Now it’s Gold Medals and Multi-Medals… New Mission for Korean Modern Pentathlon

History of 'first ever medal' in Tokyo… Expectations are high for both men and women ahead of Paris.

Modern pentathlon, which requires one athlete to compete in fencing, swimming, horseback riding, and laser run (track and field + shooting), is called a "true Olympic sport" and was named a "medal event" for South Korea at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics held three years ago.

In the men's event, Jeon Woong-tae (Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall) won a bronze medal, giving South Korea, which has participated in the Olympic modern pentathlon since the 1964 Tokyo Games, its first medal ever.

Modern pentathlon, which is said to have been created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, modeled after a young French mounted officer in the 19th century, has been dominated by Europe, as befitting its origins. 안전한 파워볼사이트

Hungary (9 golds, 8 silvers, 6 bronzes) and Sweden (9 golds, 7 silvers, 5 bronzes) have achieved the best results in past Olympics, and at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the UK swept the men's and women's gold medals.

In Asia, Jeon Woong-tae became the second ever Olympic modern pentathlon medalist, following Cao Zhongrong (China) who won a silver medal in the men's event at the 2012 London Games.

Since then, Korea's modern pentathlon has achieved notable results on the international stage, with Jeon Woong-tae winning two gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, and a new challenge is ahead at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In addition to changing the 'medal color', it is the first 'multiple medal' in a single Olympics.

Not satisfied with the first bronze medal in Tokyo, they are secretly hoping to win the first ever gold medal and several more medals.

In particular, the national team, which has had evenly distributed winners at the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM) World Cup this season, achieved its best-ever performance with 4 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal at the World Championships last month, which has greatly boosted its confidence ahead of the Olympics.

Rookie Sung Seung-min (Korea National Sport University), born in 2003, decorated the first-ever gold medal in the women's individual event at the World Championships in the modern pentathlon for Korea, and Jeon Woong-tae showed his 'ace' form by winning the bronze medal in the individual event for the first time in 5 years.

Jeon Woong-tae and Seo Chang-wan (Armed Forces Athletic Corps) combined to win gold medals in the men's relay, and Sung Seung-min and Kim Seon-woo (Gyeonggi Provincial Office) combined to win gold medals in the women's relay, making it the first-ever male and female relay teams to win gold medals together.

Kim Seon-woo and Seo Chang-wan also won the mixed relay, and in the team event, both the men's and women's teams took silver medals, achieving the first-ever 'all-event medal'.

In the Olympic modern pentathlon, two male and two female athletes from each country can compete, and Jeon Woong-tae, Seo Chang-wan, Sung Seung-min, and Kim Sun-woo, who performed well in the World Championships, are heading to Paris together.

Jeon Woong-tae and Kim Sun-woo secured their tickets to Paris by winning the individual event at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, Sung Seung-min by winning the World Championships this year, and Seo Chang-wan through the world rankings calculated up to the World Championships.

In the Olympic modern pentathlon, there are no team events or relays, only the men's and women's individual events are held, so Jeon Woong-tae, Seo Chang-wan, Sung Seung-min, and Kim Sun-woo will have to compete in a 'friendly competition' when they enter their own events, but there is a good chance that they all 'place together'.

With Hungary, Egypt, and the UK considered as major competitors, the fencing ranking round, in which all 36 athletes from the men's and women's divisions take turns competing in épee once, is considered the start of the competition and the key to its success or failure.

Swimming is a 200m race, and horseback riding is an obstacle race.

In the last laser run, which combines track and field and shooting, each athlete runs 3,200m with a different starting time depending on the results of the previous events.

Since Baron de Coubertin, who created the event, is French, France is practically the 'dominant country' of modern pentathlon, so this Paris Olympics is a very meaningful event for the athletes participating.

In particular, the games, except for the fencing ranking round scheduled for the first day of the schedule, August 8 (local time), will be held at the Palace of Versailles, a world-famous landmark representing France, which is expected to add to the 'pleasure of watching'.

The fact that horseback riding, which was controversial in terms of fairness and animal abuse at the Tokyo Olympics, will disappear after this competition and be replaced by an obstacle race that involves quickly passing through various obstacles, is also special in that this will be the last Olympic event to include horseback riding.

After the fencing ranking round, the men's semifinals will be held on August 9, the men's finals and women's semifinals on the 10th, and the women's finals on the 11th.