Egypt did reasonably well in a modern pentathlon championship in Cairo. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab explains why A modern pentathlete championship saw Egypt perform admirably, and not without reason. For the first time in Egypt's history, a sport is being run by a board of directors consisting solely of ex-players of the sport they are supervising. And it has paid off. Ahmed Nasser, a former pentathlete champion in the mid- 80s, is chairman, not of officials per say, but of a group of friends and champions in the game who love the sport and have pledged to work for its welfare. Thus the competition enjoyed an ambiance of friendship. "We love the game and we want it to flourish in Egypt," Nasser, head of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation (EMPF), said. "We want the players to concentrate on playing without bothering themselves with other thoughts. We will do what's best for them because all of us [the board of directors] were players and we know and understand what they need." The board, selected by the Ministry of Youth two months ago, has concentrated almost solely on the players. And that was reflected in the games. The Egyptian pentathletes achieved better than average results in the 23rd Egypt International Pentathlon Championship for men and women and the fifth Open African Championship. Omnia Fakhri came second in the women's individual event. Emad El-Geziri came fifth in the men's event. Both Egyptians won the title of the African Champions since the tournament is the fifth Open African Championship as well. Fakhri's scores were by far the best Egyptian results, coming second with 5,424 points. "I'm really happy with my performance," Fakhri said, "I was more focussed and in good shape. I regained my strength in the game and the African title." Fakhri, 24, was the world champion in 2002. Aya Medani, last year's African champion and Athens qualifier, fell off her horse and came eighth with 5,060 points. She was cruising towards a respectable ranking as expected; she was sixth at shooting, second at fencing, sixth at swimming. Her fall plunged her to 15th. Though still in pain she managed to finish the cross-country event, coming sixth. Medani, 17, was the under-18 world junior champion in 2003. Evdokia Gretchichnikova from Latvia, 23, won the Egypt Open gathering 5,496 points. The victory was special for Gretchichnikova since it was her fourth participation in the competition. Andrienn Szathmary from Hungary came in third with a total of 5,280. In the men's event, Emad El-Geziri, Africa's best player in 2002 and an Olympic qualifier to Sydney, came fifth garnering 5,400 points. El-Geziri, 24, was fifth in the U-18 world championships in Germany in 1999. In 2002 he finished fourth in the U-21 world championships in Australia. "I was unlucky in horse riding and got average ranks in fencing, shooting and swimming but I managed to come first in running," El-Geziri said. Raouf Hossam Abdel-Raouf, 23, last year's African champion and Athens qualifier, came eighth with 5,220 points. Abdel-Raouf started the pentathlon at 12 with his twin brother Mohamed, who came 11th, and neighbour Ahmed Kotb. They were good swimmers and runners and wanted, said Abdel- Raouf, to play the "true Olympic sport that most accurately conveys the ideals of the Olympics." Mohamed Fakhri came 12th, Omar and Amr El-Geziri 14th and 15th. Riding has always been the Achilles' heel of Egyptian athletes. But its juniors have started to change the reputation. Mohamed Fakhri, 20, came fourth in the discipline; Amro El-Geziri, 19, came eighth; the youngest, Ibrahim Nofal, a promising rider, came 12th. German Eric Walter, 30, won the Egypt Open with 5,464 points. Sandris Sika, 30, from Latvia came second with a total of 5,440 points. Poland's Andrzej Stefanek, 33, scored 5,420 points and came third. In the women's relay, Hungary came first followed by Egypt's A and B teams. In the men's relay, the Germans came first; Poland second and Egypt's A team third. The team relay consists of eight teams of three athletes competing in a continuous relay completed in one day. Each team member fires 10 shots, swims 100m, fences one opposing team member, runs 1,500m and rides a horse over eight show jumps. "The Egyptian performance was great this year," coach Marek Makay said. "The men are close to world standards. The girls are young, serious and talented. Some have power and others have technique and are promising." Makay has been supervising the pentathlon in Egypt for 10 years and things have been "improving." The athletes were competing in actually two events: the African championship and the 23rd International Egyptian Modern Pentathlon championship. Only Egypt participated in the African event so it was combined with the international championship. Fifty-six pentathletes participated in the tournament representing 13 countries: Poland, Russia, the Ukraine, Hungary, Germany, Latvia, Greece, Canada, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Ireland and Egypt. Competitors earned points for their performances in each of the five disciplines: shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and cross-country running. A points system for each event is based on a standard performance earning 1,000 points. The winner is the pentathlete who has accumulated the most points after the five events and crosses the finish line first. The pentathlon's current one-day format (7am to 7pm) starts with firing 20 air pistol shots; fencing every other competitor with epee swords for one hit within a time limit of one minute; swimming 200m free-style; riding unfamiliar horses over show-jumping obstacles of up to 120cm in height and 150cm in spread, including one double and one triple, and running 3,000m over a cross-country or road course. The modern pentathlon is considered a complete sport. Swimming and running are the basic disciplines; shooting requires stress control and precise technique; fencing needs adaptability and intelligence and riding a horse, sometimes untried, requires a mix of adaptability, self-control and courage. In the ancient Olympic Games 2,700 years ago, the pentathlon produced what was recognised as the best and most complete athletes. The Greek philosopher Aristotle is quoted as saying, "The most perfect sportsmen are the pentathletes because in their bodies, strength and speed are combined in beautiful harmony." The modern pentathlon was the idea of Pierre de Coubertin and is the only sport created solely for the Olympic Games. Included in every Olympic Games since 1912, it was designed to capture the true spirit and essence of the Games and to promote the ideal of the complete and well-rounded athletic person that De Coubertin had in mind when he revived the Olympic Games. The pentathlon was until recently difficult to follow for spectators since each event was held in a different venue over three days. In Cairo, each event took place on one day, all in
