Sunel Lezcano

Havana, Dec 12 (JIT) - Cuba's Sunel Lezcano advanced to the final of the senior category of the 2024 Pan American Modern Pentathlon Championship, by placing eighth in subgroup A of the competition held in the Brazilian city of Resende.

Lezcano, who finished fifth in the continental youth competition this Tuesday, once again stood out at the end of the semifinals A and B, to finish in 12th place in the general ranking.

The Havana native started the day as ninth in fencing, thanks to 11 wins and 15 failures that earned him 201 points. Then, he improved in the steeplechase event, taking fourth place with 31.28 seconds, which allowed him to add 318 units.

In swimming, he also finished in ninth place with  2:16.74 minutes, which was good for 277 points. He added another 592 points by finishing fifth in the combined shooting-racing event, covered in 11:48 minutes, for 1388 points.

Yon Pablo Martinez, the other Cuban junior who debuted in international competitions, competed in the same group and scored 1262 points, which placed him in 13th place.

Although he was left out of the final, he had a second opportunity to showcase himself, after placing fifteenth in the youth competition. In the senior section, he stood out in the steeplechase, winning the hurdles, while in fencing he was eighth, and thirteenth in the swimming and combined segments.

The main figure of the Cuban pentathlon, Juan Pablo Velázquez, did not have the same luck. After a good competition in fencing, with 16 victories and 10 setbacks, and after securing fourth place (236th), he was eliminated in the hurdles section.