:17 here he goes clear with the 300 and is now 20 points ahead of his teammate Mohamed El Gendy

00:35:24 Mohamed Esheban is the man in form here in Sofia and posts the first perfect score of the afternoon

00:35:32 brilliant ride that from Esheban all eyes now on Pierre Desjardins

00:35:38 Pierre Desjardins will be nervous here make no doubt about it but Pierre Desjardins is an excellent

00:35:44 laser on her as well by the way so this is his first final of the season so riding will

00:35:52 determine now his course of the rest of the event and clears that oxer friends and family watching

00:36:00 at home will be a bag of nerves watching Pierre Desjardins in a very good position here clears two

00:36:04 and heads towards three are we going to see back-to-back perfect scores because

00:36:08 this is looking confident from the French athletes over towards 4a

00:36:12 clears 4a and 4b without too much trouble

00:36:20 nice and clear through five this is looking lovely for Desjardins

00:36:25 yes now Desjardins is just getting the horse in the center of every jump and just finding that

00:36:31 right timing as he does so this is nice to see Pierre Desjardins enjoying himself out there as

00:36:36 the sun breaks through the clouds this is a shining performance from Pierre Desjardins as he makes his

00:36:41 way towards 8a 8b coming up oh just about gets away with it skims the top two to go for Pierre

00:36:48 Desjardins in first place looking to match the score of Mohamed Esheban this would put them both on 540

00:36:54 both good laser runners as well this sets itself up nicely for the rest of the competition Pierre

00:36:58 Desjardins goes clear it's another perfect score and Pierre Desjardins says whatever you can do

00:37:04 Mohamed Esheban I can do as well two perfect scores from our two highest athletes and that rounds up

00:37:11 swimming in the nicest possible way brilliant stuff that really good to see such good rides at the end

00:37:16 of that no definitely and I think that just changes up the whole event that we have planned for the

00:37:21 rest of the day but great rides there from Esheban, Desjardins and we had another 300

00:37:28 and really no it was just those two athletes I think the next closest we got to 300 was

00:37:33 Morsier of France 2 with 299 as you can see there Castaldi cheering on her teammate

00:37:39 so let's take a look at the standings then and this is all still very tight and very cagey

00:37:52 Pierre Desjardins and Esheban on 540 Patrick Dog on 527 he currently leads that battle of the German

00:37:58 athletes Mohamed Esheban currently leads that battle of the Egyptian athletes but Mohamed El Gendy

00:38:02 is only 20 seconds behind it's not a big deal Valentin Prades leaps up six places in the battle

00:38:10 of the French athletes Shuhailo in seventh place Kasprzak in eighth and Grich in ninth that's your

00:38:18 top nine they're separated by 41 points let's open things up a little bit Morsier is in the

00:38:25 10th place he's a great laser runner and has risen through those rankings from 18th to 10th

00:38:29 Changwang Samai, Pilish, Moultas, Mohamed there's so many battles going on just sit back and enjoy

00:38:36 it folks this is modern pentathlon it's men's final and we've still got three disciplines

00:38:40 to bring you let's watch back the highlights of riding

00:38:44 so

00:38:52 so

00:38:58 so

00:39:16 so

00:39:28 so welcome back to Sofia Bulgaria as we now build up to our second live discipline here

00:39:35 the riding gripping from start to finish is completed it is now time for fencing bonus

00:39:42 round two points for a victory and it gives a chance for athletes to pick up a few more points

00:39:46 doesn't it Alida if you for example got a 2.93 get three victories and you'll be like okay that's

00:39:50 close to a perfect ride I think that's the way to look at it isn't it yeah easier said than done

00:39:54 though I must say but at least we'll be looking to pick up some points here because we just

00:40:00 spread out by I think five points between what is it fourth position all the way to 10th position

00:40:06 they're all so close on top of each other but it will change now after the horse riding so every

00:40:10 point counts it certainly does every point in pentathlon is a second later in the competition

00:40:16 with four minutes away from the start of the fencing

00:40:20 so we are just taking a moment to reflect on the competition here Alida

00:40:34 early predictions for you Chang Wang Seo can he make his way back into things

00:40:39 oh I mean we saw him in the semi-final just making his way from the bottom of the list all

00:40:45 the way into the top nine so he will be one to look out for but I think it's the top I mean

00:40:52 Mohamed El Ghendi, Pierre George, they had a perfect ride and Mohamed El Ghendi will also be one to look

00:40:58 out for is Fabien Lieber we're just in for an exciting laser run I must say yeah already you

00:41:05 feel like that don't you uh I don't think too much changes from fencing bonus round I don't think

00:41:09 we're going to see any crazy scores I mean listen it's only two points per victory but if you can

00:41:13 get a little run 10 points can make a big difference so we'll keep an eye out for our MVP here in the

00:41:18 fencing bonus round that's of course the best ranked pentathlete the most valuable pentathlete

00:41:25 that was created by Alida and I think that legacy will stay in the sport for some time to come

00:41:30 yeah no I mean oh it's just another challenge that the athletes can like oh I think it's more

00:41:34 of a challenge for ourself really to see how long that streak can go and that the athletes get in the

00:41:38 bonus round a little bit of fun there Changwon Seo is focused for his next bout we have to remember

00:41:46 Changwon Seo looks a little bit he's lost his sparkle a little bit I don't like to see that on

00:41:53 his face but you can tell he's maybe maybe I'm over reading it but yeah so he's looking a little

00:41:58 bit down in the dumps I don't know if it's that maybe he's just really in the zone and focused

00:42:04 and I mean like you say we always change our mindset throughout the competition so

00:42:08 would be nice to see him make his way through

00:42:12 Mateusz Mohamed the young aspiring athlete from team Egypt he's picked up two world cup medals

00:42:21 this season let's see what he can do Jean-Baptiste there he's happy doesn't he yeah just soaking it

00:42:28 all that I guess he's a cool guy Jean-Baptiste Morsier isn't he yeah so it is men's final here in uh

00:42:37 Sofia and I think Baptiste Jean-Baptiste is in a really comfortable position I mean

00:42:45 he's not in any under any pressure nothing to lose he can just fight his way throughout the

00:42:50 competition I mean like we've seen Guzi this morning who started in 13th coming in and took

00:42:54 that gold medal so no pressure at all for Morsier

00:42:58 so the first bout will be Sepp taking on Zillikens

00:43:13 we have had one withdrawal I think was it Sepp that's withdrawn

00:43:20 it was actually Sepp wasn't it so our first bout will be Jean-Baptiste versus Miles Pillage versus

00:43:33 Morsier

00:43:34 oh hang on no sorry yeah I don't know where I've got Sepp from that's the first bout it's because

00:43:44 I was looking at the live standings but it's actually of course the uh ranking round standings

00:43:49 that dictate who goes first so Jean-Baptiste Morsier versus Chang Wang Seo so Morsier will have

00:43:56 no sorry Chang Wang Seo will have priority in this bout meaning if time goes out automatically

00:44:04 Seo will get the point if none of them got the points against each other so

00:44:08 Morsier is in a position where he has to attack for that point

00:44:13 so

00:44:19 so here we go Seo versus Jean-Baptiste Morsier

00:44:23 Jean-Baptiste Morsier with 15 victories in the ranking round as

00:44:31 was Seo nothing disastrous for these athletes was a very high standard across the board

00:44:35 I assume we'll have to look for that attack but it is Seo for the win there

00:44:46 getting stuff from Seo as we say goodbye to Morsier we welcome Miles Pillage

00:44:56 Miles Pillage will be having priority in this so we might be seeing Seo attacking this time

00:45:01 chatting to Pillage yesterday he was saying he would like to pick up a few extra points in fencing bonus round

00:45:10 Pillage is uh 16 wins from the ranking round he's up to 13th place now and in terms of medal positions

00:45:20 he is he's a bit of a way off those top three but here we go he's up against Seo

00:45:29 Pillage

00:45:32 looking to take the attack to Seo but Seo says not today that's two victories for Seo

00:45:36 Seo moves up now above Pillage when he was above him after that first one but those two

00:45:41 victories have moved him up to 12th place so Seo starting to find a bit of momentum here

00:45:46 a really well executed flesh there broken arm extending that arm for that flesh

00:45:54 as we are now welcome Leronowicz of Poland will we see Seo do another attack or will he change it up a bit

00:46:02 Seo is also in that position where he has nothing to lose really where he gets another point

00:46:14 I disagree because Seo is in 12th place now he's pulling his way up yeah and Seo is a good laser

00:46:20 runner don't forget and it's all about Olympic points and if you look at the live standings Seo

00:46:27 has now moved up into he's closing in on Muhtas Mohammed so yeah I think being in that position

00:46:38 you just sort of you just enjoy the day really you just enjoy the competition as you can and

00:46:43 whatever happens happens we now welcome Mohammed from Egypt the young aspiring Egyptian athlete

00:46:52 Muhtas Mohammed and Chang Wang Seo Muhtas Mohammed looks locked in here

00:46:59 so he's just calm and collected he's picked up six points can he make it eight he's starting to chip

00:47:06 away at that deficit he got from riding technically this would move him on to 292 if you add together

00:47:14 the fancy bonus round and the riding points Seo is pushing Mohammed to the end of the pace so he has

00:47:20 to watch out and it's Seo for the point there four points for Seo our current MVP eight points and

00:47:28 moves up into 11th place Seo is climbing keep it going Seo this is good fun

00:47:34 Zhuai Lo up next got a 293 in the ride

00:47:42 we do usually see Seo high up in the ranking of the fencing so he is really just having

00:47:57 having some fun here in the fencing isn't he he is but this is getting this is getting really

00:48:01 beneficial for Seo can he keep it going he can double figures for Seo just like that 10 points

00:48:06 added to his score and Seo now moves up a level on points with Lomarowitsch is he going to creep

00:48:14 inside the top 10 10 points I think that's the spark we were looking for there isn't it 10 points

00:48:19 is not to be sniffed at if you would add that to his riding score he got a 286 that turns a 286

00:48:24 into a 296 suddenly turns what would have been a you know an okay riding score into a good riding

00:48:30 score Seo watch out everyone Seo is coming for you Demeter on the right of your screen there

00:48:38 of Hungary how far can Seo keep this run going can Demeter end this run of five straight victories

00:48:43 Seo is looking very confident that frown has been turned into a smile he's brought himself back into

00:48:49 this competition with a good fencing bonus round here Demeter looks shocked can he find a way past

00:48:53 Seo he can Seo even falls off the stage that much was the commitment of his attack there

00:49:02 Demeter picked up two points moved on to 485

00:49:08 so it was an attack there from Seo but Demeter just did so well with the pre and counter attack

00:49:20 now welcome Proud of France he had a good ride this morning too this afternoon

00:49:25 of 293

00:49:29 Proud is uh making an argument for potentially being one of the athletes to look out for he's

00:49:37 already in fifth place two points here would move him level on points with Ogandy and Forge

