Men’s final to be held today at Pentathlon World Cup

The men’s final in USA Pentathlon World Cup #1 will be held today in Sunrise Park in Palm Springs, with a field of 36 pentathletes from 17 nations, including David Svoboda of the Czech Republic, the gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics.
The field also includes Hungarian Adam Marosi, the bronze medalist at the London Games, and Russians Aleksander Lesun and Ilya Frolov, the world’s two top-ranked male pentathletes.
Austrian Thomas Daniel recorded the highest score during Wednesday’s qualifying, which did not include riding, 4,580 points, four more than Lesun.
Of the 11 Americans who competed in qualifying, only Army Spc. Dennis Bowsher advanced to the final, finishing fourth overall with 4,568 points.
Competition is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. with fencing in the Sunrise Park Pavilion, followed at 12:25 p.m. by the swimming in the Sunrise Park Swimming Center, the riding at 2:35 p.m. in Palm Springs Stadium, where the combined event, which mixes a 3,200-meter run with shooting, is set for 5:30 p.m.
Tickets are $10 with children under 12 admitted free. More information is available on the event’s website, usapworldcup.org.
The women’s qualifying was held Thursday with Margaux Isaksen matching the highest score while her younger sister, Isabella, was the other American to qualify for Saturday’s final.
Competing in Group A, Margaux Isaksen began the day by finishing second in the fencing at the Sunrise Park Pavilion behind Olympic bronze medalist Yane Marques of Brazil, winning 19 bouts and receiving 1,032 points, while Marques won 21 for 1,096.
Margaux Isaksen had the 16th-fastest time in the 200-meter freestyle swim, two minutes, 23.70 seconds, for 1,076 points, while Marques had the fourth-fastest time, 2:17.13, for 1,156 points.
Marques’ 144-point lead heading into the combined event gave her a 36- second head start, but Margaux Isaksen nearly erased all of Marques’ lead, completing the course in 13:22.79, the fourth-fastest time, receiving 1,992 points, finishing .26 behind Marques, who had the 17th fastest time, 13:58.53 for 1,848 points.
Margaux Isaksen and Marques both finished with 4,100 points.
At the London Olympics, Margaux Isaksen finished fourth, eight points behind Marques.
Isabella Isaksen finished third in Group B with 3,972 points, the same total as Donata Rimsaite of Russia, who finished ahead of Isabella Isaksen in the combined event. Yufie Bian of China won the group with 4,056 points.
Isabella Isaksen began her day by recording the 15th fastest time in swimming, 2:29.71 for 1,004 points. She won 18 bouts in fencing, the third highest total, receiving 1,000 points. She had the fifth-fastest time in the combined event, 13:28.76 for 1,968 points.