Egyptian modern pentathlete champion Heidi Adel, 15, moved up quickly to the top ranking of the International Modern Pentathlon Union's women youth under 21 and juniors. Adel is the world's number one with 97 points, followed by Turkish Ilke Ozyuksel with 90 points and Poland's Natalia Dominiak with 88 points. In women's juniors under 18 world rankings, Adel is number three with 97 points. She is also number 39 with 97 points in women's senior rankings. “I found out by coincidence but I am so happy,” Adel told Al-Ahram Weekly. “I was training when I was told my new world ranking.” In fact, the teenager is entirely focused on training because she wants to qualify for the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro. “I really hope I qualify so I can experience the games.” Adel caught the bug for the Olympics when she participated in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing. “I was fascinated and impressed by the event, especially the stunning opening ceremony. Since then, I have had a dream that one day I will compete in the Olympics.” She is not worried about competition at the world games. “I will be the youngest pentathlete,” she smiled. “It is a great experience for me. My target is to win a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.” Adel is following in the footsteps of former Egyptian champion Aya Medani who won gold at the 2003 Youth World Championship in Mexico, and retained the gold medal at the 2004 Youth World Championship in Bulgaria. She qualified three times for the Olympics (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012). Medani was only 15 at the Athens Olympics – the youngest competitor in the Egyptian delegation and the pentathlon competition. She finished in 28th place, and the following year came second in the 2005 Junior World Championship in Moscow. President of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation (EMPF) Sherif Al-Erian said that despite being so young, Adel competed in the senior women discipline which added many points to her world ranking. This year, she participated in four world cups (in the US, Egypt, Italy and Hungary), as well as the world cup final in Minsk in June 2015. “In the World Cup final she competed with the best 36 male and female athletes from around the world and reached the finals,” explained Al-Erian. Adel finished 23rd in Minsk, and 25th in the Senior World Championships in Berlin in June 2015. “I was the only girl to reach the finals in Berlin,” said Adel, who is also the Africa champion after she finished seventh at Nanjing with 1,021 points – 270 in fencing, 253 in swimming and 498 in the combined event. “The main target for her now is to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio 2016 at the African championships Olympic qualification round,” said Al-Erian. “Rio is special for her; every athlete's dream is to go to the Olympic Games.” The qualification round is scheduled at Cairo Stadium 21-23 August, and then Adel goes to Argentina 1-7 September to compete in the World Youth Championship. Adel is continuously expanding her athletic horizons. After the Nanjing Games, she started training as an equestrian so she can participate in senior events. She wasn't making the best progress, so EMPF sent her and Sondos Tarek to Switzerland for two weeks for special training. “It was very helpful,” said Al-Erian. “Their performance greatly improved.” Adel continues to ride two or three horses every day.
