As the final day approached, the Hungarian medals really started to pour in.Continue reading
At a press conference in Budapest on Tuesday, Gábor Balogh, President of the Hungarian Modern Pentathlon Federation (MÖSZ), called 2024 the year of Hungarian pentathlon, highlighting Michelle Gulyás’ victory on the final day of the Paris Olympic Games on Sunday.
He also praised the performance of Blanka Guzi, who started from 17th place in the final of the combined event and made a significant step forward to finish fourth. He praised Csaba Bőhm and Balazs Szép, who did well in the French capital, although they did not achieve their triumphs this year. The former finished 13th and the latter 10th in the men’s race at the Olympics.
“It can be said that the Hungarian pentathlon will never have such a successful year as 2024,” pointed out the head of the sport. He added that
Michelle Gulyás “brought the sport’s 120 years of equestrian history to a fitting close, after the final farewell to equestrian events in Paris, which will be replaced by obstacle course racing in the future. For that reason alone, no one can now beat Gulyás’ world record of 1,461 points, which earned her the Olympic gold medal.”
Michelle Gulyás at the Paris Olympics. Photo: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt
The president also stressed that life does not stop, and the federation will start building the new sport with a professional concept, and will begin the transition to the new obstacle course racing from September.
After Michelle Gulyás’s victory on Sunday, Agriculture Minister István Nagy expressed his disappointment in a Facebook post that riding in the pentathlon would be discontinued.
Anyone who has seen the harmony between human and horse, the beauty, the noble elegance, knows that nothing can replace it. The decision of the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) to remove the horse competition from the sport’s program is deeply shocking, and triggered a legitimate professional and moral protest,”
he wrote.
He continued: “The pentathlon, which consists of shooting, swimming, fencing, running and horse riding, has been on the program of the Olympic Games since the 1912 Olympics, and the sports have never been changed. It was the riding that put the crown on the pentathlon: riding the horse was the most exciting and unpredictable event in the sport of pentathlon, where the harmonious cooperation of horse and human, creating value and measurable results, was demonstrated.”
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt