ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's two-pentathlete team won on Sunday evening the mixed relay gold medal at the 2022 Pentathlon World Championships, marking the conclusion of the eight-day competitions held by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria.
Kim Sun-woo and Jun Woong-tae became the mixed relay world champions after the pair staged an outstanding performance in horse riding and fencing, and ranked fourth of the 19 contesting teams in swimming, behind their counterparts of France, Britain and Hungary.
In the laser run, the final race that combines both running and shooting, Kim and Jun harmoniously demonstrated a huge lead and dominated the race until the final round, claiming the world mixed relay title in pentathlon.
Kim Sung-jin, one of the coaches of South Korea, said that he was very happy that his team will return home with the mixed relay gold medal.
The victory came a few days after South Korea won the men's relay gold medal and the women's relay bronze in the same championships.
"We are very happy with the medals we achieved here. Pentathlon is various individual games, but team spirit is very important. This result came after 300 days of hard training," the South Korean coach told Xinhua.
The 19-team mixed relay silver medal was won by Britain's Jessica Varley and Joseph Choong, who was crowned the 2022 pentathlon world champion a day ago.
"It was a bit of a struggle this morning as I was very tired after yesterday, but I just really enjoyed competing again. I definitely came here aiming to win, and just being able to do the relay as well was nice," Choong, also Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, told Xinhua on Sunday.
The 2022 Pentathlon World Championships was surely a fortunate "bronze" event for Turkiye and its pentathlete Ilke Ozyuksel, who stood on the winner podium twice in two days.
Ozyuksel, who won the bronze medal in the women's final on Saturday, got with her teammate Bugra Unal the bronze medal for Turkiye in the mixed relay competitions on Sunday.
"I am so honored. It was an exhausting and stressful day and the competitions were so tough, but in the end, I am so happy with the medals; I just hope I will change their colors in the coming championships," the Turkish athlete told Xinhua with a smile.
"Pentathlon now is getting more popular in Turkiye and we are trying to be role models for Turkish young athletes," Ozyuksel added.
Held from July 24 to 31, the Pentathlon World Championships Alexandria 2022 gathered dozens of male and female athletes from more than 40 countries and regions.
While Britain's Choong became world champion after a fierce men's final on Saturday, Egypt's Mohamed El-Gendy brought the host nation the silver medal and Hungary's Szep Balazs got the bronze.
Meanwhile, Italy's Elena Micheli became the female world champion after winning the gold medal in the women's final, while Hungary's Michelle Gulyas earned the silver medal and Turkiye's Ozyuksel won the bronze. ■
