Farida Khalil: Meet modern pentathlon’s 14-year-old world champion

Farida Khalil is not your average teenager.

Last year, aged just 14, the Egyptian won every major world title in modern pentathlon – from three youth grades to the women’s senior championship – in the same season.

The sport’s world governing body, UIPM, described it as “unprecedented” and quickly dubbed it the ‘Farida Slam’., external

Her devotion to a sport consisting of fencing, swimming, an obstacle race, running and shooting, is most striking in the commitment to her training routine.

“I love that difference, that I’m not going to stay fixed [on one discipline],” Khalil tells BBC Arabic.

With her dad as head coach, the teenager’s sporting success has become a family endeavour.

“Raising a champion in your home, a world champion, is not easy at all,” Mohamed Abu Hashem, Khalil’s father, explains.

“It’s not about luck. It is persistence, years of effort, endurance and big sacrifices.”

The sun has barely risen over Cairo by the time Khalil starts her day at 5am, with her morning schedule a gruelling endurance test all of its own.

“Swimming is from five to seven, running starts from eight thirty to around ten thirty and we keep going like that,” she says.

Khalil, who turned 15 in February, can spend up to 14 hours a day training, with a break for lunch and tutoring.

Her school is in a neighbourhood just north of the capital but, with such a tight schedule, she does not attend every day.

When she does go to class, her fame often precedes her.

“My friends at school are always proud that they are walking around with a world champion – walking with the youngest girl to become world number one.”