UIPM 2025 Pentathlon Junior World Championships: Take Five

Around 200 athletes from 33 countries are currently assembling in the Pentathlon heartland of Szekesfehervar, Hungary for the annual gathering of the world’s best Under 22s.

Junior v Senior: spot the difference

Is the gap between Senior and Junior narrowing because of the new format? The prominence of 14-year-old Farida Khalil of Egypt (now ranked No.4 in the world) in elite Pentathlon this season suggests that anything is possible even for youths who have not collected years of experience competing against adults.

That means competition is likely to be hotter than ever in the Junior World Championships, with several participating athletes having demonstrated that they can cut it at the highest level. Apart from Khalil (EGY), Coline Flavin of France and Anastasiya Malashenoka (AIN) have 2025 Pentathlon World Cup medals to their names.

It’s not just the Obstacle effect, either. There are Paris 2024 Olympians – masters of the old format – such as Lucie Hlavackova of Czechia and Malak Ismail (EGY) in the field, while Blanka Bauer of Hungary has been proving her ability at senior level for several seasons.

Moutaz motoring  

Can anyone stop Moutaz Mohamed (EGY) in the Men’s Individual?

On his day, the multiple Pentathlon World Cup medallist is unstoppable and he set a new Overall world record on the way to gold in Budapest (HUN) in April.

With Obstacle specialists within his own team (Moustafa Abouamer, for example) and from other countries such as Jonas Kalaminskas of Lithuania, James Hulme of Great Britain and Akim Gnedtchik (AIN), it might hinge on how the main contenders on the Obstacle course during the Final. If of course they get that far.

Family ties

Pentathlon is a family sport, with multiple examples of siblings competing alongside and often against each other – and in some cases there are brother and sister doubles such as Florian and Stefan Barenthaler of Austria taking part here.

Nowhere is the internal rivalry more intense than in the Jurt household, where twins Florina and Katharina will take another shot at turning their potential into prizes in individual competition, having won the Women’s Relay at this level two years ago.

Florina was in a good position recently in Pentathlon World Cup Pazardzhik, only for her elder sister and Olympic Laser Run world record-holder Anna to surge past her. Will we see cheers replacing tears here in Hungary?

Rise of the junior Juniors

Khalil (EGY) is not the only fresh-faced athlete taking on people who are considerably older than her. Mehriniso Kahramaonova of Uzbekistan and Wakana Uchiyama of Japan recently turned 15, while five Kuwait team members were born in the 2010s. Aged 12, Yu-en Lee is the youngest of a very youthful Chinese Taipei team. The future is here!

A global gathering

This is the stage of the season where more and more countries come into the mix. With teams from Venezuela, Malaysia, Kuwait and Bangladesh alongside more established nations from Europe, the Americas and Asia, there is a trans-continental feel to this competition with all six UIPM Confederations represented.