The national modern pentathlon team has gone 'home with the gold' after its best-ever performance at the World Championships ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The pentathlon team returned home on Sunday afternoon from the International Modern Pentathlon Federation (UIPM) 2024 World Championships in Zhengzhou, China, via Incheon International Airport.
South Korea won four gold, two silver, and one bronze medal at the event, which concluded the previous day, its best finish ever. The previous best result at a single World Championships was two gold, one silver and one bronze in 2022.
The gold medals came in the women's individual event (Seong Seung-min), men's relay (Jeon Woong-tae-Seo Chang-wan), women's relay (Kim Sun-woo-Seung-min), and mixed relay (Seo Chang-wan-Kim Sun-woo).
In particular, Korea won medals in every single event at the World Championships, including the first-ever women's individual podium finish, as well as the men's and women's individual, team, relay and mixed relay events.
With less than two months to go before the Paris Olympics, Korea's modern pentathlon team has raised hopes of a "back-to-back Olympic medal" with its best-ever performance at the World Championships, which was seen as a precursor to the Games.
In the sport, which combines fencing, swimming, equestrianism, athletics and shooting in a single athlete, South Korea is aiming for a podium finish in Paris after Jeon Woong-tae (Gwangju Metropolitan Government) won the 토토사이트 country's first Olympic medal (bronze) at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Unlike the World Championships, the Olympic modern pentathlon is a men's and women's event, with each country able to field two male and two female athletes.
Jeon Woong-tae and Seo Chang-wan (Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps), the men's team, and Seong Seung-min (Korea Gymnastics Federation) and Kim Sun-woo (Gyeonggi Provincial Office), the women's team, will head to Paris side by side.
Jeon Woong-tae and Kim Sun-woo qualified for the World Championships with individual medals at last year's Asian Games in Hangzhou (Jeon won gold and Kim won silver), while Seong Seung-min won the individual title at the World Championships and Seo Chang-wan qualified through the world rankings on the 17th day after the World Championships.
"It's meaningful to win a gold medal at the World Championships after only winning a silver medal at the World Cup this season, and it's even more unforgettable to have the title of 'first Korean female athlete' in front of it," said Seong. "As I came back with confidence, I will prepare even harder and go out with the idea of making new history at the Olympics."
"Every time I won a medal, I thought, 'This is what happens,' and I tried harder, which led to a good result," said Jeon Woong-tae. It was a happy meet for me as a Korean modern pentathlete," said Jeon. "I've been focusing on the Olympic Games this season, and it's been going well so far. I'm looking forward to showing my best in Paris."
After a day of rest, the team will continue their Olympic preparation at the National Armed Forces Sports Center in Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk.
