Belarusian modern pentathlete Volha Silkina is an athlete to watch on the pentathlon scene, as a gold-medal-winning world champion in the sport.
Competing professionally in pentathlon events around the world since 2010 when she was still in her teens, Silkina quickly began climbing the ranks as one of the top pentathlete’s in the sporting scene. Competing in both individual and team events, Silkina enjoyed her first medal win in 2011 at Youth European Championships in Tata, Hungary, where she took home a silver medal as part of the team-relay mixed event. An event that Silkina has since proven herself in, she has gone on to win two further medals participating in team-relays, including a bronze at the 2016 UIPM Pentathlon Junior World Championships in Cairo, Egypt and in the same year a silver at the Junior European Championships in Drzonkow, Poland. Making her senior pentathlon debut at the 2015 Belarus Open Championships, Silkina has achieved a string of spectacular wins, including a gold medal in the 2018 European Championships as part of the team relay event in Hungary and another gold at the 2019 International Belarus Open. She now ranks an impressive 6th place in the world, as of April 2020.
Following two gold-medal wins at the 2019 UIPM Pentathlon World Championships held in Budapest, Hungary in the individual and team events, Silkina has gone on to successfully qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, representing Belarus.