This year’s most powerful world modern pentathlon youth event began with the boys’ (U17) relay competition. After fencing, the Germans, who were fourth, won the obstacle course, finished eighth in swimming, and started the running and shooting event from first place. Although the Italians briefly took the lead, the Germans regained it and won the first championship medal (1378 points). Silver medals were won by Italians Riccardo Spagnoli and Tommaso Tuccimei (1373 pts), and bronze by Korean representatives Hyunkyu Shinas and Dongwon Kimas (1350 pts).
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M. Lagunavičius and D. Baltrūnas, representing the Lithuanian national team, were 13th in fencing, second in the obstacle course, 10th in swimming, and 12th in running and shooting. The Lithuanians, who took 10th place (1285 pts) in the final standings, debuted in this age group’s world championship, and fourteen-year-old D. Baltrūnas competed against much older opponents.
“We are happy with the experience gained, and we need to accumulate as much of it as possible. We rate our performance as average. It was difficult to get into fencing at the beginning, but the obstacle course was excellent. We hope to reach the final in individual competitions and take a high place in the team standings,” said the members of the Lithuanian national team after the finish.
On the first day of the championship, women’s (U22) qualification competitions also took place. In two groups, 68 athletes competed for a place in the semifinals – 18 strongest pentathletes from each group will continue the fight on Saturday. Out of seven Lithuanian representatives, Gustė Pečiulytė, who took 7th place in qualification Group A, and Martina Rutkauskaitė, who finished 12th, advanced to the semifinals.
After the competitions, the official opening ceremony took place at President Valdas Adamkus Athletics Arena. After the solemn parade of participants, Kaunas City Vice-Mayor Mantas Jurgutis and President of the Lithuanian Modern Pentathlon Justinas Kinderis delivered welcoming speeches. The orchestra created an uplifting atmosphere, followed by a joint team photo session, after which everyone enjoyed ice cream.
Tomorrow, the championship will feature girls’ (U17) relay and boys’ (U22) qualification competitions.
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