Egypt's modern pentathlete Aya Medani claimed her third gold medal in just two months by winning the World Seniors Cup in Egypt. Inas Mazhar reports Though still 18, Medani overpowered her more senior opponents to claim the gold medal at the Seniors World Cup in Cairo at Al-Shams club on Sunday. In the five disciplines -- equestrian, fencing, shooing, swimming and cross country running -- Medani outclassed world champions from Lithuania, Russia and Poland. "I'm really glad with my achievement. It's more precious to me because it is the seniors title," Medani told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I knew everyone thought I was too young to compete, but I never thought about it. All I thought of was that I wanted to win. So I just focused on my competition, really concentrated, didn't allow anything to distract me, followed my coach's instructions, and went on to win." Last month, Medani was crowned the world juniors champion and the world youth champion. In March, she won a World Cup tournament in England. Though Medani has had a successful year, it was very tiring. "For the past months, I've been training very hard and travelling all over the world. I was doing all this while I was in my Thanaweya Amma (12th grade). Before going to school, I trained at 5am, then I would go to school and resume my training after school as well. My day was long and tiring because I train every sport in a different place. I would train equestrian at the Army Forces Club, swimming in the stadium and the other three sports in three other venues. The distance between some of them is far." In appreciation of her outstanding results Medani was awarded a scholarship from the Arab Academy for Maritime Studies and Science Technology. Dr Gamal Mokhtar, the academy's chairman, is a former president of the National Olympic Committee and is a staunch supporter of sportsmen and sportswomen. For years, he has been awarding other world-class sports champions the same scholarship. Medani owes her success to the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation and Shams Club for providing her with the facilities to train, compete and win. Before the World Cup began, Egypt's coach Merek Makay said the tournament would be very different for the teenager since the seniors was tougher. "She is still young and very tired after playing for months. She is promising and I can't underestimate her skills and talent, but she'll face tough competition from the champions of Lithuania, Poland and Russia. But I wish she will surprise us," Makay had told the Weekly before the tournament. After the tournament: "Well, I'm surprised," Makay said, "but she did a good job and I'm glad for her. Usually modern pentathlon seniors are between the age of 28 and 32; she's 18 and she did it. She is a real athlete and has worked hard to deserve all her gold medals. I'm glad for her and hope the country will nurture her more so she can maintain her success." President of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation Ahmed Nasser was very happy with Medani's success. "We all had faith in Aya and believed she was capable of doing it, though we knew it wasn't going to be easy because the senior competition is tougher than the juniors. I think Aya was so brave to go out there and compete against champions who are years older than herself," Nasser said, adding, "Before the World Cup she was ranked fourth in the seniors and was the top ranked athlete in juniors. Now, she is the new queen of the modern pentathlon. She is the top ranked player in all age categories for women, a historical and remarkable achievement because it is rare that you find an athlete in any sport who dominates all age groups." Nasser said Egypt should be proud of such an athlete. "Aya deserves a celebration in her honour. We, as a federation, and she as a great champion, expect the National Sports Council to take immediate action towards awarding her lucrative prize money in appreciation of her outstanding performance and results." Nasser said he was also very proud when officials of the international federation spoke about how Egypt did well in the recent modern pentathlon championships and world cups.
