Modern Pentathlon
Sheila Taormina, Margaux Isaksen and Eli Bremer were nominated to the pentathlon team after the U.S. was allocated three invitations by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), modern pentathlon's world governing body. On the second allocation, both Sam Sacksen and Dennis Bowsher were offered bids by the UIPM. Since one man was already on the squad, only one other slot was available. The U.S. used World Cup rankings to determine who would be on the squad and who would be named alternate. Bowsher appealed the decision but his claim was denied.
On the men's team, U.S. Olympic Training Center residents Eli Bremer and Sam Sacksen both made their Olympic modern pentathlon debuts. They struggled early, with disappointing scores in shooting (10 m air pistol) and fencing (épée one touch). For the women's team, 16-year-old Margaux Isaksen joined Sheila Taormina, the first woman to appear in the Olympics in three different sports. Like the men, Isaksen and Toarmina started off slowly, failing to rank higher than 24th in either shooting or fencing. Taormina, however, finished strongly, taking first place in riding (show jumping) and setting a modern pentathlon Olympic record in swimming (200 m freestyle). The U.S. did not medal in modern pentathlon.
| Athlete | Event | Shooting (10 m air pistol) |
Fencing (épée one touch) |
Swimming (200 m freestyle) |
Riding (show jumping) |
Running (3000 m) |
Total points | Final rank | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Rank | MP Points | Results | Rank | MP points | Time | Rank | MP points | Penalties | Rank | MP points | Time | Rank | MP Points | ||||
| Eli Bremer | Men's | 165 | 34 | 916 | 14–21 | =29 | 736 | 2:02.80 | 7 | 1328 | 140 | 14 | 1060 | 9:19.61 | 7 | 1164 | 5204 | 23 |
| Sam Sacksen | 178 | 23 | 1072 | 14–21 | =29 | 736 | 2:08.99 | 25 | 1256 | 96 | 7 | 1104 | 9:32.90 | 17 | 1112 | 5280 | 18 | |
| Margaux Isaksen | Women's | 171 | 29 | 988 | 15–20 | =24 | 760 | 2:20.30 | 20 | 1240 | 56 | 10 | 1144 | 10:40.41 | 14 | 1160 | 5292 | 21 |
| Sheila Taormina | 173 | 28 | 1012 | 4–31 | 36 | 496 | 2:08.86 | 1 | 1376 OR | 0 | 1 | 1200 | 10:25.05 | 7 | 1220 | 5304 | 19 | |
Read more about this topic: United States At The 2008 Summer Olympics
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