Ahmed Elgendy of Egypt first athlete from Africa to win Olympic modern pentathlon gold
The Peninsula
Versailles, France:Ahmed Elgendy of Egypt became the first athlete from Africa to win the Olympic gold medal in modern pentathlon at the Paris Games o...
Versailles, France: Ahmed Elgendy of Egypt became the first athlete from Africa to win the Olympic gold medal in modern pentathlon at the Paris Games on Saturday.
Elgendy had dealt with shoulder injuries since he won the silver medal in Tokyo three years ago. He said he had some nerves after nearly falling from his horse in Friday's semifinals but was faultless in the show jumping in the final.
"I was in doubt and under stress, under pressure,” Elgendy said. "We were planning for it after yesterday's riding and we corrected the mistakes.”
Elgendy had a 17-second head start for the laser run - the final event combining distance running and shooting - after his earlier strong showings in the horse-riding, fencing and swimming events.
Elgendy's lead was never seriously threatened on the laser run, where he won by 13 seconds over Taishu Sato of Japan. Giorgio Malan of Italy captured the bronze. Elgendy's total score of 1,555 points was a world record.
