(ATR) The first Rio 2016 modern pentathlon medals have been awarded at Deodoro Stadium, with Australian Chloe Esposito coming from behind to win gold in a truly eventful competition on Friday night.
It was Australia’s first ever Olympic pentathlon medal, watched on by Esposito’s coach and father, 1984 Olympian Daniel Esposito and Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller, herself a pentathlon Olympian from the 2000 Games.
"I knew the combined was my strongest event but I didn’t want to think about medals," Esposito said. "I can’t believe it. It is just the best feeling ever. All my hard work has paid off."
Esposito and her father and brother moved to Hungary two years ago, separating from her mother and fiancé in aid of improving her fencing and getting more international competition. Her lead up to Rio was also impeded by injury that saw her miss the World Cup season but find form at exactly the right time.
"I just couldn’t believe it. Everything just came together. I knew there would be a time when everything would come together and I am just so grateful it was today, I can’t believe it.
"There was a moment a few months ago where I just thought – I can do this, I can win."
The rejuvenated Olympic modern pentathlon format saw fencing ranking rounds take place on Thursday, where Poland’s Oktawia Nowacka dominated with a personal best of 262 points.
The remainder of the women’s competition took place on Friday, with Nowacka holding the overall lead after the first swimming event.
Following swimming was the fencing bonus round, one of the innovations of modern pentathlon for these Games. Held in Deodoro stadium on a stage covered in a clear inflatable roof, the fencing bonus round was a hit with spectators, as organizers had hoped. Competitors worked their way up from the bottom of the rankings, scoring a bonus point for each bout they won. The exciting format had the crowd out of their seats cheering.
Nowacka remained in the lead heading into the show jumping component, which was marred by a number of serious barrier crashes with only five of 36 riders jumping a clear round. Two big upsets came in quick succession when defending Olympic champion Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania and Beijing 2008 gold medalist and current world number one, Lena Shoneborn received a score of zero after their horses each had four refusals.
Despite incurring seven penalties, Nowacka held her lead into the final run/shoot combined, and started 12 seconds clear of her nearest competitor. The combined event which was introduced to the Olympics at the London Games, provided a nail-biting spectacle for the crowd, and proved why modern pentathlon continues excite fans around the world.
Esposito started seventh off a 45 second handicap and picked off her rivals one by one until it was just Nowacka in front of her, with a 12 second lead going into the final lap. Perfect shooting from the Aussie, and a terrible round for Nowacka meant Esposito took off into the last run in first position and sprinted to the finish line to win gold.
Elodie Clouvel of France took silver while Nowacka settled for bronze.
Keeping it in the family, Esposito’s brother Max will compete in tomorrow’s men’s event which gets underway at midday in Deodoro.
Written by Alice Wheelerat Deodoro
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