CAIRO: When Ahmed Elgendy met Mohamed Salah in January, he was given a pep talk and posed for a picture with the Egyptian soccer star while wearing the modern pentathlon silver medal that he earned at the Tokyo Olympics.
Yet the 24-year-old dreams of taking another photo with Salah after the upcoming Paris Olympics, but this time he hopes to don a gold medal as he seeks to etch his name deeper into Egypt's sporting history.
"Salah is a role model for all of us. Having a conversation with him, not just taking a photo, is a very big thing," Elgendy told Reuters. "We talked about the Olympics and preparations; it was a very good meeting."
Elgendy was a relative unknown when he made history in Tokyo, becoming the first African to win an Olympic modern pentathlon medal.
A late rally in the men's individual event saw him finish just behind gold medallist Joe Choong of Britain.
Since then, he has been beset by injuries, including a shoulder injury that forced him out of the semi-finals of the Pentathlon World Championships last month.
However, after an intensive rehabilitation program, he has been declared fit and hopes deliver a gold medal in Paris.
"Things are different now compared to Tokyo; I'm more experienced and confident. Over the past three years, I've participated in only seven championships due to my shoulder injuries, yet I won medals in five of them," Elgendy said.
"My primary target is to win gold, but I will also be happy if I win a silver or bronze as it will mark a second successive Olympic medal."
Modern pentathlon athletes will face an added challenge in Paris with a riding contest in both the semi-finals and the final. In Tokyo, this event was part of a single-round format.
In the equestrian competition, riders are allocated random horses just 20 minutes before the start. The horse-riding contest will be scrapped altogether from the 2028 Los Angeles Games, making way for obstacle racing.
"There is a bigger risk now with regards to horse riding; it's a bigger challenge. We hope things will go smoothly," Elgendy added.
Elgendy, currently ranked fourth in the world, is aware he is under pressure as Egypt's primary hope of glory in Paris. He has also been selected as Egypt's flag-bearer during the opening ceremony.
"I know that I'm under the spotlight now, unlike in Tokyo. But I'm taking positives from that and treating it as extra motivation," he said. - Reuters