00:49:41 seven points behind the medal position Valentin Proud is a medal doubt a medal threat no doubt

00:49:46 about it but it's gonna get past Demeter who has that one victory to his name five victories

00:49:52 for Seo one so far for Demeter make that two Demeter doubles his money

00:49:58 Proud argues that says it was on the floor on the piece but no it's not been given to Demeter

00:50:07 again and Demeter will looking for that attack as Proud has the priority pushing him to the end of

00:50:15 the piece Proud needs to act on this position on the piece and Demeter does get that touch in the

00:50:24 end of two and a half seconds to go he feels justice been served there he climbs above pillage

00:50:28 Demeter up to 13th that's two victories for the Hungarian

00:50:32 we'll now welcome his fellow teammate Sepp of Hungary

00:50:41 good vibes here in Sofia with the sun shining through we worried there might be thunderstorms

00:50:50 but they're holding off at the moment and that's all we can ask for we do not want more rain

00:51:04 these athletes definitely oh we now welcome Kasperchuk on the left there

00:51:12 it's high battle this Demeter with two victories Kasperchuk looking up to pick up his first two

00:51:25 points of the fencing bonus round and Demeter makes it three just to remind that Balashev

00:51:34 has withdrawn from the competition he was eliminated from the riding

00:51:39 so Czech Republic Maric Grich is up next we're into the top eight fencing bonus round is flying by

00:51:53 Demeter is also in a role here getting his three hits he will need to attack as Grich has the priority

00:52:06 so Grich looking to end this run of Demeter

00:52:23 Demeter searching for the blade there

00:52:25 good news preparation for the attack

00:52:32 making the most offensive bonus round here but Grich says no

00:52:36 no more wins for you I'm gonna have one and there we go two points to Grich

00:52:42 Grich moves up to 501 it was 274 for Grich in the ride if he can pick up three victories here

00:52:51 that suddenly looks like a better score

00:52:53 we'll now welcome Liebig of Germany who had a two point ride of 292 points

00:53:08 he is ready for this match Liebig has priority so Grich will have to attack so Grich with Liebig

00:53:19 Liebig gets down low and somehow doesn't make connection Grich does well and picks up a second

00:53:30 victory Grich is just really fast with his disengages there and finding the right timing

00:53:35 to get those points as he did so in this bout and the previous one we'll now welcome Algendy of Egypt

00:53:45 one to look out for today yeah definitely Algendy pulled off a near miracle in the riding didn't he

00:53:53 I mean the more you practice the luckier you get isn't it definitely

00:54:01 yeah Algendy well doesn't pick up any more points that is a classic example by the way of

00:54:14 classic example of putting on the fencing gear for two seconds of competition yeah we talked

00:54:22 about this this morning so Algendy will now have to get ready for the next discipline of swimming

00:54:27 but Grich was not playing around he was going for that taking every point he's happy with that he's

00:54:32 very pleased with that three victories for Grich now so that does lift Grich's score from the first

00:54:39 two disciplines of the day from 274 to 280 it all helps another three wins for Grich and he'll be

00:54:46 a lot happier Zillikens now who uh took just a 260 from the riding if he is to be realistic to

00:54:54 getting a medal he needs more wins but he doesn't get it it's now a fourth win for Grich moves just

00:54:59 one behind Seyo that's eight points for Grich he moved up into ninth place and I think that's uh

00:55:06 I think Grich is doing doing some serious uh giving himself a good chance isn't he

00:55:12 yeah I mean he's awake he's fast with his reactions and no one's getting past him at this

00:55:18 point now welcome Dallenbach with unfortunate elimination this morning in the riding but

00:55:24 he's not ending the competition just yet no Dallenbach's enjoying himself out there and so

00:55:28 he should he's got a good opportunity to you know practice this competition in a live competition

00:55:33 environment he'll obviously make the most of those uh opportunities as he is already

00:55:38 qualified for the olympics so he'll take it in his stride he's a bit of stern stuff Dallenbach

00:55:42 tries to get down low and Dallenbach gets the touch very pleased with that

00:55:47 pride and smiles on the face of Dallenbach good for him he's bounced back after the elimination

00:55:56 from the ride you can see in the background there Patrick Dogg

00:56:02 now Patrick Dogg could do with these points he is in the live standings in third place

00:56:10 so Dogg would close that gap to Chabannes with a few victories here it's currently 13 points

00:56:19 between Desjardins and Chabannes and Dogg but Desjardins and Chabannes are both on 540.

00:56:25 Dogg is one of those athletes who just seem to be enjoying every moment of the competition not

00:56:31 too serious all the time just here we go then Dogg versus Dallenbach two of the uh older generation

00:56:39 of athletes going toe to toe here in the fencing Bernaschampis Dallenbach with the victory to his

00:56:43 name Dogg with the flash but Dallenbach says not today my friend doubles his money two points for

00:56:50 Dallenbach

00:56:50 really interesting approach there from Dogg I mean he had the priority there but Dallenbach

00:56:59 was just ready for his attack well executed

00:57:04 Mohamed Chabannes is one of the best one of the top fencers I could say so you also want to look

00:57:13 out for these fencers have fenced against each other in the ranking round so they know they know

00:57:20 each other well by now so Mohamed Chabannes on the fencing Bernaschampis can he climb into an

00:57:33 outright first place this is a tough bout for Dallenbach Chabannes is a man in form here

00:57:39 I think I still think Chabannes wins gold here by the way Dallenbach will do his best to stop him

00:57:46 into the final 10 and there we go Chabannes gets the touch two points for Chabannes

00:57:50 look at him he just looks confident he looks happy

00:57:57 now it's a good day for Chabannes well look Chabannes has had a tough year so far which

00:58:05 sounds strange given he got a podium in Budapest but he won world cup final last

00:58:09 year won so many medals last year yeah he did have a rough start to the season of

00:58:15 world cups but he's he's making his way isn't it yeah look he just takes a breath he's like okay

00:58:21 everything's going well he wants this he wants it he really wants it and it's now the top two

00:58:27 Pierre de Jardin and Mohamed Chabannes up against each other this is effectively a four-pointer

00:58:33 because Chabannes would add two points to his score but de Jardin could add four to his it's

00:58:38 effectively a six-pointer this this is an important bout de Jardin would win four points if he wins

00:58:44 this because the highest ranked athlete picks up four into the final 10 and it's Chabannes who gets

00:58:50 the battle of the top two adds two points to his score takes the psychological advantage

00:58:55 takes the four-point lead over de Jardin and interesting stuff so he moves 24 points ahead of El Gendy

00:59:10 yeah I mean Chabannes is now in a very comfortable position there but not far from them we should

00:59:16 also keep a lookout for Liebig who's had a good competition too and we know how fast he is

00:59:23 that's the current standings after the riding and bonus round

00:59:33 Chabannes then four seconds ahead of Pierre de Jardin

00:59:36 Patrick Dog not too far behind them but things will change up after the swimming event

00:59:44 so those are your scores Chabannes top of the pile there is still a long way to go in this

00:59:52 competition but things are starting to take shape in this men's final here in Sofia that's it fencing

01:00:01 bonus round done we're going to build up to swimming with Thirsky let's check out the fencing highlights

01:00:06 so

01:00:15 so

01:00:25 so

01:00:49 so we are live in Sofia Bulgaria for men's final the fourth world cup of the 2024 pentathlon season

01:00:57 fencing's done we've done the riding discipline as well it's now time to focus on swimming 200

01:01:03 meter freestyle two and a half minutes gets you two and a half so it gets you 250 points

01:01:08 and we're going to start building up to uh riding with the interviews from some of our athletes now

01:01:15 things haven't quite gone the way of Alexander Dallenbach after he was eliminated from the

01:01:20 riding but let's hear his thoughts as he gives us some thoughts and suggestions as to what it's like

01:01:25 to get yourself in that transition area transition is a key area for sure as a penalty i think it's

01:01:33 the essence you have to be ready whether you have a small gap a big gap you just have to be prepared

01:01:37 transition as fast as you can make sure you recover from the swim because obviously you build

01:01:41 lactic acid so you have to take that everything in account to handle your swim and then move on

01:01:46 to the fencing which is a sport where you have to be awake and you're obviously one of the quickest

01:01:52 swimmers out there Alex um how much are you pushing uh during the swim because i know you're

01:01:58 capable of doing a time of 155 but but sort of how close are you likely to get to get that here

01:02:03 you're always playing with the limit you're trying to push and at the same time control your stream

01:02:08 i don't know if that makes sense but you're obviously close to your maximum but you just

01:02:12 keep that little push you could have for the last 25 meters if you were to do a swimming race where

01:02:17 you'd spread out you just don't do it you keep it in and listen pentathlon is about giving it

01:02:23 absolutely everything but it's also about managing time it's about managing your energy it's very

01:02:27 much about managing your body in different ways especially in this new format i think you are

01:02:33 right in terms of managing your body but what makes a champion in pentathlon is who manage

01:02:37 their emotions the best i think that's what makes the difference people who are capable to handle

01:02:41 their emotion during the fencing obviously during the laser run where you have to sprint out and

01:02:46 come to the range and calm down and be at peace with yourself so it's really something that tests

01:02:51 all your skills mental physical and emotional and obviously it's olympic year so there's just

01:02:56 that extra level of importance on every event do you feel that when you're out there competing do

01:03:01 you feel that difference in energy well obviously you can feel a different attention compared to

01:03:06 the other years like everybody is fighting for those spots you can some people are really feeling

01:03:11 the pressure coming out because we are at the end of the road now and there's only a few spot left

01:03:16 so it is a year like no other year of course alexander dallenbach giving us his thoughts

01:03:22 in the transition part of the break between the fencing and the swimming we are 11 minutes away

01:03:31 so i'm guessing there's been a bit of a delay but we can hear now from british athlete mars pillage

01:03:36 renowned for being very quick in the pool what do you do to prepare yourself coming from the

01:03:42 pentathlon to the swimming what is your sort of procedures here yeah like with the with a new

01:03:46 format with a limited amount of time obviously we do have an opportunity to get in the pool in

01:03:50 the general warm-up at the start but um like our team we don't really do that we um generally just

01:03:55 prepare like dry side warm-up like lots of theraband work uh med ball work trying to like

01:04:00 generate a little bit of power before we then get in the pool um you are kind of limited on what you

01:04:04 can do but you know we're all adapted to this like no warm-up situation now so uh yeah we're kind of

01:04:09 used to it pool here in sophia 50 meter pool we've had a couple of 25 meter pools in the events prior

01:04:15 to this how does that affect this um i mean look i just think there's a danger of overthinking it

01:04:21 like it's still 200 meters swim you know like yeah we majority we train short course we race short

01:04:27 course you know olympics is going to be short course that's what we're preparing for so um it's

01:04:31 a bit of a change when we come long course not something that we're used to but um largely

01:04:35 erased at the same race it will feel a little bit harder i think but um yeah it's the same thing so

01:04:41 it's a bit slower isn't it ultimately because there's less turns and you don't have that

