Tuesday March 19th, 2024
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Egyptian Pentathlete Salma Abdelmaksoud Wins Gold at Youth Olympic Games

It's her first ever win.

Staff Writer

Salma Abdelmaksoud brings home the gold medal from the Women’s Modern Pentathlon and Cross Country in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), currently being held in Buenos Aires.

The modern pentathlon at the Buenos Aires 2018 YOG is a four-discipline competition that combines fencing, swimming, running, and shooting.

She completed the swim with a time of 2:13:87 for a total of 283 points, and racked 228 points in the fencing bonus round. But what secured her gold medal was her performance in the laser run.

Abdelmaksoud timed in at 12:24:86, 5.9 seconds faster than the closest of her adversaries- earning her 556 points and winning the event.

“I’m so happy I won the gold because it’s the first achievement in my whole life,” the 18-year-old said in an interview that was published on the Olympics' official website.

“When I crossed the finish line I just thought that I achieved my dream. I took in my hands the finish line tape and I wanted to carry it home with me. Then I started to cry because I remembered all my efforts and hardship to train, the efforts and the support from my mother and father- so many tears. I still can’t believe what I’ve done.