Gold medalist Michelle Gulyas (C) of Hungary, silver medalist Elodie Clouvel (L) of France and bronze medalist Seong Seungmin of South Korea attend the awarding ceremony after the women's individual final of modern pentathlon at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Versailles, France, on Aug. 11, 2024. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
VERSAILLES, France, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Hungary's Michelle Gulyas captured the gold medal in the women's modern pentathlon on Sunday, setting a new world record with an overall score of 1,461 points on the final day of the Paris Olympics.
Gulyas's outstanding performance led her to the top of the podium, ahead of France's Elodie Clouvel (1452), who took silver, and South Korea's Seong Seung-min (1441), who secured the bronze.
China's Zhang Mingyu, a three-time Asian Games gold medalist, finished in 14th place with a total score of 1,386 points.
Despite the result, the 22-year-old athlete said she had "no regrets" about her Olympic journey. "I'm happy to have reached the final and to compete on this stage," Zhang remarked after the competition. "Although my final score was far from the leaders, this experience is invaluable."
Sunday's modern pentathlon finals required competitors to complete four events - equestrian, fencing, swimming and laser run, which combines running and shooting - within 90 minutes. Their performances in the first three events dictated their start times for the laser run, with lower-scoring athletes starting later.
Following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the equestrian competition will be replaced by obstacle racing. This major change comes after an incident at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, where a German coach struck a horse that refused to jump a fence, sparking widespread criticism.
Zhang commented on the upcoming changes, stating her intent to adapt. "I haven't practiced obstacle racing before, but I will focus on it in the next Olympic cycle and aim to compete on the international stage," she said. ■