01:04:44 kick off the wall which always propels you forward is that that's the reason it's going

01:04:47 to be slow in it yeah yeah for sure i mean some people like will suit um long course swimming

01:04:52 when when you know the terms aren't really a strength or whatever um other people will have

01:04:57 a much bigger gap between their short course and long course pbs um yeah long course is always

01:05:02 generally a little bit slower um but it's the it's a still level playing field you know it's not like

01:05:08 you're still racing the same people and the gap's still the same as we mentioned you are one of the

01:05:12 fastest swimmers um definitely capable of a sub two minute swim but this year and indeed last year

01:05:20 as well the swim time's a little bit slower than they were in the old format just explain to us the

01:05:24 reason for that i think just because of the proximity of all the events together even in

01:05:28 qualification less so in qualification you've got bigger gaps but it's still a factor i think it's

01:05:34 more about energy conservation and getting maximal points over all the disciplines rather than

01:05:39 getting max in all of them individually i think um yeah you know when you've got a fence of quite

01:05:44 a long fence 45 minutes after you get out of the pool it's not the best idea to be going absolutely

01:05:49 flat out in the pool you know especially when the majority of the points we're getting are from the

01:05:52 fencing so um it's basically just about getting that middle ground of maximal points with maximal

01:05:58 energy conservation really yeah so ultimately if you're losing five seconds in the in the swim

01:06:02 that's going to cost you 10 points but the knock-on effect you could have later in the

01:06:07 competition for example in laser on if you've got that extra five seconds you say from something

01:06:12 that you can put into laser and it's going to benefit you a great deal yeah 100 100 you know

01:06:16 when you're talking one second in the pool is two seconds in the run our second in the pool

01:06:20 was quite a lot when you're talking about a two minute race distance whereas you know you're

01:06:24 looking at 10 minutes in the laser run two seconds is not that much you know so it's non-comparable

01:06:29 really so yeah you want to be going to that laser run at the start of it anyway feeling as fresh as

01:06:33 possible all right well listen best luck to you good luck thank you very much cheers miles pillage

01:06:39 on your screens there talking to us a couple of days ago giving us his thoughts uh of what

01:06:45 the transition is like so we've heard from the athletes but what about the coaches daniel

01:06:50 beluso is the italian swimming coach daniele beluso from the italian team italian swimming

01:06:57 coach it's good to talk to you um and actually especially because we're focusing on the transition

01:07:03 from fencing to swimming just how difficult is this for athletes getting themselves out of the

01:07:09 mind frame of fencing and into the mind frame of swimming yeah usually i see the swimmers the

01:07:15 penalties come in the water very tired at the fencing or bonus round or qualification because

01:07:22 it's very tough mentally to stay nervously stay two hours focus on fencing and then reset everything

01:07:31 and start to swimming in the way they can swim in the best way but they train to do this yeah

01:07:38 because obviously fencing is very difficult on the legs yeah as is swimming so what do you do

01:07:43 as a coach to get the athletes prepared usually if the tournament of fencing is very tough i used to

01:07:51 do a very easy uh warm-up very easy warm-up especially at the beginning without any strong

01:07:58 pace at the beginning especially some kicks very smooth and as soon as they feel the water

01:08:05 i can start to do some drills and then some activation yeah because you often see with the

01:08:10 resistance bands athletes getting themselves warmed up is this one of those things then that

01:08:14 you start to eat the athletes into with sorry so these resistant bands yeah this is the kind

01:08:19 of exercise you start to get them warmed up yeah someone used to warm up even outside the water

01:08:26 with resistant band and don't swim exercise personally in pentathlon i don't like to do

01:08:32 this kind of warm-up in swimming yes when i used to be a swimming coach yes because we have to

01:08:37 activate everything i think that it's too easy for them activate themselves outside the water

01:08:45 strongly with bolts and some push-ups on bands i don't know if the question yeah no no it makes

01:08:52 sense it makes sense and this pool here in sofia some athletes are saying it's a slow pool

01:08:57 obviously it's 50 meters so it's going to be slower than 25 what other things contribute to a

01:09:02 slow pool hello uh well it's a good question because i heard uh this thing speech a lot in the

01:09:09 swimming pool but uh to see that pool is is very good because the blocks are the best block that i

01:09:18 ever seen of the omega block you can see the same block in uh rome in the big pool in rome that the

01:09:24 world championship usually take part and also the the deep of the water could be an

01:09:33 an element to consider if one pool is low or not and usually the walls echo the walls is

01:09:40 the only thing that i think that is not perfect in this pool because they are made of blocks and

01:09:49 not just of plastic that can allow the water to go through and then with the wall you have the waves

01:09:57 waves come back in front of you so usually can have some problem you can have some problem with

01:10:04 the waves and just finally uh really good answer that by the way interesting to hear just finally

01:10:09 athletes generally are slower in swimming in the current format than they were in the previous

01:10:15 format saving energy for laser run i guess is a main reason for that yeah i think there are many

01:10:22 reasons of that the first is you they are thinking about something like the last run so the strategy

01:10:29 of the competition also because before we had more time to warm up more time to compete and focus on

01:10:36 swimming now you have just 20 minutes and then go usually and you have just finished with riding

01:10:43 for example in the final so you are mentally stressed and you know in one hour and a half you

01:10:48 have to go everything you have yeah okay listen really interesting talking to you my friend thank

01:10:53 you very much all of your athletes from Italy for this competition bye bye thank you thank you

01:10:57 Daniele Buluzzo, Italian swimming coach, there he is focusing on the swim although sadly for Daniele

01:11:07 there's no Italian athletes in the final so he's just there enjoying himself Marat Gric is more than

01:11:14 enjoying himself he managed to get eight points from fencing bonus round to add to his score

01:11:20 Changwing Seo got 10 points he was our MVP from fencing bonus round it's the calm before the storm

01:11:28 and we are building ever closer to the dramatic finale of modern pentathlon which is of course

01:11:36 Elina Van Der Merwe later on we can't wait for it it's going to be a good one there's Patrick

01:11:40 Dogg and Fabian Liebig good friends obviously behind the scenes but they're fierce rivals here

01:11:45 in this pentathlon circuit I wonder what they're saying to each other as the judges make their way

01:11:51 out we're on time here it has been a slight longer transition but I think it's it's only fair given

01:11:57 that it is a five minute walk you probably could shave a couple of minutes off that if you went a

01:12:01 bit quicker but we should I almost feel like we should have a camera on that bridge between

01:12:06 the uh oh yeah the in between the in between yeah the athletes for the first swimming heat

01:12:14 Zillikens Mohamed Demeter Pillage Dallenbach and Zhab Zillikens will be keen to pick up some points

01:12:21 but uh yeah I think those are probably the athletes now really at this point the competition

01:12:26 that you go probably not going to do too much in terms of getting themselves into middle positions

01:12:32 but Christian Zillikens will give this everything he's still hoping to qualify for the Olympic Games

01:12:37 alongside his wife Annika Zillikens, Moultas Mohamed

01:12:41 makes his way out onto the course the two times medalist here in 2024 Benz Demeter a multiple

01:12:50 world cup medalist came fifth in Budapest in the last competition he makes his way

01:12:56 poolside Myles Pillage a multiple relay medalist looking to pick up his first

01:13:01 individual medal at some point hopefully it comes from this year and Alexander Dallenbach

01:13:06 he's good vibes isn't he he got eliminated from the ride but he's got a big smile on his face

01:13:11 and he's enjoying himself I know his family's watching back home so hello to the Dallenbach

01:13:15 he's got four kids and he's going to be an Olympian in Paris these are your athletes

01:13:24 for Swimming Heat 1

01:13:27 as they climb on to the start blocks heard good things about their start blocks by the way they're

01:13:36 very solid and it helps to launch yourself into the pool as the athletes do and I think

01:13:45 it will be Dallenbach who wins the Swimming Heat

01:13:50 is actually I say that it's Pillage, Pillage and Dallenbach this is going to be a battle

01:13:55 yeah Pillage is he has really good underwater work there we usually see him in the start on that first

01:14:00 50 but this will be interesting battle between these two swimmers definitely the two quickest

01:14:05 swimmers in this final it's Pillage that leads at the first turn where are they there they come

01:14:11 it's quite a lot of time underwater Pillage enjoying himself in the pool Dallenbach trying

01:14:17 to keep up with him Pillage is the more natural swimmer but those two are going absolute toe to

01:14:22 toe it's great to see them in adjacent swimming lanes as we approach the halfway stage in a few

01:14:29 meters time so Muhtas Mohammed is uh not too far off this is a lightning fast Swimming Heat by the way

01:14:40 and we're at the halfway stage Dallenbach leads Pillage by five hundredths of a second

01:14:46 into the third lap of the four you know it gets tough from here on and Dallenbach just

01:14:56 starts to gradually pull away there from Pillage but it seems as if Dallenbach has found his pace there

01:15:05 so it's a good battle between these three athletes Dallenbach is pulling away from Pillage

01:15:10 final turn who wins this it's going to be tight now does Muhtas Mohammed make a late surge here

01:15:19 as well interesting three-way battle Dallenbach, Pillage and Mohammed all neck and neck but I think

01:15:27 it is Dallenbach with the slight advantage Pillage climbing through the water but Dallenbach

01:15:32 accelerates away and will win this Swimming Heat how close to the two-minute mark will he get it's

01:15:38 going to be just over Alexander Dallenbach with a time of 2.1.64, 1.3 ahead of Pillage

01:15:46 1.9 ahead of Mohammed and we've got a little bit of a wait here with the rest of the athletes that

01:15:51 is the speed in which those two have swam and there comes Zillikins to complete that Swimming

01:16:01 Heat I think it is something to remember that athletes are placed in heats now according to

01:16:08 their ranking as of the current standing of their positions in this competition

01:16:13 so from the second heat to the third heat we'll start to see the higher ranked athletes

01:16:19 even though Dallenbach was eliminated in the riding he is just still

01:16:27 enjoying every moment of this final it is his first final of the World Cup season

01:16:32 there you have it the standings after the swimming discipline

01:16:41 yep those are your standings updated with our first heats

01:16:49 I think there's heat two up now low Kasper Schack-Griech, Mosia Lanowicz and Seo

01:17:06 Shuai Lo comes out first, Shuai Lo of China and then Kasper Schack of Poland

01:17:24 so let's also not forget athletes or the men just finished their semifinals yesterday

01:17:36 so they will be they will be tired energy will not be as you wanted it but they are used to it

01:17:42 by now they are super athletes Jean-Baptiste Mosier you feel is the dark horse of this

01:17:48 final what can he do from his position Daniel Lanowicz

01:17:52 and then finally Chang Wang Seo is in recovery mode picked up 10 points in fencing bonus rounds

01:18:05 giving him an outside chance of making maybe a late dash to the medals but I think the quality

01:18:11 of athletes ahead of him is going to make it tricky we'll see what happens still plenty of competition to go

