Laser Run World Championships

The UIPM 2023 Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships kicked off today with athletes competing across 12 Women’s Individual Laser Run categories.

In mostly overcast conditions in Bath (GBR), 21-year-old Elzbieta Adomaityte of Lithuania claimed the coveted title of senior world champion after comfortably winning gold ahead of silver medallist Devan Wiebe of Canada and Alexandra Bousfield of Great Britain, who claimed bronze.
Team USA was represented by Heidi Hendrick and Mary Zoldak who both had strong qualifying rounds finishing 9th and 11th respectively.  Heidi advanced to the finals finishing 16th overall and gaining valuable experience on this challenging course for next weeks Pentathlon World Championships.

Adomaityte (LTU), who won bronze at the UIPM 2022 Pentathlon Junior World Championships, proved once again that she is following in the footsteps of two of the best Laser Runners of all time, team-mates Laura Asadauskaite and Gintare Venckauskaite.

The 12 individual golds were split between six countries on the opening day, with Germany claiming four, Egypt three and the host nation taking two. Athletes from Latvia and South Africa also became individual world champions on a day of thrilling racing.

There was an eye-catching victory in the Junior Final for Esther Fernandez Donda (GER), while Mika-Leigh Strydom (RSA) won a remarkable cat-and-mouse U15 duel with Menna Mohamed (EGY). The U13 title did, however, go to Egypt thanks to the remarkable U17 Pentathlon world champion, Farida Khalil (EGY).

The host nation dominated U17 as Evelina Powell (GBR) overtook Imogen Edwards (GBR) for gold on the last of four laps, but they couldn’t match rivals from mainland Europe at U19 level, where Josefine Unterberger (GER) held off the challenge of twin sisters Katharina and Florina Jurt of Switzerland.

There were two gold medals for Germany at Masters level, where fans enjoyed a interesting 40+ battle between reigning champion Andra Novicka (LAT) and Swiss national team coach Florence Dinichert OLY, finally won by Novicka (LAT).

Three days of Laser Run action are bringing athletes of all generations together as they compete for world titles in age grades from Under 9 to Masters 70+, with a Para Laser Run race taking place on the final day. 

With more than 560 athletes representing 33 countries, the eighth installment of the Laser Run World Championships is a global showcase of UIPM’s most popular development sport.

Team USA athletes Phaelen French and Madison Gonzalez kick off the Pentathlon World Championships with the women’s Relay.  Stay tuned for updates and Go Team USA!