Beijing, September 16 - After a massive day of competition, Egypt's Aya Medany won the title of the "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final. With less than a year to go until the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Medany put on a fantastic display, across all five disciplines, and she was rewarded with a qualification position for next year's Olympics. She finished the day with 5536 points, just eight points ahead of second-placed Elen Rublevska (LAT).

It was an emotional path to the top for Medany who started the day with a 182 (1120 points) in the shooting to be ranked ninth. Nineteen wins from 35 bouts in the fencing helped her maintain ranking and as the competitors headed to the Yingtung Natatorium for the swimming she was still sitting in ninth position. A quick swim of 2:16.35 placed Medany in a great position ahead of the final two disciplines at the Olympic Sports Center stadium. The riding saw the new World Cup champion scored a further 1116 points and with just the final event, the running, to go she was ready to attack in third position. She started the run with a handicap of nine seconds and immediately set the pace.

Rublevska will be reflecting that today may have been the one that got away after entering the run ranked fourth. But solid performances all day will give her plenty of encouragement and reassurance that she will be competitive in Beijing next year. Italy's Sara Bertoli was impressive to take the bronze medal and, while out of the medals, Lada Jienbalanova (KAZ) and Russia's Tatiana Mouratova should be reasonably happy with their performances and fourth and fifth positions.

There were steady hands and cool heads as competition kicked off at the Fencing Hall. Germany's Lena Schoneborn shot her way to the top of the leader board with a score of 188 for 1192 points in the shooting. Mouratova and Belarus's Hanna Arkhipenka put in solid performances to pick up 1156 and 1144 points respectively before heading into the fencing competition. Rublevska was a stand-out in the fencing, recording 25 wins from 35 bouts. Katherine Linvigston (GBR) was close behind on 24 wins and Poland's Edita Maloszyc was successful in 23. But it was Rublevska who was the most consistent over the opening two disciplines and she led the competition with 2132 points ahead of Great Britain's Mhairi Spence and Livingston. Russia's Evdokia Gretchichnikova pulled out of the event after the fencing.

At the Yingtung Natatorium all eyes were on USA's swimming sensation Sheila Taormina. After the four heats Taormina was the fastest, finishing the 200m in 2:07.54. France's Amelie Caze and China's Xiu Xiu helped their point’s scores substantially finishing in 2:14.07 and 2:15.58 respectively. With more that half the diciplines completed Caze stood atop of the leader's board with an accumulative 3324 points. But Spence (3292 points) and Rublevska (3284 points) were well-placed with two disciplines remaining.

The riding and running disciplines can make or break a pentathlete's chances in a competition and, in a close-encounter like today’s, they are vital to a competitor's success. The outdoor arena at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium played host to both disciplines and heading into the riding some nerves were beginning to show on the faces of the competitors. The riding is often the most challenging discipline and Hungary's Vivien Mathe did well to record a perfect score. Bertoli and Pland's Edita Maloszyc both recorded scores of 1172. The results of this discipline greatly influenced the standings heading into the handicapped 3000m run. With a meager six second start Caze was first off the blocks as the highest point-scorer (4412 points) after four disciplines. She was followed by Spence and Medany who entered the final discipline with 4388 and 4376 points respectively. Caze lost her lead within one lap from the start. Bertoli made great inroads to be just off the leading pace at the 1500m mark but it was Spence, Medany and Rublevska who were the frontrunners. Medany led out Rublevska and Bertoli with one lap to go and with 200m she streaked ahead and sprinted first across the line for the title. Caze scraped home in eighth position. The best time in the run was captured by Victoriia Tereshuk (UKR) at 9:36.18. Her and her fellow-competitors will have to improve substantially next year if they are to challenge the Olympic and World "Best Performance" running times of 08:29.00 and 09:10.69.

Medany's performance was not enough to challenge the nearly five-year old modern pentathlon overall total points "World Best Performance" of 5720 (held by Great Britain's Georgina Harland) but if she continues to put in performances like today's then it mightn't be long before she takes this record for her own. This, and the opportunity to secure Olympic gold, are now real possibilities for the latest modern pentathlon World Cup champion from Egypt.

On the local front, Chinese competitors, Liu Zhou (35th) and Xiu Xiu (19th), gave the local crowd plenty to cheer about during the day, the air scoring 4068 and 5264 points respectively.

Final standings:

1. Aya Medany (EGY)
2. Elen Rublevska (LAT)
3. Sara Bertoli (ITA)
4. Lada Jienbalanova (KAZ)
5. Tatiana Mouratova (RUS)