Egypt won a gold, two silver and one bronze medals at the 14th edition of the Union International of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) Biathle World Championship held in Dubai from1-3 November. Participating countries were Argentina, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Namibia, Portugal, South Africa, Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, Venezuela, India, Egypt and the hosts the United Arab of Emirates. It featured 317 competitors participating in 16 categories in the pinnacle of the run-swim-run biathle which is feeder sport of the Modern Pentathlon. Egypt participated with 19 male and female athletes aged from 10 to 16 years old. In youth female (under 16) Egyptian athlete Haydi Adel snatched a gold medal from South African Robyn-Leigh Jones. Adel finished with a time of 10:52 seconds. Only 10 seconds separated Adel from Jones who took silver with a time of11:02 seconds. Egyptian pentatheletes Farah Nabil came in sixth place at 12:04 seconds, Merna Nabil finished in eighth place at 12:11 seconds and Youmna Medhat took ninth place on 12:29 seconds. In youth female (under10), Egyptian Maram Yasser won a bronze medal with a time of 4:43 seconds. South African pentathelete Tabita Dempers took gold on 4:43 seconds and British Emily McNeil took silver via her 4:49 seconds. In youth female (under12), Egyptian pentathlete Hana Ehab won a silver medal with a time of 4:37 seconds while South African Lesley Blignaut took gold with 4:30 seconds and her compatriot Lene Geldenhunys took bronze with 4:40 seconds. Egyptian penathlete Habiba Mohamed came in 11th and Habiba Wael 24th. In youth male (under 14), Egyptian pentathlete Sherif Yasser won a silver medal with a finishing time of 4:42 seconds. The British pentathelete Robert Etherington won gold with 4:38 seconds and also from the UK Harrison Yarnold took bronze after a time of 4:45 seconds. Egyptian pentatheletes Abdel-Rahman Korani came in 12th place with 5:08 seconds, Shehabeddin Asharf in 14th place with 6:03 seconds, Noureddin Asharf finished in 29th place and Mohamed Arabi came last. In youth male (under12) Mohannad Tarek finished in ninth place concluding with 4:40 seconds and Seif Khaled came in 15th place with a time of 6:021 seconds. In youth male (under16), Egyptian pentathlete Ahmed Adel came in 11 place with a time of 10:22 seconds. Pentathlete Adham Alaaeddin finished in 20th place and Belal Bassam in 22nd place. Ahmed Ibrahim came in 16th place in the senior male result. President of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation (EMPF) Sherif Al-Erian told Al-Ahram Weekly, “The EMPF's new board of directors was formed only in September. Under the previous administrative boards, athletes did not participate in Biathle championships. The main concern was the world championships for U18, U21 and seniors.” “Biathle acts as a world championship for junior athletes. It also helps in discovering new talent and increases the number of athletes. The EMPF's new board of directors agreed that the Police Federation Sporting Club's junior team competes but travels on its own expense in championships,” Al-Erian said. “EMPF was monitoring the results of pentathlete Haydi Adel who, at 14, is a promising talent. She is going to be the successor of Egyptian world champion Aya Medani.” Adel competed in the 2011 world junior championship (U18) and 2012 world junior championship (U21). “We are preparing Adel to represent Africa in the Second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China 2014.” The best 24 athletes in the world and only the first male and female will represent the African continent in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. The EMPF is preparing two male and female teams to compete in the 2013 UIPM Youth Olympic Games qualification competition for the continent. The Modern Pentathlon Africa qualifying competition for the Second Youth Olympic Games will be held at the end of 2013. Each team consists of five athletes. EMPF will choose only four. The women's team is composed of Haydi Adel, Sondous Tarek, Toqa Safieddin, Hebatallah Abdel-Hakim and Rana Khaled. The men's team is Abdel-Rahman Tarek, Mustafa Rashed, Mohamed Yasser, Sherif Hassan and Youssef Hassan. Al-Erian added, “We are not worried at all because Egypt is the African champion in the modern pentathlon. Our pentatheletes are stronger than South Africa's. There is a big difference in the level of our pentatheletes and the standard of the second pentatheletes (South Africa).” Egyptian pentatheletes Islam Hamad and Gihan Al-Midani represented Africa in the Youth Olympic Games in 2010 in Singapore. Hamad finished in 10th place with total score of 4,344 points and Al-Midani in 12th place with a total score of 3,704 points. On EMPF's future plans, Al-Arian said, “We have finished forming the national teams. We are also in the process of changing the whole technical staff. We still have not discussed our plans for the international season with the Ministry of Sport and the Egyptian Olympic Committee. The season will start at the end of this month. The main focus of the federation is to build new generations and increase the number of junior athletes in addition to preserving the level of the senior pentatheletes. We also want to improve their world rankings through participating in international and world championships.”
