Egypt’s Ahmed Elgendy becomes first athlete from Africa to win Olympic modern pentathlon gold

Ahmed Elgendy of Egypt became the first athlete from Africa to win the Olympic gold medal in modern pentathlon at the Paris Olympic games this weekend.

Elgendy had been dealing with shoulder injuries since he won the silver medal in Tokyo three years ago. He said he had some nerves after nearly falling from his horse in Friday’s semifinals but was faultless in the show jumping in the final.

He told AP: “I was in doubt and under stress, under pressure; we were planning for it after yesterday’s riding and we corrected the mistakes.”  Elgendy had a 17-second head start for the laser run — the final event combining distance running and shooting — after his earlier strong showings in the horse-riding, fencing and swimming events.