Germany's Schoneborn lifts Olympic modern pentathlon title

Lena Schoneborn of Germany clinched the women's modern pentathlon title in 5,792 points at the Olympic Sports Center on Friday.

Schoneborn, ranked third in the world, came 20th in the shooting before winning the fencing to top the overall ranking and never gave the lead away.

Australian Heather Fell, 24, placed highly at this year's European and world championships, came in second 10 seconds trailing the titlist with 5752 points.

Fell finished fifth and fourth respectively in the two championships.

Victoria Tereshuk of Ukraine won the bronze in 5,672 points, taking the advantage of a strong rally in running. She was in sixth place before the last discipline.

"We all focused on Victoria Tereshuk because we know she is the best at running. I also tried to keep on Heather and I could see her coming. I knew we are about the same speed so I knew I could increase my speed on the final lap," said Schoneborn.

"I knew that for the running and the swimming I would be fine. The big risk is always the horses, so that's what you think about the most.

"As for the fencing and shooting, it all depends on your form on the day. My shooting today was not good but my fencing was much better and I started to enjoy myself then," added she.

For Fell, it's a hard and successful comeback after injuries two years ago.

"Two years ago I had been battling with injuries for some time and I was getting bad results, so I had to view where I was going with my career," recalled Fell.

"I went back home and thought about it, and decided to give pentathlon one more shot. Obviously I am glad I changed my mind."

"I did not realise I had made 10 seconds today on Lena because my biggest worry was Victoria catching me. I realized by the third lap that I had made some ground up but I thought the gap would still be too much. I knew I was fit but I thought Lena would be pretty fit for this event too," said Fell.

World No. 2 Aya Medany, 19, form Egypt was second overall on 2,072 points after coming joint eighth in the shooting and joint fifth in the fencing, but a poor swimming result downgraded her to eighth overall.

"It is not because of my recent injury, and I don't think my performance was that bad. I tried hard in everything but it didn't help my performance," said Medany.

"I am still young, I can achieve my goals step by step. To be eighth in Olympic Games is OK and I am hoping for a better performance in the next Olympic Games."

Belinda Schreiber of Switzerland, ranked No. 38 in the world, won the shooting with a score of 188, but dropped to eleventh overall.

Pre-game favorite Amelie Caze, 23, finished a lowly ninth for weak shooting and running. The tall French school teacher, 23, has earned her favourite's tag the last two seasons, in 2007 and 2008, when she twice won the world championship title, in Berlin and Budapest.

"It was very hard, I went hard, I tried hard. You have to accept your place," said Caze.

"I was disappointed with the equestrian (horse jumping), that was when I knew I had no chance for a medal. I did what I could. I wasn't at my level."

Caze is now ranked No.1 by the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM).

Anastasia Samusevich of Belarus narrowly missed the podium with eight seconds adrift. Samusevich slipped from joint third to joint 17th overall after coming 33rd in the pool, but a leading run result earned her place back by big margin.

China's Chen Qian took the fifth place as she managed full mark in horse jumping and a remarkable run.

(Xinhua News Agency Augsut 22, 2008)