Tóth and Marosi earn home mixed relay gold to end Modern Pentathlon World Cup

Hungary secured their second gold of the weekend by winning the mixed team relay event ©International Modern Pentathlon Union

Hungary’s Anna Tóth and Adam Marosi delighted home fans by earning mixed relay gold at the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) World Cup series in Kecskemét.

Having seen compatriot Zsófia Földházi take gold in the women’s competition on the opening day in the Hungarian city, Tóth and Marosi ensured that the event would end on a high for home fans as they narrowly saw off competition from the American team to top the podium.

United States' Margaux Isaksen and Nathan Schrimsher held the early advantage by accruing 252 points in the fencing event, with the home pairing just two points adrift in second place.

Isaksen and Schrimsher extended their narrow advantage to six points by posting a time of 1min 57.33sec in the swimming and earning 282 points as winners of the riding event.

Their performances in the first three disciplines saw them begin the combined event with an advantage of six seconds over their Hungarian rivals.

Tóth and Marosi, however, turned the tables by overcoming the deficit before pulling away from the Americans to cross the line 11 seconds clear, posting a time of 11:28.06 to finish the overall competition with 1,488 points, to claim the final gold of the weekend.

Toth and Marosi overhauled their American rivals in the combined event to win gold ©International Modern Pentathlon Union

Despite seeing their lead over the Hungarians evaporate, the US earned silver with 1,483 points, while South Korea’s Jun Woong-tae and Kim Sun-Woo completed the podium after accumulating 1,446 points from the disciplines.

The South Koreans were required to hold off a charge from Australian siblings Chloe and Max Esposito, whose father Daniel competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Having finished sixth in the swimming and seventh in both the fencing and riding disciplines the Australian pair, appeared to be out of contention for the medal places, but produced a stunning run to win the discipline by 20 seconds in, posting a time of 11:08.05.

Despite their efforts they finished five points adrift of the South Koreans, to finish outside of the medal places in the fourth World Cup event of the series.

The World Cup Final is due to take place in Minsk, Belarus from June 11 to 14.