Individual, Women

The women’s modern pentathlon closed out the 2012 London Olympic Games. The favorite was Lithuania’s Laura Asadausakaitė, who had won medals at the last three World Championships. Asadausakaitė was steady throughout the day and did not disappoint, winning the final gold medal of London 2012. Latvia’s Elena Rublevska led after fencing, winning 25 of 35 bouts, with Hungary’s Adrienn Tóth taking the lead after the swim. But Tóth faltered in the riding and would finish only 20th.

The run was new to the Olympics as the format had been changed after Beijing. While previously the modern pentathlon consisted of five events, in 2009 the shooting and cross-country running were combined into a single event similar to the Winter Olympic biathlon. Runners carried a laser pistol as they ran and stopped at three shooting stations during their run, at which they were required to produce five shots on target, with penalties for extra shots needed and time penalties. After the third event Asadausakaitė moved into a tie for the lead with Brazil’s Yane Marques, but Asadausakaitė easily outran and shot her to win by 17 seconds, as Marques dropped back to bronze, being passed by Britain’s Samanatha Murray. Marques’ medal was still the first by a South American modern pentathlete.