01:18:16 so athletes primed and ready to go and into the pool they die swimming heat two of three

01:18:34 so it's 200 meters swim dive count underwater counts turns count and we'll see someone

01:18:46 Chang Wang Seo just setting the pace there in his first lap

01:18:51 we know by now athletes have been training for this 200 so they train with that

01:19:00 pace that they know really well for each 50 of the 200 meters not trying to go too fast but

01:19:08 so not too slow in the beginning just keeping that

01:19:12 a little bit of energy for the last lap you should just put the head down and sprint

01:19:16 so approaching the halfway stage the athletes pacing themselves it's gonna be around the time of

01:19:27 2.05 possibly a bit over for Meric Greich. Meric Greich is getting on the stories of this

01:19:34 final he's pulling his way back up the standings Chang Wang Seo

01:19:40 putting in a decent amount of time in that first 100 meters

01:19:43 Greich is picking up pace there on his third lap and Seo seems to be keeping that pace

01:19:55 just a consistent kick there from both those two athletes ahead of you

01:20:02 so into the final 50 meters and it is a battle between Greich and Seo

01:20:19 could be late drama in this competition if either of those two can put together a perfect

01:20:26 performance from here onwards the wind has picked up a little bit in the outside of the venue

01:20:29 could make things a little bit trickier in the laser shooting range it's going to be Chang Wang

01:20:33 Seo with the quickest time it's been a very good swim this from Seo he sets a time of 26.49

01:20:41 it's a second quicker than his qualification time Greich 1.35 further back with 3.0

01:20:50 Seo is really not giving up for this final today he started in 17th position and he's just building

01:20:57 his way up through the competition do you think we have a likes of seeing a race of

01:21:03 some of the Czechs this morning? could be could see a uh i mean yeah we could see some uh changes

01:21:11 couldn't we coming through it's uh hard to predict i think we've got an exciting final on our hands

01:21:16 it's going to be those inter-team rivalries as well that's going to be

01:21:20 intriguing we'll introduce them as well a little bit later in the competition

01:21:27 so let's take a look at the updated scores Marek Greich provisionally in first place

01:21:32 he is now eight points ahead of Chang Wang Seo, Pilic has moved up the rankings as well

01:21:41 Jean-Baptiste Moussaier has lost a bit of time because of that swim

01:21:45 that could cost him in that late dash to try and get himself on the podium an unlikely podium of

01:21:52 course it would be but you never know Libig, Praz, Zalgendi, Dogge, Dijondon and Chaban in this final

01:21:59 swimming heat competing in lanes two three four five six and seven Chaban, Dijondon, Dogge, Dijondon, Praz

01:22:05 and Libig so these are your inter-rivalries all in one heat two athletes from team Egypt two

01:22:12 athletes from team France and the two of Germany so this is an interesting heat we got here it is

01:22:18 isn't it first out is our highest ranked athlete he's moved four points ahead into the lead Mahanech Chaban

01:22:24 will be focused as ever Pierre Dijondon

01:22:32 comes out in second place

01:22:36 Patrick Dogge in third he's having a good competition Patrick

01:22:41 he will lose a bit of time here in the pool it could be a tough ask for Patrick to get on the

01:22:47 podium but you never know Mohamed Elgendi looks focused

01:22:53 Valentin Praz could be in a chance for a podium position

01:23:00 and Fabien Libig makes his way poolside Fabien Libig will be the quickest swimmer in this

01:23:12 heat Dogge and Libig will be battling at the top end here

01:23:19 you have the battle of the teammates but at the end of the day it's every man for themselves

01:23:28 certainly is all right here we go final swimming heats and who is going to benefit most from this

01:23:36 Mahanech Chaban and Fabien Libig in lanes two and seven opposite ends of the pool they're the two

01:23:41 quickest swimmers this thing stands

01:24:04 so i think one of the uh things that any that swimming does is it just sort of takes away your

01:24:10 energy doesn't it have a laser on it kind of it really tests athletes not just in this but their

01:24:14 recovery as well yeah i mean out of all the disciplines the swimming and running are the

01:24:19 most physically demanding and it just adds an extra challenge there for the start of the laser

01:24:23 run but the thing is all athletes are in the same position so no one is benefiting from anything but

01:24:29 you see here Chaban pulling away turning just on a minute here on his first 100 meters

01:24:36 just on his third of the four laps we do know this is a tough

01:24:42 part of the race for the athletes the most one of the challenging physically

01:24:46 physically challenging parts just smooth stroke there from Chaban

01:24:57 on the end of the other pool is Libig pacing himself with Chaban so you can see it's a good

01:25:06 battle between those two at the final turn Libig and Chaban. Chaban is taking every second he can

01:25:14 out of this competition he is determined and when Mahanech Chaban is determined it is uh dangerous

01:25:22 for the rest of the athletes i said to him at the beginning of this competition i think you're going

01:25:26 to win gold here just feel about things still a way to go gotta get part of that laser run but

01:25:33 Chaban is flying through swimming heat three and this is looking like a good time for Chaban

01:25:38 he's going to extend his lead at the top it's a time of 2.06.37 Libig not too far behind

01:25:45 Mohammed El-Ghendi four seconds behind so that'll be another eight points can El-Ghendi catch Chaban

01:25:51 i think it's going to be tough for him he's such a good laser runner but watch Chaban warming up

01:25:57 a hell of a semi-final didn't miss a target in that shoot yeah no you can't get better than

01:26:05 five out of five with shooting but i think what you could say is it's a good chance we could have

01:26:09 two Egyptians on the podium once again in back-to-back events i think i'll either be two

01:26:17 from a team egypt i mean we just saw now the battle of the teams are we either two from

01:26:22 team egypt or two from germany i don't know it's hard to say i think we must have fallen out prance

01:26:31 must fall out to Jordan as well there's still a lot that can change at this point of the competition

01:26:37 but it's all looking good for Mohammed Chaban he's a mighty athlete finished on the podium

01:26:44 every event last year took gold at world cup final bronze at world championships and is currently in

01:26:51 first place he's now built up an 18 second lead over Pierre de Jardin he is significantly ahead

01:27:02 of his teammate Mohammed El-Ghendi 31 points the gap between El-Ghendi and Chaban that's a tough

01:27:09 ask for El-Ghendi to make that up you really feel Chaban would have to make mistakes in the shooting

01:27:14 range Prades dropped to place as well but there is a really good battle opening up for that

01:27:19 third place i think first and second looking good but you never know

01:27:25 Dejardin such a good laser runner as well he could battle Mohamed Chaban all right folks that is the

01:27:32 end of swimming we're gonna get really excited and build up to the start of the laser run but

01:27:36 firstly let's watch back the swimming highlights

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01:28:24 - Welcome back to Sofia Bulgaria

01:28:27 as athletes make their way out onto the laser run course

01:28:30 for the build up, the start of the exciting conclusion

01:28:34 of modern pentathlon, the combined discipline.

01:28:37 Swimming done and dusted,

01:28:38 it's time now to begin the laser run build up.

01:28:41 Five 600 meter laps, handicap starts.

01:28:44 So if you start with a thousand points

01:28:45 and the athlete below you starts with 980,

01:28:49 you'd have a 20 point head start.

01:28:51 Four laser shooting series

01:28:53 after you've done the formation lap.

01:28:54 10 meter distance, you've got to hit the five targets

01:28:57 in order to make it past.

01:28:58 The quicker the time, the faster you get by.

01:29:00 A time of around 10 seconds is what they're all aiming for.

01:29:03 Anything sub 15 seconds is a good time above that

01:29:06 and it starts to get costly.

01:29:07 First over the finish line, as always is a winner.

01:29:09 This is modern pentathlon, it's fast, it's frantic

01:29:12 and it's a new challenge for these athletes to overcome.

01:29:15 There's the start finish straight

01:29:16 as we look to build up to the start of the laser run.

01:29:20 And a couple of days ago,

01:29:20 we stuck a GoPro on the head of Penelope Nika,

01:29:24 a Greek athlete to see what this course looks like

01:29:27 from the point of view of an athlete.

01:29:30 So in a moment's time,

01:29:31 we will take a look at how that looks

01:29:35 as we approach 15 minutes ahead of the start

01:29:38 of the laser run.

01:29:40 So athletes will arrive at the shooting range

01:29:42 after the formation lap

01:29:44 and then they will try to shoot their way to victory.

01:29:48 This is a perfect example of how to shoot well

01:29:50 by the 2022 Laser Run World Champion, Penelope Nika,

01:29:54 who turns her head before she's even finished her shoot.

01:29:57 Plus is the confidence of her ability

01:30:01 on the laser run course.

01:30:03 The course was a lot wetter the other day

01:30:05 when we filmed this.

01:30:05 It's dried out quite a bit now,

01:30:07 though there was a bit of a downpour earlier today.

01:30:09 Cut yourself around the back end

01:30:12 and there's another tight corner there,

01:30:13 but again, it's much drier than it was

01:30:15 back through the course

01:30:18 and into the center past the riding arena,

01:30:20 through the middle.

01:30:24 And here's another sharp turn.

01:30:28 If you're in a battle there, that could be a tricky point.

01:30:30 We saw Blanca Guzzi overtaking Jessica Varley earlier on.

01:30:34 And it's back around the back end

01:30:38 up towards this final turn here.

01:30:40 A left-hand turn and there you go.

01:30:43 That is how you complete this course.

01:30:46 Right, we're gonna go course side now

01:30:48 to try and get some interviews with the athletes

01:30:50 and we'll leave you in the capable hands

01:30:53 of the leader, Vanda Merval,

01:30:54 whilst we line up those interviews.

01:30:55 Over to you, leader.

01:30:56 - Yep, so we have a very exciting laser run coming up.

01:31:00 Athletes are only seconds away from each other,

01:31:03 but Mohamed Choban of Egypt

01:31:05 is putting himself 18 seconds ahead of everyone.

01:31:09 And we'll just see athletes doing their final preparations

01:31:12 before the start of the laser run,

01:31:15 fixing up shoes and the final shooting drills

01:31:19 that they'll be doing.

01:31:20 There on your screen there,

01:31:22 you have Shua Liu from China.

01:31:27 And very interesting change of positions here.

01:31:32 We have Changwan Seo who started in 14th position

01:31:37 of this competition,

01:31:37 but has bumped his way up all the way to 11th.

01:31:44 We are in for an exciting race.

01:31:46 On your screen there,

01:31:50 you have the Polish athlete, Kaspar Czach,

01:31:54 who will be starting in ninth position.

01:31:56 Not far after him will be Mottaz Mohamed,

01:32:01 who's only one second there in 10th position.

01:32:03 There in your view,

01:32:04 athlete from Egypt.

01:32:07 And not only will we have a final here,

01:32:10 we'll also have some inter-battles between teammates,

01:32:14 all fighting for the ranking points.

01:32:17 Changwan Seo there in your camera.

01:32:20 Changwan Seo will be starting in 11th position there.

