Valentin Prades claimed a first gold since the 2021 UIPM Pentathlon World Cup Final as he won the men's World Cup in Sofia ©Getty Images

The returning Valentin Prades and newcomer Kerenza Bryson took the men’s and women’s International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) Pentathlon World Cup titles in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In the men’s event, Prades claimed a first gold since the 2021 UIPM Pentathlon World Cup Final, enjoying a stellar fencing performance as he topped the discipline standings with 27 wins and 264 points.

Prades finished 14th in the riding element after knocking two obstacles down late in his round, 17th in the swimming and eighth in the laser run.

Prades managed to finish in front of his rivals for the overall title, despite taking 18 seconds on the final shoot, as he sprinted past Taishu Sato of Japan, who took the silver medal.

The podium was completed by Marvin Faly Dogue of Germany, who particularly impressed in the riding discipline with a clear round.

Men’s Olympic champion Joseph Choong of Britain was fourth, with the top five completed by Hungary’s Balas Szep.

In the women’s final, there was a fairytale success for Britain’s Kerenza Bryson who won her first World Cup medal to cap off a week where she had also qualified as a doctor.

Britain's Kerenza Bryson won her first World Cup medal to cap off a week where she also qualified as a doctor ©Getty Images
Britain's Kerenza Bryson won her first World Cup medal to cap off a week where she also qualified as a doctor ©Getty Images

The victory proved great medicine for Bryson who enjoyed a clear round in the riding discipline.

Going into the laser run 38 seconds separated the top 14, meaning it was anybody’s race.

Bryson held a couple of seconds lead on the run from her closest overall rivals following the final shoot and showed an impressive burst of pace to secure a maiden World Cup win.

In second place overall was Seungmin Seong of South Korea who also claimed a first career World Cup medal, which included second-place finishes in both the swimming and laser run disciplines.

The podium was completed by Lithuania’s Ieva Serapinaite who topped the standings in both the fencing, with 25 wins and 259 points, and the swimming, which she finished in 2mins 15.87sec to earn 279 points.

In fourth place was Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania, while fellow Briton Jessica Varley finished fifth.

The next Pentathlon World Cup event is the UIPM Pentathlon World Cup Final due to be held in Ankara, Turkey, from May 31 to June 4.

It is set to be the first UIPM event to offer qualification places to the Paris 2024 Olympics, and is also due to mark the last time the riding element of the sport features at an Olympic Games.