The five-day event in Cairo Stadium had started with the semi-finals of both women and men. Altogether, 170 male and female athletes competed in the semi-finals of the modern pentathlon World Cup 2. However, only 36 athletes made it to the final of the men's and women's competitions. In the women's final event, Laura Asadauskaite from Lithuania came from behind to earn a spectacular victory as she upset American Margaux Isaksen in the final running and shooting laps of the women's final. As the reigning Olympic champion, Asadauskaite can never be dismissed as a threat and she proved her class by overcoming a 31-second handicap to win the combined event and relegate Isaksen to her second consecutive World Cup silver medal. Isaksen had won the silver in World Cup 1 in Florida. Despite failing to qualify to the final in Sarasota, Egypt's Haidi Adel made it to the final of the women's event in Cairo as she joined the top 36 athletes in the world. However, still 15, Adel struggled to compete against the sport's elite and came in a later position. Isaksen had grasped the lead in the opening event – the fencing round robin – and held on to it throughout the day, but in the end her running and shooting was not quite at the same high standard as her fencing, swimming and riding as the London 2012 gold medallist Asadauskaite fought back to secure a narrow victory. Britain's Freyja Prentice continued her country's prolific start to the 2015 series by snatching a bronze. Asadauskaite had started the combined event comfortably and was in fourth place, level with Russia's Alise Fakhrutdinova, 31 seconds behind the leader. Isaksen held a 24-second advantage over her nearest contender, France's Marie Oteiza , who in turn set off six seconds before the woman in third position, Poland's Oktawia Nowacka. However, the potential for drama of the modern pentathlon at the highest level is such that nothing can be taken for granted in the combined event, and the crowd in Cairo was increasingly thrilled as the top trio came under pressure. Great Britain has now won three of the six women's individual medals in the 2015 series, after Samantha Murray won gold and Kate French bronze at the first of the World Cup series in Sarasota. Isaksen was also a prominent performer in the first stage of the series and she is now in a very strong position in the World Cup finals qualifying stakes after two silver medals. She can also look ahead to the rest of the season knowing she has only been beaten by the reigning champions of the Olympic Games and UIPM World Championships. “This was a very good day, a very good competition, and I am very happy. It was a very good fight between all athletes, especially at the last shooting,” said Asadauskaite after receiving her gold medal. Isaksen was fighting back tears as she reflected on finishing second again. She said: “Laura is a really incredible athlete, obviously – she won the Olympics. So I knew she was closing in, and at the last shot my nerves just got the better of me. I really freaked out. “The season has started well for me. It's a good gauge of where I am, physically and mentally. I feel the same way as I did after Sarasota. I have a lot of work to do, and most of it is at the shooting range.” The men's final followed the women's on Day 4 of the competition. Unlike the women's competition, Egypt had five athletes making it among the world's 36: Amro and Omar Al-Geziri, Yasser Hefni, Islam Hamed and Sherif Rashad. Though Al-Geziri was leading after the fencing, swimming and riding competitions and even in the first three laps of the combined event of the shooting and running, it was Latvia's Ruslan Nakonechnyi who took the field by surprise to be crowned the men's individual champion at the second round of the UIPM 2015 World Cup Series in Cairo, Egypt. Surprisingly, after a steady display in the first three events of fencing, swimming and riding, the Latvian didn't look to be in contention for a place on the podium. But he saved his best for the final combined event where he wowed the Egyptian crowds with a fantastic performance in the running and shooting to overtake the more fancied athletes and clinch first place. “I am very happy,” said Nakonechnyi. “I thank my family and I thank Cairo and the lovely people of Egypt. A year ago I finished in fifth place and now I am the winner so I am very thankful. I have a new coach and a new team and I thank them, too. This is a great result for me and I am delighted.” He was joined on the podium by Czech's Jan Kuf who took silver, and Belarussian Pavel Tsikhanau in third. The Czech was also a surprise on the podium having come from ninth position to clinch second. “I was really tired in the last leg. It is a good thing I finished second because I can now be more confident for the upcoming competitions and we'll see how it goes. I thought my fencing was average and the rest was, too, so I am hoping it will be good in the rest of the season