01:32:24 So, we have Jean-Baptiste,

01:32:33 also bumped his way up throughout this competition.

01:32:35 One of these athletes who's just not giving up.

01:32:37 He started the competition today in 18th position,

01:32:40 but now found himself in 14th position.

01:32:43 He will be starting at one minute,

01:32:44 but we know he's a speedy runner

01:32:46 and will be climbing his way.

01:32:48 And Shaban, the name you will be looking out for

01:32:52 in the semifinals.

01:32:55 He had a near to perfect shooting.

01:32:58 He got three, five out of five shots

01:33:00 and won six, five out of shots there,

01:33:04 but he will be trying to do that shooting again today.

01:33:07 You have Liebig in your screen there.

01:33:10 Speedy runner there too.

01:33:11 And Liebig will be starting in fourth position

01:33:16 with only 30 seconds from the beginner.

01:33:19 But we know Mohamed Elgeni,

01:33:21 just there's a second behind Liebig.

01:33:24 Oh, it will be a tight race.

01:33:26 We saw Mohamed just easing his way into the semifinal,

01:33:31 not much of his energy taken out.

01:33:33 So, we will see all of that energy here on the field today.

01:33:39 This is the athlete's third day of competing.

01:33:42 So, energy will be low, but the fight will be there.

01:33:47 This will be fighting till the end of the competition,

01:33:51 until the end of the finish line.

01:33:54 But with that said,

01:33:58 we will now be having a live interview with James.

01:34:01 - Yasser Hefny, Egyptian coach.

01:34:05 It feels like a great time to be talking to you

01:34:06 because your main man, Mahal Shaban,

01:34:09 is in a fantastic position.

01:34:10 No surprises really,

01:34:11 'cause he's looked in fantastic form here in Sofia.

01:34:14 What have you made of his competition so far?

01:34:17 - I'm very happy with all the Egyptian team,

01:34:20 whether we are talking about the girls or the men.

01:34:23 Not only Shaban is doing good and in a good spot,

01:34:25 but also Mohamed Elgeni is in a very good spot.

01:34:27 Anything can happen, Mohtaz Mohamed also.

01:34:30 So, our three Egyptians are in a very good spot.

01:34:33 So, I hope they can work together during the race.

01:34:35 And we have seen this happening

01:34:37 during the first three World Cups.

01:34:39 And we can continue the series of meddling twice

01:34:43 in every competition, every podium.

01:34:45 - All our viewers back home are aware of the battle

01:34:48 within the Egyptian team,

01:34:49 because everyone's trying to finish above each other,

01:34:51 because there's only two Olympic qualification spots.

01:34:53 And that makes for an interesting story as well.

01:34:57 Mohamed Elgeni, 38 seconds behind Mohamed Shaban.

01:35:00 Do you think there's any chance

01:35:01 that he could make up that time and catch Shaban?

01:35:04 - In laser run, anything can happen.

01:35:06 You know, like every competition is different.

01:35:09 Every race is different.

01:35:11 So, I would just wish that they will focus on performance,

01:35:15 focus on the right thing and everyone do his best.

01:35:17 And then we leave, that's how we say it in Egypt.

01:35:19 We leave the result to God.

01:35:20 For the fight inside Egypt,

01:35:22 I would say it's helping to improve our performance.

01:35:27 The more you will have strong competition internally,

01:35:29 the better you will have results.

01:35:31 You have seen our women team.

01:35:33 When they start to have new athletes,

01:35:34 younger athletes pushing the older one,

01:35:36 the whole team start to pick up different pace

01:35:38 and getting better.

01:35:39 So, it's healthy, it's good.

01:35:40 It's hard time for me to make a choice

01:35:42 during the Olympic Games,

01:35:43 but we have our criteria

01:35:44 and hopefully the best is gonna go.

01:35:46 - How much of a threat is Pierre Desjardins

01:35:48 currently in second place?

01:35:49 He's 18 seconds behind Shaban.

01:35:53 Is he someone you're keeping an eye on in the Egyptian team?

01:35:55 - A big threat.

01:35:57 That's all what I can say.

01:35:58 He's a big threat.

01:35:59 He's good, yeah.

01:36:00 - There's lots of threats.

01:36:00 I know you gotta get back to keeping an eye on Mohamed,

01:36:02 but thank you for your time, mate,

01:36:03 and good luck for the race.

01:36:03 - Thank you.

01:36:04 - Well done, man, cheers, thank you.

01:36:05 - And there you have it, some words from Yasser Hefni,

01:36:10 coach of Team Egypt and mentor to his athletes

01:36:13 competing today, Mohamed Shaban.

01:36:15 And he is acknowledging the threats of the other athletes

01:36:20 around him, such as Pierre Desjardins

01:36:24 and Patrick Dog and Fabien Libich, not far behind them.

01:36:27 Mohamed El-Ghendi is only one second behind Libich,

01:36:32 so keep your eyes on those athletes today.

01:36:35 - So Pierre Desjardins in the shooting range there.

01:36:43 He's a big threat according to the Egyptians,

01:36:46 18 seconds behind Mohamed Shaban.

01:36:48 Let's take a look at some of his statistics.

01:36:50 There he is, the man, the legend, Pierre Desjardins.

01:36:55 He's picked up two World Cup medals, a silver and a bronze.

01:37:00 Let's see, though, how he fares with other athletes

01:37:04 in terms of his position.

01:37:06 He's a bronze medalist in Sofia in 2018,

01:37:10 so he's had medals here before in his laser run.

01:37:12 It's really where he excels.

01:37:14 He's 6% above average in laser run,

01:37:18 so Pierre Desjardins is worth keeping an eye on.

01:37:22 Let's see how he moves up in terms of his handicap analysis.

01:37:26 He's often moving up, isn't he?

01:37:29 Significant ones to look out for.

01:37:30 Ankara last year moved up four places,

01:37:33 moved up five places in World Cup.

01:37:36 Cairo earlier this year where he finished 11th.

01:37:38 And he will be hoping to see if he can move up one place.

01:37:41 Started in second place here in Sofia.

01:37:45 Where will he finish?

01:37:46 We'll find out soon.

01:37:46 That is Pierre Desjardins, French athlete,

01:37:49 who is one of our athletes that we are focusing on here.

01:37:53 Of course, there are many athletes

01:37:54 we'll be keeping an eye on.

01:37:58 There he is, Pierre Desjardins.

01:38:00 Great shot right down the barrel of the gun.

01:38:02 All the athletes getting their warm-ups done.

01:38:08 See all those pistols going up.

01:38:16 And there is Mohamed Chaban,

01:38:21 who is in first place, 18 seconds ahead of Pierre Desjardins.

01:38:25 And let's take a look at him.

01:38:26 He has won so many medals,

01:38:28 but you'll see one big gap in the middle,

01:38:30 the Olympic medal.

01:38:31 That is Mohamed Chaban's dream.

01:38:33 He's won a lot over his impressive career so far.

01:38:37 World Cup debut came back in 2017.

01:38:42 He's been on the circuit for seven years,

01:38:43 but he's really hitting form.

01:38:45 It's fencing where he really does so well,

01:38:48 10% above average.

01:38:52 But yeah, okay, 1% above average in laser arm,

01:38:54 that's because he's always starting so high.

01:38:56 Let's take a look at his handicap analysis.

01:39:01 Started third and put a best finish third

01:39:03 and put a best anchor.

01:39:04 Well, I don't think we read too much into that

01:39:06 because that was an unfortunate event for him

01:39:10 because he was disqualified from the riding.

01:39:11 In Cairo, he lost a couple of places.

01:39:13 Never seems to do well in Cairo.

01:39:15 Bath World Championships made up three places.

01:39:17 He starts in first place.

01:39:18 How far can he go in this competition?

01:39:21 We will find out.

01:39:22 But Mohamed Chaban, his favorite for gold here.

01:39:26 In Sofia, as Yasser Hefny,

01:39:31 who we spoke to a moment ago.

01:39:34 - Yeah, no, Hefny was recognizing a threat

01:39:40 in the competition that we have today.

01:39:42 And it will just be like this morning,

01:39:46 a really exciting, dramatic finish we will have.

01:39:50 Here we have Myles Pillage, in your view there.

01:39:54 I think very happy with himself to make it to the final.

01:39:57 - Balance on Prance.

01:40:00 Could be one to keep an eye on.

01:40:02 He is 38 seconds off the lead.

01:40:05 I'm not sure he's gonna retain his gold this year,

01:40:07 but he certainly could be a threat for a medal position.

01:40:12 Liebig and Algendy ahead of him.

01:40:14 Liebig in fourth place.

01:40:15 His German teammate, Dog, is ahead of him,

01:40:18 but only by a second, I think,

01:40:20 Liebig wins that battle, to be honest with you,

01:40:22 'cause Liebig is an excellent lazer runner.

01:40:23 But let's see what Patrick Dog has to offer

01:40:27 in this lazer run area.

01:40:28 He's just in the back of your shot.

01:40:29 Mohamed Chaban just getting himself warmed up.

01:40:33 He has looked determined here.

01:40:35 Christian Zillikens down in 15th place

01:40:37 is a minute 10 seconds,

01:40:41 no, sorry, a minute nine seconds off the lead.

01:40:43 I mean, listen, strange things have happened.

01:40:44 Zillikens is a good lazer runner.

01:40:45 He's a former World Cup gold medalist

01:40:47 from Chicos Verde in 2019.

01:40:50 This is gonna be a good lazer run.

01:40:53 I can feel it.

01:40:54 But I think that battle for gold

01:40:56 could maybe just maybe be a bit much

01:41:00 for some of those other athletes.

01:41:01 To ask for Daniel Leonorowicz

01:41:03 just getting some warm up in those legs.

01:41:07 It might be a medal for Dallenbach,

01:41:09 who unfortunately was eliminated from the ride.

01:41:12 Mossier and Pilic could be...

01:41:22 Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of these athletes,

01:41:23 they did not expect to see themselves

01:41:25 in the position that they are in today.

01:41:27 Looking at Valentin Prad,

01:41:29 he started the competition in 11th position

01:41:31 and is now ranked sixth.

01:41:33 So, we also have the likes of Jean-Baptiste Mossier,

01:41:38 who started in 18th, but now in 14th position.

01:41:42 So, a lot of athletes just bumped their way up the ranking.

01:41:44 So, should be feeling a lot more motivated now

01:41:49 with this lazer run.

01:41:51 So, we're a couple of minutes away

01:41:54 from the start of this race.

01:41:56 There is Mohamed El Gendy.

01:42:01 What can he do from fifth place?

01:42:04 He's 38 seconds behind Mohamed Chabannes.

01:42:07 I think it's gonna be a lot to ask for him to get a gold,

01:42:10 but Mohamed El Gendy will be determined

01:42:12 to get on the podium.

01:42:13 And just four points behind Patrick Dogg.

01:42:16 I'm gonna make a prediction.

01:42:18 I'm gonna say Chabannes gold,

01:42:20 Desjardins silver, and El Gendy bronze.

