Cao comes up short, Svoboda claims victory
Source: Agencies |
August 13, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
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CZECH David Svoboda banished his painful memories of Beijing to win modern pentathlon Olympic gold on Saturday, overtaking China's Cao Zhongrong on the final lap of a thrilling combined shoot and run finale.
In 2008, the military officer had been in medal contention before his hopes were dashed during the riding event when his horse fell on him after crashing into a fence, ultimately finishing the competition in a disappointing 28th place.
"It was a very sad moment for me and I promised immediately after the competition that I will try to fight for a gold medal again here in London," said the 27-year-old, whose win was the Czech Republic's first gold in modern pentathlon.
"So I am really very happy, it is my dream come true."
The men's modern pentathlon, celebrating its Olympic centenary in London, sees 36 athletes battling it out in a round-robin fencing competition before heading to the pool for a 200-meter swim. Then comes show jumping, before a final combined shoot and run event where the competitors take five shots at a target before running 1,000 meters, repeating the procedure three times.
The former top-ranked Svoboda, who won the European championship two years ago but has dropped to 20th since, led by just one second going into the final event. He briefly lost the lead after Cao was quicker to hit the five targets.
However, Svoboda regained first position before the third and final round of shooting by running faster. He stayed ahead from then on.
Svoboda finished on 5,928 points to beat Cao by 24 points. Adam Marosi of Hungary, the 2009 world champion, won bronze with 5,836 points.
Cao said he was "quite happy" with his performance after earning China's first medal in the event. "To show your strength on the Olympic grand stand, that's great," Cao said through an interpreter.
The favorites for the event, Russian world No. 1 Aleksander Lesun and world No. 2 Andrei Moiseev came in fourth and seventh, respectively.
In 2008, the military officer had been in medal contention before his hopes were dashed during the riding event when his horse fell on him after crashing into a fence, ultimately finishing the competition in a disappointing 28th place.
"It was a very sad moment for me and I promised immediately after the competition that I will try to fight for a gold medal again here in London," said the 27-year-old, whose win was the Czech Republic's first gold in modern pentathlon.
"So I am really very happy, it is my dream come true."
The men's modern pentathlon, celebrating its Olympic centenary in London, sees 36 athletes battling it out in a round-robin fencing competition before heading to the pool for a 200-meter swim. Then comes show jumping, before a final combined shoot and run event where the competitors take five shots at a target before running 1,000 meters, repeating the procedure three times.
The former top-ranked Svoboda, who won the European championship two years ago but has dropped to 20th since, led by just one second going into the final event. He briefly lost the lead after Cao was quicker to hit the five targets.
However, Svoboda regained first position before the third and final round of shooting by running faster. He stayed ahead from then on.
Svoboda finished on 5,928 points to beat Cao by 24 points. Adam Marosi of Hungary, the 2009 world champion, won bronze with 5,836 points.
Cao said he was "quite happy" with his performance after earning China's first medal in the event. "To show your strength on the Olympic grand stand, that's great," Cao said through an interpreter.
The favorites for the event, Russian world No. 1 Aleksander Lesun and world No. 2 Andrei Moiseev came in fourth and seventh, respectively.
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