now.” Tsikhanau was particularly happy with his display on the day: “It is my first medal in international competition and I am so, so happy, but so, so tired.” The men's final was dampened in the first event when reigning Russian world champion Aleksander Lesun had to retire from the competition with a back injury. Home advantage very much counted in the pool with the 2014 world championships silver medallist Amro Al-Geziri (EGY), the only pentathlete to swim under the two-minute mark. His time of 1:59.32 saw him take first place in swimming although it was brother Omar who went first in the overall classification after posting a time of 2:02.26 and a third place finish in the pool. At this point, Tsikhanau dropped to second overall while eventual winner Ruslan Nakonechnyi of Latvia sat third as his challenge for the title began to mount. On to the riding and as one of nine pentathletes to achieve the maximum 300 points, Egypt's Omar Al-Geziri kept his grip on first place, much to the delight of an excited home crowd, to give him a 15-second advantage going in to the final combined event. Early leader Belarusian Tsikhanau was sitting in second place overall, with Hungary's Bence Demeter in third. The scene was set for what looked to be a straightforward combined event, but the crowd was treated to a thrilling climax. After the first shooting round Demeter's countryman Adam Marosi (HUN) had put himself in contention for a medal, but then Nakonechnyi (LAT) took control. By the end of the second shooting round and running loop the Latvian had an unassailable lead and it was one he didn't relinquish to claim the gold medal. The fight for second and third place on the podium still raged, however, with silver secured by Jan Kuf (CZE) and Belarussian Tsikhanau (BLR) holding off a late challenge from Fabio Poddighe (ITA), Valentin Belaud (FRA) and Riccardo De Luca (ITA), last year's winner in Cairo, to pick up bronze. UIPM President Klaus Schormann was thrilled with the excitement of the men's final and believes it will help the modern pentathlon to prosper as a sport in Egypt. “Today we had a new winner, a new face from last year and I think it is very good for our movement to have new people, young people coming through to win a World Cup. “It gives a lot of hope for other people and provides big motivation that not only a star can win, but other young up and coming stars who are rising through the ranks. This is very good for the whole development of our sport. “Again today we had real drama at the end in the combined event, athletes changing positions, and I think this is so important for us. The sports minister was with us today watching the competition and we are delighted to know we have a strong government behind our sport here in Egypt.” Schormann was full of praise for the event's organisers at the post-ceremony press conference. “The World Cup in Egypt is always a special highlight in our movement. A World Cup in the continent of Africa has a political meaning and Cairo has for a long time been a strong pillar in our movement,” Schormann told reporters. “There is always good organisation and logistics here, and today we saw great competition between great athletes. We had Asadauskaite and Isaksen, one and two in the run-shoot, so we have all the assets here and we must say a big congratulations to Sharif Al-Erian, president of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation, and his organising team. “I am looking forward to the men's individual final tomorrow, but already we can say we have made the right decision to have the World Cup here in Egypt. “In sport there is a clear message for peace in the world, especially in this region where we don't have so much peace around us.” On Monday, Ismael Hernandez-Uscanga and Tamara Vega provided the thrills on the final day of theWorld Cup 2 as they took gold in the Mixed Relay for Mexico. The narrowest margin of just five seconds separated the top three of Mexico, Ireland and Hungary – who finished on the podium in that order – going in to the final event which gave the Cairo crowd plenty to cheer about as the pentathletes battled it out in the decisive rounds of shooting and running. Home favourites Haidi Adel and Yasser Hefny of Egypt had an impressive start to take fourth place. World Cup 1 was held in Sarasota, Florida, last month. The modern pentathlon World Cup comprises five different editions of the World Cup. The third edition will be held in Rome next month, followed by Hungary as host of World Cup 4. The final event is scheduled to be held in Belarus in June to conclude the World Cup's annual competition. This year's World Cup Series are very important as Shiny Fang, the secretary-general of the UIPM explains. “They are qualifying competitions to the Olympic Games of Rio De Janeiro 2016. Each athlete has a chance to collect as many points as they can in order to make it to Rio. That is why the series is of great significance.”
