Modern Pentathlon Finals
Parygin's Perseverance Pays Off in Olympic Gold as Zenovka Stumbles
Aleksandr PARYKIN (KAZ) was in the right place at the right time and it earned him an Olympic gold medal in the Modern Pentathlon competition Tuesday. With the lead and just a few steps away from the finish line, Eduard ZENOVKA (RUS) appeared to be the sure winner of both the final event of the day (4,000m cross-country run) and the title of Olympic champion. Then the unexpected happened. ZENOVKA stumbled and fell, allowing PARYKIN to cross the finish line first to claim Kazakstan's second gold medal in the Centennial Olympic Games.
Eduard ZENOKVA was awarded the silver and Janos MARTINEK claimed the bronze in the five part event which began ten hours earlier in the day.
Medalists: Gold - (KAZ) PARYKIN, Silver - ZENOVKA (RUS), Bronze - MARTINEK (HUN)
"I had no more power", explained Eduard ZENOVKA (RUS) in describing his fall, which cost him the gold medal.
Kazakstan's PAYGIN early leader in Modern Pentathlon; The "Animal" is in 12th
The first two events (shooting and fencing) of today's modern pentathlon now have been completed and Alkexsandr PARYGIN is leading the field in this grueling one day event with 2,042 points. After being in 11th place after the shooting round, PARYGIN made his move in the second stage of the morning; fencing, scoring 970 points.
Akos HANZELY of Hungary is in second place overall with 2,024 points and currently tied for third with 2,000 points are Italian teammates Alessandro CONFORTO and Cesare TORALDO.
Rounding out the top 10 in the field of 32 pentathletes are Heorhiy CHYMERYS (UKR), Imre TIDEMANN (EST), Fabio NEBULONI (ITA), Claud CLOETE (RSA), James MARTINEK (HUN) and Eduard ZENOKOVA of Russia.
The 1994 and 1995 World Champion, Dmitri SVATKOVSKY, a.k.a. "The Animal" is
currently in 12th place with swimming, riding and running scheduled for this afternoon.
"This year, I never rested. I trained through all of the World Cup competitions. I got my first day of rest 10 days ago," said SVATKOVSKY (RUS) on his preparation for the Olympic Games.
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