Teenager Shugarov Claims Gold in Pentathlon World Cup Event
OutdoorHub 04.26.12
Nineteen-year-old Ilya Shugarov (RUS) has given the Rostov crowd a home victory to celebrate in the Men’s Final of Modern Pentathlon World Cup #4.
Victory never looked in doubt for the teenager, who began the combined event with a 13 second lead. Shugarov had set the tone for the day with a spell-binding performance in the fencing this morning, outwitting far more experienced opponents to pick up 28 victories.
Despite this being his first outing in a World Cup event due to his country that has a surplus of top-class talent, Shugarov had the confidence to hold his arms aloft as he left his shooting bay for the last time. He becomes the third Russian to win a World Cup event this year.
“I feel great, he said. “This is really amazing. I had no nerves going into the combined.”
Stanislau Zhurauliou (BLR) finished second to win his first ever World Cup medal, but never troubled the leader.
Earlier a huge roar went up from the partisan home crowd as local hero Andrei Moiseev set off for the combined in 4th place. But that was as good as it good for the double Olympic Champion who finished 12th. Amro El Geziry (EGY) also had an indifferent combined after setting off in 3rd. He crossed the line one place ahead of Moiseev.
Bronze went to Christopher Patte (FRA), who started the combined 47 seconds off the pace but fought his way through the pack. An exhausted Patte was daring to dream of the Olympics afterwards.
Patte’s last medal came way back in 2009. “This is my best result for some time,” he said. “Maybe this can help me get to the Olympics Games. I can hardly talk about that because it makes me feel so emotional.
“With 47 seconds, I didn’t think about the others, only my race.”
As Shugarov considered his achievement, he credited his silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games with helping him to make the step up to senior success: “It gave me belief that I can compete at the senior level. The big difference here is the standard. It is more difficult but because I am young I don’t think about it.”