01:42:24 Maybe even silver,

01:42:25 'cause El Gendy's got an amazing lazer run,

01:42:26 but so does Pierre Desjardins.

01:42:28 This is gonna be a really interesting,

01:42:31 really interesting final.

01:42:32 - Yeah, and I mean, yes,

01:42:32 I mean all these athletes qualified really comfortably.

01:42:35 So, they don't have to use all their energy

01:42:37 in the semifinals, do they?

01:42:38 So, maybe they were just saving it for today's final.

01:42:42 - Could be.

01:42:43 That's your start list.

01:42:46 - 18 seconds delayed for him.

01:42:49 And then Patrick Dogg.

01:42:50 - Chang Wang Tse taking a look

01:42:51 how much time he has to make up.

01:42:52 He's 50 seconds off the lead,

01:42:54 just 20 seconds off Patrick Dogg.

01:42:56 I tell you what,

01:42:57 this is gonna be a mighty scramble for bronze.

01:43:01 - Yeah, I mean, we saw the same this morning,

01:43:05 but athletes are doing their final preparations.

01:43:10 I must say this is a very stressful time.

01:43:13 The countdown for the start.

01:43:16 - Yeah, not a moment you enjoy this, no?

01:43:17 - Not at all, but I think they stopped the countdown,

01:43:20 didn't they?

01:43:20 We did, over the loudspeaker, yeah.

01:43:23 But athletes will start with 1.600

01:43:26 and then get their way into the shooting range.

01:43:29 And thereafter do another four laps

01:43:32 with four shooting series in between.

01:43:35 So, a lot can happen and it all comes down to shooting.

01:43:41 Mahatma Chabane had a near to perfect shooting series.

01:43:44 So, we'll keep an eye on that and see what he does today.

01:43:47 - So, here we go, folks.

01:43:54 It is the conclusion of this competition here in Sofia.

01:43:59 It has been a long, tough day for these athletes.

01:44:09 Five disciplines in 90 minutes,

01:44:12 but it all comes down to this.

01:44:15 Mahatma Chabane has looked in very good form here in Sofia.

01:44:18 It has to be said,

01:44:20 he has looked like a man with a point to prove.

01:44:23 And after navigating his way

01:44:27 through riding, fencing and swimming,

01:44:30 he begins the laser run with an 18-second headstart.

01:44:35 A breathe out of breath,

01:44:38 a moment of reflection

01:44:39 for the multiple World Cup medalists,

01:44:41 the World Championship bronze medalist

01:44:44 and the Olympic hopeful.

01:44:46 Off he goes with an 18-second headstart,

01:44:49 but Pierre Desjardins will see what he can do

01:44:52 from second place.

01:44:53 I think Desjardins would probably take a medal

01:44:55 if off the term at this point.

01:44:56 It's been a while since he's won one.

01:44:58 - Yeah, he has been out of an injury,

01:45:00 but he's making a comeback in this World Cup.

01:45:02 Liebig and Algendi on top of each other,

01:45:06 both the speedy runners in this race.

01:45:09 - Algendi already looking to make pace,

01:45:11 but that Liebig and Algendi battle could be really exciting.

01:45:14 Algendi has to make sure he doesn't put too much effort

01:45:17 into this opening lap,

01:45:17 but he knows he has to try and make up 38 seconds

01:45:22 on his teammate.

01:45:23 Let's say for example,

01:45:24 Chabane shoots 15 seconds

01:45:26 and Algendi pulls off a six-second shoot.

01:45:28 It could be won and lost in the range.

01:45:30 We know just how good Algendi and Chabane

01:45:34 are in the shooting range.

01:45:36 - No, you are right there, James,

01:45:37 but it seems as if

01:45:39 Algendi and Liebig are just pacing each other.

01:45:41 - Yeah, Algendi's not hanging about, is he?

01:45:42 He's already got past Liebig,

01:45:44 and now next up in his

01:45:45 eyes is Patrick Dogg.

01:45:50 So most of our athletes are already out on the course.

01:45:56 This is the battle for third, fourth, and fifth.

01:46:00 Liebig has dropped to place,

01:46:02 but he's hanging on to Algendi.

01:46:04 Pierre Desjardins, Patrick Dogg,

01:46:06 Mohamed Algendi, and Fabien Liebig

01:46:09 all up against each other.

01:46:11 It's an 18-second head start for Chabane.

01:46:13 He's maintained that gap and extended it a little bit.

01:46:17 Trying to see where he is on the course,

01:46:18 'cause I think Chabane is about to make his way

01:46:22 to the shooting range.

01:46:23 Let's see how his eye is here.

01:46:26 It is quite a tricky range, this one,

01:46:28 because the light to dark contrast

01:46:31 can catch some athletes out.

01:46:33 But here we go.

01:46:34 Chabane arrives at the range for the first time.

01:46:37 Misses his first shot.

01:46:39 Misses, makes his second.

01:46:42 So it's one from the five for Chabane.

01:46:44 Unfortunately, we don't have the timings

01:46:45 up on our screen there.

01:46:46 There we are.

01:46:47 So it's a slightly slow shoot, this,

01:46:49 from Chabane by his standards,

01:46:50 but he has got a bit of a gap,

01:46:51 and he is three for five for Chabane.

01:46:53 Desjardins is close, and that gap is still three for five

01:46:56 for Chabane.

01:46:57 Just needs to compose himself here.

01:46:59 And there we go.

01:47:00 He's away, but Desjardins has had the chance now

01:47:03 to close this gap, but Chabane struggling to close it out.

01:47:06 Away Desjardins goes.

01:47:08 So it was a 13 second shoot for Pithier Desjardins.

01:47:11 Look at Mohamed El Gendy, though,

01:47:12 racing through that shoot.

01:47:13 It's a 10 second shoot for Mohamed El Gendy,

01:47:16 who is away and closing in now on those front two.

01:47:20 The gap between Chabane and Desjardins

01:47:22 has dropped down to six seconds,

01:47:24 and El Gendy is now just 14 seconds behind Chabane.

01:47:28 Away gets Dogg.

01:47:29 Away gets Seyo.

01:47:31 Praud is away as well.

01:47:32 Liebig is away.

01:47:33 He got away a little bit earlier.

01:47:34 So that battle between the two Germans is just three seconds.

01:47:38 There's so many narratives in this men's final

01:47:41 to keep yourselves gripped on.

01:47:43 The top 10 separated by just 37 seconds.

01:47:46 Pillage not too far behind as well.

01:47:48 But keep your eyes on Mohamed El Gendy,

01:47:51 who is absolutely flying.

01:47:54 He is a man in form, having picked up gold in Budapest,

01:47:58 and he is fighting for his life

01:47:59 to try and get himself into the Olympics.

01:48:03 So Chabane followed by Desjardins.

01:48:07 Is El Gendy now 15 seconds off the lead?

01:48:10 The front three are nearly within reach of each other.

01:48:14 Chang Wen Seyo is really picking up positions here,

01:48:19 starting in 11th position,

01:48:21 and is already about in sixth position there.

01:48:23 So keep an eye on for Seyo.

01:48:26 (crowd chattering)

01:48:29 So this is the battle here

01:48:34 that we have all been hoping would unfold

01:48:38 in front of our eyes.

01:48:39 The gap is just 15 seconds between the front three.

01:48:44 And Mohamed El Gendy and Fabian Liebig as well,

01:48:48 who is next at Laser Runner.

01:48:50 Chabane arriving at the shooting range

01:48:53 for his second shooting routine.

01:48:56 Pistol in hand, makes his first shot.

01:48:59 This is looking more confident from Chabane.

01:49:00 Two out of five for Chabane.

01:49:01 Three out of five for Chabane.

01:49:03 Misses his fourth, misses his fifth.

01:49:06 You can see his accuracy in the top left of your screen there.

01:49:09 Four out of five for Chabane.

01:49:10 Chabane's away with an 11.64, much better from Chabane.

01:49:12 What about Desjardins?

01:49:13 Can he respond?

01:49:14 11.3.

01:49:15 What about El Gendy?

01:49:16 El Gendy needs to keep that pressure on,

01:49:18 but he's slightly slower this time.

01:49:19 El Gendy just struggling to keep that consistency going.

01:49:22 El Gendy struggling at the range here.

01:49:23 13 seconds turns into 14.

01:49:25 This is really concerning for El Gendy.

01:49:27 It's 17 seconds shoot.

01:49:29 It's going to be an 18.63.

01:49:31 And El Gendy has lost out a bit of that time that he picked up.

01:49:34 You can see that glance over the left shoulder.

01:49:36 Chabane is looking for El Gendy.

01:49:37 Make no mistake about it, but he's also

01:49:38 keeping an eye on Desjardins, who is now

01:49:40 just four seconds behind.

01:49:42 This battle between Chabane and Desjardins

01:49:45 is really, really interesting.

01:49:47 Fabian Liebig is still now four seconds behind El Gendy.

01:49:50 Seau has made his way back into this battle.

01:49:55 Wow, this is just a brilliant laser

01:49:57 on unfolding in front of our eyes.

01:49:59 Two shoes down, still two to go.

01:50:01 Chabane and Desjardins.

01:50:03 Look at that gap, Elida.

01:50:05 It is so close between those two.

01:50:07 No, Desjardins is really catching up there

01:50:10 on Mohamed Chabane.

01:50:10 And we are in for a race for a bronze medal here

01:50:13 with Mohamed El Gendy, Liebig, and Chang Wang Seau

01:50:16 on top of each other.

01:50:17 Chang Wang Seau has quietly been going about his business.

01:50:20 He picked up 10 points in the fencing bonus round.

01:50:23 Just how much of a difference could that make as Pierre

01:50:25 Desjardins is now all over the back of Mohamed Chabane.

01:50:28 And Pierre Desjardins storms around the outside

01:50:31 and snatches the race lead off of Mohamed Chabane.

01:50:35 It was an 18-second gap.

01:50:37 And Pierre Desjardins, who Yasser Hefti, the Egyptian coach,

01:50:40 said is a threat, has proven that point

01:50:43 to be a brilliant final on our hands here.

01:50:47 Pierre Desjardins moves into the lead.

01:50:50 And he's already built a couple of seconds

01:50:52 over Mohamed Chabane and Pierre Desjardins.

01:50:56 Unbelievable.

01:50:57 Right.

01:50:58 We approach the shooting range.

01:51:01 This is one of those races that you just don't want to end.

01:51:03 Brilliant excitement here.

01:51:04 So Pierre Desjardins pauses, picks up his pistol,

01:51:09 and makes his first shot.

01:51:10 Good shooting this from Desjardins.

01:51:12 You can see his accuracy.

01:51:14 Look at that.

01:51:15 All green lights for Pierre Desjardins.

01:51:17 He's away.

01:51:18 It's a 7.48.

01:51:20 Now, look at this.

01:51:21 This is interesting.

01:51:22 Mohamed Chabane at the range.

01:51:23 A 10.57 for Chabane.

