The reigning bronze medalist Jun Woong-tae ranked fourth after the opening fencing event of the modern pentathlon at the Paris Olympics on Thursday. Jun went 22-13 in his 35 fencing matches in the men's ranking round and earned 235 points to rank fourth out of 36 athletes at North Paris Arena in the French capital. A win-loss record of 25-10 is worth 250 points. Athletes earn five points for each additional victory and lose five points for each additional defeat beyond the 10th. Jun won bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics to become the first South Korean pentathlete to reach an Olympic podium. He was in ninth place after the fencing ranking round then. The men's competition will continue Friday with the semifinals featuring swimming, riding show jumping, laser run, which combines running and shooting, and fencing's bonus round, an elimination tournament featuring 30-second bouts, with athletes seeded by results of the ranking round. Medals will be awarded Saturday, with the finishing positions in the laser run determining medalists. The one other South Korean in action, Seo Chang-wan, ranked 10th with a 20-15 record. Ahmed Elgendy of Egypt, the 2021 silver medalist, and Oleksandr Tovkai of Ukraine each went 24-11 for 245 points. The defending champion from Britain, Joseph Choong, ranked 29th after winning only 14 of his 35 matches. Jun started out slowly but put together a few wins in a row to crack the top five. "I thought I was in trouble early. Then I decided to start moving my legs more, instead of just relying on my hands," Jun said. "Chang-wan also struggled early but we kept pushing each other." Jun said he wanted to ride the positive momentum set by the rest of the South Korean delegation, with the country having far exceeded its original medal target with 12 gold medals through Wednesday. He also wanted to savor the experience of competing at an Olympic Games. "This will be the only Olympics at this particular place, and so I tried to enjoy it as much as I could," Jun said. "I told Chang-wan, ' We'll never be back in Paris for another Olympics. You should try to have fun.'" But Seo said he felt too much pressure to be enjoying himself. "I figured the Olympics wouldn't be that much different from other competitions," Seo said. "But once I got here, I was overwhelmed." Seo said he is confident in swimming and running, and will have to be sharp with show jumping and shooting. "Given what my current score is, I have a shot at a medal," Seo said. "I will do my best until the end." In the women's fencing ranking round held later in the day, Seong Seung-min, the reigning world champion, went 20-15 for 225 points to rank eighth, while her teammate Kim Sun-woo finished 11th at 19-16, good for 220 points. Elodie Clouvel of France, the 2016 silver medalist, topped the ranking round with 260 points on a 27-8 record. The defending champion from Britain, Kate French, was third with 240 points after going 23-12. The women's semifinals will be Saturday, and their medals will be handed out Sunday, the final d ay of the Olympics. Seong arrived in Paris as a medal contender after capturing her first career world title in June. The 21-year-old is No. 1 in the International Modern Pentathlon Union's world rankings. Seong said afterward her No. 1 ranking position hasn't added any pressure. "I haven't changed just because I did well in that one competition," Seong said. "My primary goal is to reach the final first. I am looking forward to the swimming and laser run." Kim, competing in her third Olympics, said she was not all that pleased with her fencing performance. She reeled off six straight wins early before falling back into the pack. "Fencing isn't everything here. I will try to do better in the remaining events," Kim said. "I think it will come down to show jumping. I have to try to execute what I've practiced so far." Source: Yonhap News Agency
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