Egyptian modern pentathlete champion Amr Al-Geziri, 29, has ascended the pinnacle of the world rankings for men, according to the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) rankings released on Wednesday 17 June. Al-Geziri climbed to world No 1 with 189 points, followed by Ukrainian Pavlo Tymoshchenko in second place with 186 points. Third place went to the Italian Riccardo De Luca with 184 points. In an exclusive interview, Al-Geziri told Al-Ahram Weekly, “I jumped from fourth place to first in the world ranking after the World Cup final in Minsk, Belarus, from 11-14 June. I'm so happy and proud but also stressed because I am on top now and it's harder to stay on top. But I'm working really hard so hopefully, I will.” In the men's final result of the World Cup final in Minsk, De Luca took first place with1,474 points — 240 in fencing, 312 in swimming, 300 in riding and 622 in the combined event. Tymoshchenko came in second with 1,461 points — 240 in fencing, 315 in swimming, 300 in riding and 606 in combined. Kazakhstan's Pavel Ilyashenko finished in the third place with 1,454 points — 204 in fencing, 322 in swimming, 295 in riding and 633 in combined. Al-Geziri finished in fourth place with 1,449 points -- 226 in fencing, 351 in swimming, 299 in riding and 573 in combined. The fourth place finish helped Al-Geziri to jump to No 1 in the world. President of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation (EMPF) Sherif Al-Erian said, “The previous best result ever achieved throughout Egyptian history for any male modern pentathlete was fourth place in the world rankings by Al-Geziri. Al-Geziri is now the first male athlete in Egyptian history to be on the top of the world rankings. “Former Egyptian champion Aya Medani was the world's No 1 for two consecutive years, 2007 and 2008, the first female in Egyptian history to achieve that,” added Al-Erian. The Egyptian team is preparing for the World Championships in Berlin from 28 June- 6 July. The men's team is composed of Al-Geziri, Omar Al-Geziri, Yasser Hefni and Islam Hamed. “Hefni is still undergoing treatment in Germany. Maybe he won't compete in this championship,” Al-Erian said. The women's team includes Heidi Adel, Sondous Tarek, Reem Yakout and Lamia Hodhod. The team is currently training in Poland, then will travel directly to Germany. The UIPM pentathlon world rankings are calculated using the three highest results of each athlete throughout the year. The ranking only uses results from World Cups, World Cup finals and Senior World Championships. Results which are older than 12 months are deleted from the rankings because they become out-dated. “Last year, Al-Geziri finished in second place in the Senior World Championships in Warsaw. This year, he has a big challenge. He has to maintain the same result as last year or better, otherwise he will lose his top ranking and he will go down in the world rankings,” Al-Erian said. “I hope I stay on top after the Senior World Championship which is the most important. I just have to get a good result in the World Championship in two weeks,” added Al-Geziri. Al-Erian said: “I wish Al-Geziri will be among the three top winners in the championship. If so, he will directly qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016. The championship gives three quota places allocated to the three highest ranked athletes at the UIPM World championships.” The African Championships Olympic qualifiers will be held in Egypt's Cairo Stadium from 21-23 August.
