Olympic record and passionate crowd get Modern Pentathlon in Rio off to flying start

The Rio 2016 Olympic Modern Pentathlon burst into life today as the Fencing Ranking Round delighted a passionate and noisy international crowd at the Deodoro Youth Arena.

The women competed first, with Oktawia Nowacka of Poland carrying a clear advantage into the Fencing Bonus Round which takes place tomorrow along with Swimming, Riding and the Combined Event.

Nowacka (POL) scored 262 with 27 victories and eight defeats. Behind her, Lena Schoeneborn (GER) with 244 (24V/11D) and Melanie McCann (CAN) with 236 (23V/12D) also go into tomorrow’s events in a strong position.

The men competed in the afternoon session and Alexander Lesun of Russia reigned supreme with a new Olympic record.

Lesun (RUS), a two-time world champion, scored 268 with 28 victories and seven defeats to erase the mark of 256 set by his compatriot, two-time Olympic champion Andrei Moiseev (RUS), in Beijing in 2008. Lesun will have the opportunity to add one point to his overall Fencing score on Saturday in the Bonus Round.

Behind him there was clear daylight as Omar Elgeziry (EGY) and Patrick Dogue (GER) ended the day in joint second place on 238 (23V/12D). Four athletes including reigning champion David Svoboda (CZE) enjoyed 21 victories and Joseph Choong (GBR) won 22 bouts, but he incurred a 10-point penalty that left him in 8th place.

All day there was vociferous support for the Brazilian representatives, Yane Marcia Marques and Felipe Nascimento, who finished their sessions 21st and 35th respectively.

Dr Klaus Schormann, President of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), said: “Today’s Fencing Ranking Round produced an atmosphere that brought back memories of the 1999 World Championships in Budapest with great cheering from all different countries and a lot of colour with all the national flags.

“The set-up at the Youth Arena was very good and we created a wonderful picture which is very important for the promotion of Modern Pentathlon. This is a compact sport, and that will be underlined tomorrow when we have Bonus Round Fencing, Riding and Combined Event all together in our ‘Pentathlon Stadium’ which in Tokyo in 2020 will accommodate all five disciplines.

“The new format has proved to be a great success today and we are on the right track to making our sport much more media-friendly and easier to promote.”

Tomorrow (August 19) and on Saturday (August 20) the Olympic champions of 2016 will be identified, and Dr Schormann added: “I’m sure we will have the best athletes on the podium. People ask me how many nations can win and I always say more than 10. That shows how strong our sport is, with so many nations able to produce winners. This sends out a message to the whole Olympic Family.

“We had an Olympic record today from Alexander Lesun, and I can promise you that we will have two more Olympic records in the next two days because we have the Fencing Bonus Round at the Olympic Games for the first time.

“The Bonus Round will be a fantastic showcase for Fencing and it will make the sport more understandable for spectators and media.

“I’m sure we are going to have many more special memories to take from this 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.”

All results from the Rio 2016 Olympic Modern Pentathlon competition can be found here.

If you have any questions about the format of the competition we answer them in this essential guide.

To find out which broadcaster is covering the Games live on TV in your country, follow the link on this page.