Leila Gyenesei (born 22 April 1986) is a Hungarian

modern pentathlete The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...

and

cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

. She is a five-time medalist at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, and is currently ranked no. 19 in the world by the

Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne The ''Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne'' ( en, International Modern Pentathlon Union), commonly known by the acronym UIPM, has been the international governing body of modern pentathlon since its foundation in London in 1948. Its head ...

(UIPM). She is also the daughter of István Gyenesei, former Minister of Local Government and chairman of the Association for Somogy party.

Career

Gyenesei started out her sporting career as a triathlete and swimmer, until she began with cross-country skiing at the age of eighteen. She first competed at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

Turin, Italy Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

, and placed sixty-ninth in the women's 10 km classical cross-country skiing, with a time of 36:43.0. Shortly after the games, Gyenesei announced that she would no longer participate in any winter sporting events. Instead, she decided to focus on and compete for the modern pentathlon, a sport in which she had never done before. In 2007, Gyenesei moved to

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...

in central Hungary to work and train with a large number of top-level athletes, including 2004 Olympic champion

Zsuzsanna Vörös Zsuzsanna Vörös (born 4 May 1977 in Székesfehérvár) is a retired Hungarian modern pentathlete who won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Her score of 5448 is broken down as follows: * Shooting—1120 * Fencing— ...

. She began competing as a modern pentathlete at the national junior and senior championships and had achieved her first title in the team event. The following year, she reached into the international scene by competing at the

World Modern Pentathlon Championships The UIPM Senior World Championships is an annual global international competition in modern pentathlon. It was first held in 1949 under the organization of the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM). Editions Note: The years in which champ ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, where she had won two medals, including gold for the women's team relay. Following her early success from the World Championships, Gyenesei qualified for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, along with Vörös, to compete in the women's event. During the competition, Gyenesei struggled to attain a higher position in the early rounds, with deficient scores in

pistol shooting Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms ( firearms and airguns, in forms suc ...

and a one-touch

épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains ...

fencing. She quickly moved to the top of the rankings, when she finished fourth in freestyle swimming, and eighth in horse riding. In the end, Gyenesei finished the event with cross-country running in twenty-fourth place, for a total score of 5,260 points. In 2009, Gyenesei made her breakthrough season in the international scene, when she won a gold medal for the women's individual event at the Bath International Competition in

Bath, England Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the ceremonial counties of England, county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 1 ...

. She also upset Great Britain's

Heather Fell Heather Fell (born 3 March 1983 in Plymouth, England) is a former British modern pentathlete turned triathlete. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal in the women's modern pentathlon event. Early life Fell grew up ...

to claim the bronze at the UIPM World Cup in

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, which included a newly combined running and shooting segment. At the 2011 World Modern Pentathlon Championships in

Moscow, Russia Moscow ( , American English, US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia. The city stands on t ...

, Gyenesei, together with her teammates

Sarolta Kovács Sarolta Kovács (born 12 March 1991) is a Hungarian modern pentathlete. An individual and team World Champion, she competed in the modern pentathlon at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Career In 2016, she was the surprise winner of th ...

and

Adrienn Tóth Adrienn Tóth (born 24 November 1990) is an athlete of modern pentathlon for Hungary. She won several medals at the World and European Championships. Tóth competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Gam ...

, displayed a spectacular performance to capture their second title in the women's relay. She also added two more gold medals for team and relay events at the European Championships, making her as one of Hungary's most successful modern pentathletes in its sporting history.

References

External links

*
FIS Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyenesei, Leila Hungarian female modern pentathletes Hungarian female cross-country skiers 1986 births Living people Olympic modern pentathletes for Hungary Olympic cross-country skiers for Hungary Cross-country skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Modern pentathletes at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Kaposvár World Modern Pentathlon Championships medalists