01:51:25 What about Algendi?

01:51:26 He needs to improve on that previous round.

01:51:28 Two out of five for Algendi.

01:51:29 Three out of five of--

01:51:31 four out of five for Algendi.

01:51:32 Brilliant shooting.

01:51:34 It's a 6.48.

01:51:35 And Algendi is gaining, gaining on Chabane.

01:51:38 What about the battle a bit further back?

01:51:40 Fabian Liebig is out of the range.

01:51:42 Patrick Duggan arriving.

01:51:43 What about Valentin Pras?

01:51:44 Sayo is away.

01:51:45 Moutaz Mohamed has made his way back into this race.

01:51:48 Brilliant from Moutaz Mohamed.

01:51:50 How do you pick your team of Egyptians

01:51:52 of the Olympics when they're all that good?

01:51:55 Unbelievable.

01:51:56 Moussia is bringing himself back into the battle.

01:52:00 Desjardins is just stretching that lead that he's got there.

01:52:03 Pierre Desjardins is looking to win a gold medal here.

01:52:07 I think this will be Pierre Desjardins' first gold medal.

01:52:13 It will be.

01:52:13 It was his first final of the season.

01:52:15 He's coming back from injury.

01:52:16 He's really just making a statement here today.

01:52:18 But he's still need two more shooting series.

01:52:22 Mohamed Chabane is six seconds.

01:52:23 It's one more shoot to go, by the way.

01:52:25 We've had shooting three.

01:52:27 So Algendi is 11 seconds behind Chabane.

01:52:30 He started this race 38 seconds.

01:52:32 And you can see Algendi is really digging deep.

01:52:34 And Fabian Liebig has closed right up on Algendi.

01:52:37 That final shoot is going to be dramatic.

01:52:41 Strap yourselves in, folks.

01:52:42 This is going to be an absolutely exhilarating end

01:52:45 to this race.

01:52:46 Algendi has his eyes on the prize in front of him,

01:52:50 but is wary of the threats of Fabian Liebig behind him.

01:52:54 Pierre Desjardins has a six-second lead over Chabane.

01:52:57 We are approaching the shooting range for one final shoot,

01:53:00 one last time.

01:53:02 Modern pentathlon, folks, is as exciting as it gets.

01:53:06 The complete sporting athlete.

01:53:09 It takes a lot to win these races.

01:53:11 And Pierre Desjardins arrives at the shooting range

01:53:14 for one last time with the opportunity to take gold.

01:53:17 One green light, two green lights for Desjardins.

01:53:20 Misses the third.

01:53:22 And here's where the pressure really starts to play.

01:53:24 It's three out of five for Desjardins.

01:53:26 Four out of five.

01:53:27 One more shoot now for Desjardins.

01:53:28 And it could well be gold.

01:53:30 Always struggling on this fifth.

01:53:32 Struggling here, Desjardins.

01:53:33 Is it all falling apart for the French athlete?

01:53:35 Now he gets away.

01:53:37 A 19.36.

01:53:38 And Desjardins has a grimace on his face.

01:53:40 Oh my goodness me.

01:53:41 Look at this battle between the two Egyptians.

01:53:43 Chabane and El Gendy are absolutely at each other.

01:53:47 That is incredible shooting from El Gendy.

01:53:50 Oh my goodness me.

01:53:51 El Gendy versus Chabane.

01:53:53 Chabane is not going to let him pass easily, by the way.

01:53:55 El Gendy is going to have to wrestle that second place back.

01:53:58 Oh my goodness me.

01:54:00 What an exciting race this is.

01:54:01 A quick look over the left shoulder there by Chabane.

01:54:03 El Gendy trying to find a way past.

01:54:05 And El Gendy storms around the inside.

01:54:07 Mohamed El Gendy, fresh off that gold medal in Budapest,

01:54:12 has moved up into second place.

01:54:14 Unbelievable from the young Egyptian,

01:54:17 who moves past Mohamed Chabane dramatically

01:54:20 on this final lap.

01:54:21 Surely, surely this battle goes right down to the wire.

01:54:26 Now these athletes are not holding back.

01:54:27 The question is, can Mohamed El Gendy

01:54:29 catch Pierrot Jordan in this last bit?

01:54:31 Well, Mohamed Chabane is giving this absolutely everything.

01:54:34 But you have to give credit to Mohamed El Gendy,

01:54:37 who has overturned a 38-second gap to get himself in front.

01:54:43 But Mohamed Chabane has moved back past El Gendy.

01:54:47 Second and third is absolutely gripping.

01:54:50 Pierrot Jordan is ahead.

01:54:52 But this is where Olympic qualification really

01:54:54 could be decided.

01:54:56 Mohamed El Gendy is now powering through.

01:54:59 The heart is pumping.

01:55:00 And Pierrot Jordan is closing down.

01:55:03 It's all coming down to this final lap, the final few

01:55:06 corners of this race.

01:55:07 Mohamed Chabane has kept some pace towards the end.

01:55:09 I think Mohamed El Gendy has lost out on that second place.

01:55:13 It's gold for the Jordan.

01:55:15 It is silver for Mohamed Chabane.

01:55:18 And it is bronze for Mohamed El Gendy,

01:55:21 who settles for that bronze.

01:55:22 And I think he's happy with that.

01:55:24 Fabian Liebig is more than happy with fourth place.

01:55:29 And look at that.

01:55:29 Mouhtaz Mohamed is going to come home in fifth place.

01:55:33 A sensational season for him.

01:55:36 Chang Mang Seyo with a brilliant laser

01:55:38 run to come home in sixth place and complete

01:55:40 that extended podium.

01:55:42 Jean-Baptiste Mourselha once again proving

01:55:44 why he's so well respected.

01:55:46 He takes seventh place.

01:55:47 Valentin Pras takes eighth.

01:55:49 But Pierre de Jordan takes his first World Cup gold medal

01:55:54 in one of the most exhilarating pentathlon

01:55:57 finals in the men's individual we've had for a while.

01:56:00 Brilliant finish that race.

01:56:01 Great kick of energy there from Mohamed Chabane.

01:56:04 And honestly, I would not want to be on that Egyptian team

01:56:07 to deciding who to take to the Olympics,

01:56:09 because they have four absolute superstars on their hands.

01:56:13 No, honestly, I think they know that if they pick any athlete,

01:56:16 they'll be able to give a stellar performance there.

01:56:20 But it is today, Team Egypt taking the podium,

01:56:23 second and third.

01:56:24 And Pierre de Jordan taking that gold medal,

01:56:26 redeeming his position.

01:56:30 Right, we're going to go trackside to try and get

01:56:32 some interviews.

01:56:33 And we'll leave you, Alida, in the commentary box.

01:56:36 That was an absolutely sensational race.

01:56:38 There you have it as our last athlete, Demetor of Hungary,

01:56:52 makes his way to the finish.

01:56:55 What a thrilling race we had here.

01:56:58 A change of positions between silver and bronze,

01:57:01 between Mohamed El Gendy and Mohamed Chabane,

01:57:03 both teammates fighting against each other.

01:57:06 And we welcome our last athlete here,

01:57:09 Delenbacht from Switzerland.

01:57:14 Very promising athletes and very promising performance

01:57:16 he showed there, but just unfortunate elimination.

01:57:18 But there you are.

01:57:19 You have it, your gold medalist of the men's final,

01:57:23 Pierre de Jordan.

01:57:25 And our bronze medalist here, Mohamed El Gendy of Egypt.

01:57:28 Silver medalist, Mohamed Chabane.

01:57:31 Let's look at a few of the highlights of this laser

01:57:43 line race, where Mohamed Chabane started in first position

01:57:48 with an 18 second lead.

01:57:51 And Pierre de Jordan just caught that up.

01:57:55 Must say, Pierre de Jordan's shooting was what got him that

01:57:59 gold medal today, and great running too.

01:58:03 Some more of the action of the men's laser run.

01:58:15 And there in your background, you

01:58:20 can hear the celebration of Team France for Pierre de Jordan.

01:58:24 We were hoping to see perfect shooting from Mohamed Chabane

01:58:31 today, but El Gendy had a speedy shoot

01:58:43 in this laser run of six seconds, which surely

01:58:47 helped him with that medal.

01:58:48 And there you see a takeover of gold

01:58:52 to silver between Jordan and Chabane.

01:58:55 Stay tuned, folks.

01:59:06 We are going to get some trackside interviews

01:59:10 with our gold, silver, and bronze medalists of today.

01:59:14 And we'll be looking forward to hear

01:59:16 what the athletes have to say after this exciting

01:59:20 competition.

01:59:21 Pierre de Jordan just coming back after an injury last year.

01:59:28 Must be very happy with his gold medal today.

01:59:35 In your background, you can see the fight

01:59:42 between silver and bronze medal between the two athletes,

01:59:45 Chabane and El Gendy.

01:59:46 That was the takeover between Gendy and Chabane

02:00:00 earlier in the race.

02:00:01 And just after that, Chabane just went over that corner

02:00:05 and got that silver medal and did not hold back.

02:00:15 It's these sprint finishes we live for in laser run.

02:00:19 Anything can happen all the way through till the cross

02:00:22 of the finish line.

02:00:24 That is the beauty of the sport, the beauty of five disciplines,

02:00:27 one passion.

02:00:30 Jordan, your winner of today.

02:00:31 [INAUDIBLE]

02:00:53 You have Castaudi, French woman athlete,

02:00:58 congratulating her teammate there.

02:01:01 And then, we have the bronze medalist,

02:01:03 Jean-Baptiste Moussier.

02:01:04 But for now, we'll have a look at the results

02:01:10 of this competition.

02:01:11 Top nine athletes of the men's final.

02:01:19 You can see Shang Wen Tseo moved up five positions,

02:01:23 starting in 11th position, and as well as Jean-Baptiste Moussier

02:01:28 in the bronze medalist position.

02:01:30 And that's our last few results of today's final.

02:01:43 But for now, we will get a few words with our bronze medalist

02:01:46 of today.

02:01:48 Mohamed, absolutely fantastic race.

02:01:52 You turned around 38 seconds to catch up Mohamed Chabane.

02:01:56 How was that for you?

02:01:58 How did you feel about the race?

02:01:59 Because that was really impressive.

02:02:01 Yeah, the race was so hard for me.

02:02:06 At the beginning, before the beginning of the race,

02:02:09 I just was aiming for just the third place.

02:02:12 It was the nearest place for me.

02:02:14 But during the race, and even after the third shoot,

02:02:19 I was getting closer and closer.

02:02:21 But at the finish, I just collided with the gap.

02:02:26 More than that.

02:02:27 A nervous moment for you in the riding as well.

02:02:30 You managed to get a 290 despite getting a refusal early on.

02:02:35 How worried were you when you had that refusal in the riding?

02:02:38 Yeah, after the first refusal, I was just--

02:02:42 everything is done.

02:02:43 I can make it.

02:02:45 But I just-- while they were making the obstacle,

02:02:48 I was just come up with myself.

