For the second time in a month, Egypt's Aya Medani won a gold medal, this time at the World Modern Pentathlon Youth Championship. Medani's second victory came earlier this week in Italy, venue of the three-day event. Her first gold medal came at the World Juniors Championship two weeks ago in China. More than 100 male and female athletes representing 42 nations took part in the event. Medani also led teammates Yasmine Khaled and Reem El-Sayed to the silver medal at the women's team event. Medani overpowered 47 pentathletes with 4,572 points to win the gold medal ahead of runner-up Lithuania's Donata Rimsaite and Hungary's Zsofia Bartalis. Rimsaite scored 4,476 to claim the silver medal while Bartalis scored 4,416 to win the bronze. The men's team comprising Ibrahim Nofel, Karim El-Lebidi, Mahmoud El-Naggar and the defending champion Yasser Hefni failed to collect any medals. Hefni was accidentally injured before the event and was therefore denied the chance of defending his title. Among the 56 athletes, Nofel was 34 while El-Naggar and El-Lebidi came in 50th and 51st places respectively. The 17-year-old Medani is now Egypt's hope for another gold medal at the upcoming World Seniors Championship in Cairo next month. The five-day tournament will take place at Al-Shams Club in Heliopolis and is organised by the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon championship. Medani was received at the airport on Saturday by president of the National Sports Council Hassan Sakr and the president of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation Ahmed Nasser. Sakr, Egypt's top sports official, received the delegation who had been participating in the championships in China and Italy. He congratulated them on their success which has placed Egypt among the leading nations in the sport. Sakr had promised the athletes valuable prize money as a reward for their achievements. The money might increase if the World Seniors Championship in Cairo is won. Medani was accompanied by her women teammates Yasmine Khaled and Reem El-Sayed who won the bronze medal in China. Nasser accompanied the champions in both tournaments, but had to return earlier in order to supervise the final preparations for the senior event, being the organiser. "I'm happy with Medani's victories and her teammates as well. It was a tough competition and to snatch victory from the world's leading countries in the sport makes our victory more precious. 'The girls have achieved remarkable results which will lead Egypt to good positions at the World Championship here in Cairo." "The federation has been working hard for the past months in order to enable the athletes to train hard. We have followed a strict policy in order to deliver international champions in the sport. The federation trained the athletes in Europe and put them in international championships to give them experience. I guess the federation is gaining its fruits now with all these gold, silver and bronze medals." Nasser added that the national team will undergo an intensive training camp in preparation for the World Seniors Championship which will be held under the auspices of President Hosni Mubarak.
