Korea’s leading modern pentathletes Seo Chang-wan and Seong Seung-min won gold in the mixed relay at the world championships ahead of the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 in Japan next month.
Seo and Seong scored a combined 1,096 points across fencing, swimming and the laser run at the UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Championships in Guiyang, China, on Tuesday. Belarus came in second with 1,078 points, and Hungary in third with 1,076.
The modern pentathlon encompasses five skills — fencing, swimming, obstacle course racing, laser-pistol shooting and cross-country running — across four events, with shooting and running tested together in the laser run.
The organizers canceled the obstacle course due to the rain, so the mixed relay comprised three events at the senior level this year: fencing, swimming and the laser run. The obstacle race replaced equestrian show jumping in 2025.
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During the laser run, the decisive final event, athletes alternate between running laps and stopping to hit five targets with laser pistols. Whoever crosses the finish line first wins the entire tournament.
Seo and Seong scored 250 points in fencing and took the lead. They then added 332 points in swimming and entered the decisive laser run in second place overall. For this last sport, the Korean pair combined steady shooting with a strong finishing sprint to score 514 points, the second-highest total in the discipline, and crossed the finish line first.
Seo, who has established himself alongside Jun Woong-tae as one of Korea’s top male modern pentathletes, claimed his second title of the season after winning the individual event at the UIPM 2026 Pentathlon World Cup in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria, in May.
Seong, ranked No. 2 in the world in the women’s competition, returned to the top of the podium at the world championships two years after winning the individual title in 2024. She has remained among the leading contenders this season, finishing fifth at the Pentathlon World Cup in Budapest in June and sixth at the Pentathlon World Cup Final. The final also took place in Budapest in June.
“I’m happy to have achieved a good result at the world championships ahead of the Asian Games,” Seong said through her agency, 700 Creators. “The mixed relay isn’t an event that you compete in alone. [Seo] and I trusted and relied on each other and stayed focused until the end, and I think that led to the good result. I also want to perform well in the individual event and carry this positive momentum through to the Asian Games.”
Korea will look to add more gold medals in the men’s and women’s individual competitions. The men’s qualification took place on Wednesday. The finals will take place on Sunday.
The UIPM stands for the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne, or the International Modern Pentathlon Union. It is the global governing body for the Olympic sport of modern pentathlon and related multidisciplinary events since its foundation in London in 1948.