02:02:51 And just I can do it.

02:02:53 And I overcome.

02:02:54 And this is the best thing for me today,

02:02:57 that I overcome my riding.

02:02:59 Back to back medals for you.

02:03:01 Gold in Budapest, bronze here now in Sofia.

02:03:04 You know the routine by now.

02:03:05 A message in Arabic for your friends back home.

02:03:08 [SPEAKING ARABIC]

02:03:11 [SPEAKING ARABIC]

02:03:25 Well done, my friend.

02:03:26 Enjoy the moment.

02:03:27 Everyone's very proud of you.

02:03:27 Congratulations.

02:03:28 Thank you.

02:03:29 Thank you.

02:03:29 And there you have it.

02:03:33 Words from our bronze medalist today, Mohamed El-Ghandi.

02:03:36 It's not his first medal of the season.

02:03:38 Picked up gold in Budapest, and now bronze here in Sofia.

02:03:43 Really good season here for Mohamed El-Ghandi

02:03:48 and hoping to qualify for Olympics.

02:03:50 But it is a tough team that they have from Team Egypt.

02:03:54 But stay tuned.

02:03:54 We will get a few words with our silver medalist of today.

02:03:58 And here we are.

02:04:02 You've improved, obviously, on the bronze.

02:04:04 You've now got a silver.

02:04:05 But still, you're not happy.

02:04:06 Explain to us your emotions.

02:04:08 Yeah, I'm happy, sure, for the silver medal.

02:04:10 But like we say, I won silver, but I lose the gold.

02:04:15 Not happy for my performance in shooting.

02:04:17 Maybe I have more confidence from yesterday

02:04:19 because I shoot 21 from 20.

02:04:21 So I'm going today like it's easy.

02:04:24 So I take in my head.

02:04:26 So next time, I will be better.

02:04:28 Yeah, listen.

02:04:29 You seem disappointed in Budapest.

02:04:30 You seem slightly less disappointed now.

02:04:33 These are the emotions of a pentathlete,

02:04:34 especially in this tight battle the Egyptian teams have.

02:04:37 And you're trying to get back onto the top of the podium.

02:04:40 It's very difficult this year, isn't it?

02:04:42 Yeah, the Egyptian team is very good this year.

02:04:45 Every competition, we are two in the podium.

02:04:47 We have internal competition.

02:04:49 So many medals we have.

02:04:52 I'm not happy, but at least I'm in the podium.

02:04:56 Talk us through that battle with El Gendy,

02:04:59 because you two were going back and forth with each other

02:05:02 on that final lap.

02:05:03 In the end, you managed to get ahead of him, though.

02:05:05 I have this battle before in Bath last year.

02:05:08 The same situation and the same race and the same finish.

02:05:12 I love racing with El Gendy.

02:05:15 We are so good this year.

02:05:16 Thank you.

02:05:17 And be honest, you must be very satisfied

02:05:19 to have got ahead of him, because obviously you

02:05:21 slipped behind him on that final lap.

02:05:23 But then you obviously saved a bit of energy,

02:05:24 and you got in front of him.

02:05:25 How excited and happy are you to have got ahead of him

02:05:28 and taken silver?

02:05:30 After the last shooting, I go against El Gendy.

02:05:34 I think in my brain, finish or no, finish or no.

02:05:38 But I think to myself, there is 200 meters.

02:05:41 Let's go.

02:05:42 Let's go.

02:05:43 And I do it.

02:05:44 Just finally, a message in Arabic for your friends

02:05:46 and family watching back home.

02:05:47 [SPEAKING ARABIC]

02:05:52 Well done, Mohamed.

02:05:53 Congratulations, my friend.

02:05:54 Thank you.

02:05:55 Thank you.

02:05:58 And there you have it, words from our silver medalist

02:06:01 of today, Mohamed Chaban.

02:06:02 He has picked up a bronze medal in Budapest earlier this season.

02:06:05 It was a rough start for him from the start of the season,

02:06:09 but he's now got two World Cup medals in the bag.

02:06:14 We'll now be with your gold medalist of today.

02:06:18 Well, Pierre de Jardin, many congratulations.

02:06:20 An incredible performance by you.

02:06:23 We spoke to Yasser Hefny, the Egyptian coach,

02:06:25 before the race.

02:06:26 And he said, you're going to be a threat for the Egyptian team.

02:06:28 That proved to be the case.

02:06:29 Talk to us about the race from your point of view.

02:06:31 Yeah.

02:06:32 I just be focused on my work.

02:06:35 I know I have to go in forward, just shoot well and run well,

02:06:39 and after, do my best.

02:06:42 And I don't think about the result,

02:06:44 just be focused and do my work.

02:06:47 This is a hugely important year for every athlete,

02:06:49 but especially for the French athletes, because, of course,

02:06:52 you have the Olympics in your home country.

02:06:54 A gold medal in the build-up to the Olympics,

02:06:56 just how important is that for you as a French athlete?

02:06:58 Yeah, it's a good thing.

02:07:01 After, we have a strong team, and it's a good step,

02:07:05 but it's not the end.

02:07:07 I want to go in the Olympics, so I have to continue my work.

02:07:12 And in the final World Cup, I have

02:07:14 to make a good result again, and after, in the World

02:07:18 Championships.

02:07:18 So yeah, we have a strong team, so it's a fight,

02:07:22 and I will fight.

02:07:24 This is a good example of a Penn's athlete, always

02:07:26 looking at what's coming up next,

02:07:27 never taking too much time to enjoy the moment.

02:07:29 But this is your first ever gold medal, your first medal

02:07:32 since 2018 in Sofia.

02:07:34 You must be thrilled to be back on the podium,

02:07:37 back on the top, and on the top step for the first time.

02:07:39 Yeah, I'm very proud of me and of my team.

02:07:44 Next year, in the final World Cup, I broke my hand,

02:07:46 so that was a difficult year, and I'm very happy to come back

02:07:50 at this level.

02:07:51 But it's just a step.

02:07:53 I have to continue.

02:07:55 It's not the end.

02:07:56 Just finally, a word in French, of course,

02:07:58 for your friends and family watching back home.

02:08:00 [SPEAKING FRENCH]

02:08:15 Merci beaucoup.

02:08:16 Well done, my friend.

02:08:17 You worked hard for this.

02:08:17 Well done.

02:08:18 Cheers, man.

02:08:20 And that was your gold medalist for the World Cup here

02:08:23 in Sofia.

02:08:24 And you know, he's not-- as I said, he's not done yet.

02:08:26 But now, let's have a look at the road on top.

02:08:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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02:09:17 Road to the top.

02:09:40 We have concluded the individual finals here

02:09:45 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

02:09:47 As we welcome the medalists onto the podium.

02:09:53 [APPLAUSE]

02:09:56 Team Egypt dominating this competition on the podium.

02:10:01 Certainly is the case, isn't it?

02:10:03 Three Egyptians on the extended podium.

02:10:06 Chang Wang Tse has done brilliantly to get himself

02:10:10 into sixth place.

02:10:13 So started in 11th place.

02:10:17 Moultas Mohamed is in fifth place.

02:10:23 Started in 10th.

02:10:24 He's made up five places.

02:10:26 And Fabian Liebig started in fourth, finished in fourth.

02:10:31 Had an excellent laser run.

02:10:33 [INAUDIBLE]

02:10:34 [INAUDIBLE]

02:10:35 [INAUDIBLE]

02:10:36 [INAUDIBLE]

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02:10:45 So many congratulations to say it.

02:10:48 To Moultas Mohamed, who has had a really good run of results.

02:10:54 He obviously picked up a couple of silver medals.

02:10:58 He's now back on the extended podium.

02:11:01 Fabian Liebig, who's making his way back from injury,

02:11:04 picks up a fourth place finish.

02:11:07 [INAUDIBLE]

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02:11:17 Mohamed El Gendy takes the bronze.

02:11:21 And he was very happy with that, rightly so.

02:11:25 Had to work very hard.

02:11:28 So Mohamed El Gendy makes it back to back podiums,

02:11:37 which is so hard to do in this sport.

02:11:40 A gold and a bronze in consecutive events.

02:11:43 [WHISTLE BLOWING]

02:11:46 I don't think one of these athletes

02:11:48 have not gotten a medal this World Cup season.

02:11:51 The whole team, each of them, they've

02:11:53 picked up medals their fights.

02:11:55 So really dominating the field there.

02:11:58 Certainly are.

02:12:00 So silver-- bronze goes to Mohamed El Gendy.

02:12:04 Silver goes to Mohamed Shaban, who

02:12:08 is getting closer to the top step.

02:12:10 [WHISTLE BLOWING]

02:12:11 [INAUDIBLE]

02:12:12 [INAUDIBLE]

02:12:14 [APPLAUSE]

02:12:15 And to present the medal for the UAPF--

02:12:19 Shabnay Dhan, UAPF Secretary General of the LOC,

02:12:22 Kameila Aleksandrovna, Executive Director of the Mary

02:12:26 Bond and Saffron Federation.

02:12:28 [INAUDIBLE]

02:12:31 [INAUDIBLE]

02:12:34 [INAUDIBLE]

02:12:37 Once again, award a medal to Shabnay Dhan.

02:12:41 Brilliant work from him.

02:12:43 [APPLAUSE]

02:12:45 Silver medalist here.

02:12:48 And then on the top step, taking a first ever gold medal

02:12:53 from France, it is Pierre de Jardin.

02:12:57 Very popular gold medalist.

02:12:59 Had to work so hard to get on the top of the step.

02:13:02 [APPLAUSE]

02:13:05 And he is awarded that gold by Klaus Schulman.

02:13:11 [INAUDIBLE]

02:13:14 The UAPF President, Dr. Klaus Schulman,

02:13:18 with the medal in his hand.

02:13:19 [INAUDIBLE]

02:13:22 [INAUDIBLE]

02:13:25 [INAUDIBLE]

02:13:28 [INAUDIBLE]

02:13:31 [INAUDIBLE]

02:13:34 [INAUDIBLE]

02:13:37 [APPLAUSE]

02:13:40 Trophy lifted up high, and we pause now

02:13:42 for the French National Anthem.

02:13:45 Now, please stand for the National Anthem of France.

02:13:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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02:14:50 [APPLAUSE]

02:14:53 There we go, then, the French National Anthem playing here

02:14:59 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

02:15:00 It's gold for Pierre de Jardin.

02:15:03 It is silver for Mohamed Chabannes.

02:15:07 Mohamed El Gendy taking the bronze on extended podium.

02:15:11 Fabien Leibig, Moultaz Mohamed, and Chang Wang Seo.

02:15:18 There's your top three.

02:15:20 Congratulations to Pierre de Jardin

02:15:22 taking his first gold medal.

02:15:24 So that concludes Super Sunday here in Sofia, Bulgaria.

02:15:31 We'll be back again tomorrow for mixed relay.

02:15:34 Thanks for tuning in.

02:15:35 It's bye for now.

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