Gold and Silver Medals at the Budapest Pentathlon World Cup

Michelle Gulyás won the gold medal at the Pentathlon World Cup in Budapest on Saturday with a balanced, high class performance. After her victory, Hungarian fans also had something to cheer about in the men’s field, as Mihály Koleszár won the silver medal.

There were a significant number of Hungarians in the women’s final, making up almost a third of the 18-strong field. Blanka Bauer came in fifth, Blanka Guzi eighth, Noémi Eszes 12th, Emma Mészáros 13th, and Olympic champion Michelle Gulyás finished with a huge victory, putting in a superb performance throughout the whole competition.

The goal was to enjoy the competition and the crowd gave me great strength, that is why I could give my best in every event,”

said Gulyás after the results announcement.

Standing on the podium, she was in tears, explaining to MTI that this was her first gold medal since the Olympics, and she reflected on her victory in Paris. “That was [the] last time the anthem was played for me. Since then, every time I hear it, I get emotional, even when I am sitting in the car,” she said.

The women’s field featured 70 pentathletes, with qualifying on Tuesday taking place in two groups of 35-35 and the top 18 places in each group qualifying. There were seven Hungarian entrants, six of whom progressed. The semi-finalists competed in the ranking competition on Wednesday, and the top nine out of the two groups of 18 from Thursday’s semi-final progressed to the final.

Mihály Koleszár, who finished second at this year’s first World Cup in Cairo in February, celebrated another silver medal this weekend. “I did my best in every event, of course I am satisfied. It was a high quality competition, I was very tired. That is the wonderful thing about it, you never know what the final result would be until the last minute.

I am performance-oriented, therefore it was important for me what I could achieve in each event. The fact that it was silver in the end is not the icing on the cake, it is the cherry on top,”

he told MTI.

The men’s qualification round on Wednesday was held in three groups of 32 athletes, with the top 12 places in each group qualifying. There were six Hungarian entrants, three of whom progressed directly, but due to the number of countries headcount limit, four Hungarian pentathletes were allowed to compete in the second stage, with Koleszár alone making the last 18.

The international field will meet in the third round of the World Cup in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria, between May 7-11. The finals will take place in Alexandria on July 4-6. The individual and team events at the adult World Championships will be held in Druskininkai, Lithuania at the end of August, while the European Championships will be held in Madrid during the last week of July.

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Hegedüs Róbert