Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy became the first African to win an Olympic medal in the modern pentathlon as he took silver behind winner Joe Choong of Great Britain.
Elgendy, 21, built on his successful showing at the World Pentathlon Championships in June, which Egypt hosted.
The 21-year-old won bronze two months ago but improved by one place after showing he will be a force to reckon with in the coming years.
In an event that comprises fencing, swimming, riding, shooting and running, Elgendy stormed up from 13th place to achieve his historic feat.
“I feel great about this victory,” the Egyptian said afterwards. “It was a dream and it came true. It was hard work and here I am with the silver medal at the Olympic Games. The medal is very heavy. I never expected it to be this heavy.”
Egypt’s mixed fortunes
Egypt – whose silver is their first since the 2012 Games – are guaranteed another silver at the very least, after Feryal Abdelaziz beat Kazakhstan’s Sofya Berultseva 5-4 in her kumite karate (+61kg) semi-final bout.
Abdelaziz will meet Azerbaijan’s Iryna Zaretska in the final on Saturday evening in Tokyo.
Egypt, who already have four bronze medals from these Olympics, missed out on a fifth after losing 33-31 to Spain in handball earlier on Saturday.
Egypt trailed by one goal with just 34 seconds left, only for Spain to score with seven seconds to play to finally settle a pulsating tie.
The first African team to have ever contested an Olympic handball semi-final, Egypt – who went behind in the opening stages – briefly led between the 7th and 11th minutes after which Spain never trailed again.
Yet the Europeans could never stretch clear as Egypt, who lost to France in the semi-finals, continually responded to going behind by repeatedly drawing level as they dug deep.
“I’m sure this is not the last time you will see us in the semi-final,” Egypt’s Yahia Omar had said prior to the game. “I feel that this will be our level for the next few years.
“We have a lot of young players who will show much more – I’m sure this is just the start for our team. We are so much bigger than just a national team. We’re friends outside and I really love (my team-mates) so much.”
Athletics
In the first track race of the day, Ethiopia’s Letensebet Gidey – the women’s 10,000m world record holder – had to settle for bronze despite leading for much of the race.
The 23-year-old, who set the world record two months ago, finished behind the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan with Bahrain’s Kalkidan Gezahegne taking silver.
Both Hassan, who also won the 5,000m and took bronze in the 1500m, and Gezahegne are Ethiopian-born athletes who have switched nationalities.
Gidey, who concentrated on just the 10,000m in Tokyo despite also being the world record holder over 5,000m, was caught some 100 metres before the finish as Hassan and Gezahegne both finished with superior power.
Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, 25, went one better than Gidey in the men’s 1500m, as he took silver behind Norwegian winner Jakob Ingebrigtsen and finished a fraction ahead of Britain’s Josh Kerr, who won bronze.
Cheruiyot, the 2019 world champion, had won his previous ten races against Ingebrigtsen but lost the eleventh – and the one that really mattered – as the European delivered on the biggest stage.
