Paris 2024 Olympics: Egypt’s Elgendy wins modern pentathlon with new world record

Elgendy, silver medallist in Tokyo three years ago, was one of six competitors to have a clear round in the show jumping -- a big step up from Friday’s semi-final where he was almost thrown from his horse and incurred multiple penalties.

Gold medalist Ahmed Elgendy of Team Egypt (C), Silver medalist Taishu Sato of Team Japan (L) and Bronze medalist Giorgio Malan of Team Italy (R) on the podium. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Ahmed Elgendy took Egypt’s first gold medal of the Paris 2024 Olympics when he won the men’s Modern Pentathlon with a world record 1,555 points on Saturday.

Japan’s Taishu Sato took the silver and Italy’s Giorgio Malan the bronze.

Elgendy, silver medallist in Tokyo three years ago, was one of six competitors to have a clear round in the show jumping -- a big step up from Friday’s semi-final where he was almost thrown from his horse and incurred multiple penalties.

That left the Egyptian clear going into the fencing bonus round, where he failed to add to his tally but stayed 13 points ahead of Japan’s Taishu Sato.

That advantage expanded to 17 points after the swimming, with Switzerland’s Alexandre Dallenbach becoming the closest rival and Sato dropping down to fourth.

Elgendy then started the laser run with a commanding advantage that he never looked like giving up.

Britain’s reigning Olympic champion Joe Choong was the fastest in the swimming but paid the price for a poor performance in Thursday’s fencing ranking round and finished ninth overall.