Modern Pentathlon and Karate Bronzes for Hungary in Tokyo

Sarolta Kovács in women's modern pentathlon and Gábor Hárspataki in karate finished third this Friday at the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, producing the 16th and 17th medal for Hungary.

Following the fencing and swimming legs of the modern pentathlon held on Thursday, 30-year-old Sarolta Kovács, the 2017 individual world champion of this sport, did well in the horse jumping on Friday, moving up to third place. In the ‘laser run’, the combined shooting and running event, the Hungarian was in the lead after the first shooting but was soon overtaken by Britain’s Kate French who put up a stunning performance to take the Olympic title.

After the fourth (and last( shooting, Kovács was also overtaken by Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania, the defending champion who came in second this time.

In the 75-kilogram category of the men's kumite karate, Hungary's Gábor Hárspataki, 25 years of age, won his group with two wins, a tie and a defeat to face in the semi-final Rafael Agayev of Azerbaijan, considered one of the legends of the sport, whom the Hungarian never defeated.

Agayev, 36, won the world championship twice in the 70-kg and twice in the 75-kg categories, and has 30 medals from World Championships and European Championships. He won his first three matches in the group stage but lost his last match to Italy's Luigi Busa to reach the last four in second place.

The semi-final started with mutual intimidation, then Hársfalvi tried to kick to the body, but Agayev defended and even took the Hungarian karateka to the ground with a leg sweep and hit him. He was awarded three points for this after video review. Meanwhile, the referee sent the European silver medalist Hársfalvi to be treated for a nosebleed. The Hungarian was going ahead, but Agayev scored again with a blow to the head. With a minute to go, both tried to kick to the body, and after the replay, the Azeri was awarded the point and won 7-0.