Lim Tae-gyung wins gold at UIPM 2024 U19 Pentathlon

Rising modern pentathlon star Lim Tae-gyung won gold in the men's individual event at the UIPM 2024 Pentathlon U19 World Championships. Lim totaled 1,521 points in the final round of the competition in Druskininkai, Lithuania, on Saturday, edging out Italy's Agavriloaie Denis, who scored 1,515 points, by six points.

The 17-year-old athlete has become the first Korean athlete to win an individual gold medal at a world championship since modern pentathlon replaced equestrian show jumping with obstacle courses. Equestrian was dropped from the modern pentathlon after last month's Paris Games amid repeated controversy over the fairness of randomly assigning horses. In age-group competitions, horses were replaced by obstacle courses last year.

Lim finished seventh in fencing, 22nd in the obstacle course, and 13th in swimming on the day, appearing out of medal contention. However, he turned things around in the final laser run (athletics + shooting), where he started in fifth place. “In fencing, which was relatively weak for me, I was able to maintain a top position thanks to the coaches' guidance,” Lim said. “My shooting went well in the laser run, and I think that's why I achieved a good result.” Lim also won a silver medal in the team event, which is ranked by the combined scores of the top three players per country, along with Heo Min-joon, who finished ninth, and Kim Min-jae, who placed 14th.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com