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Kim Se-hee finishes 11th after gruelling day of modern pentathlon

Published: 06 Aug. 2021, 20:32

Kim Se-hee (right) and Kim Sun-woo console each other after finishing the women's modern pentathlon. [YONHAP]

Kim Se-hee finished the women's modern pentathlon competition of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 11th place — tying for the highest-ever finish by a Korean in the event. Kim Sun-woo finished in 17th place.

A total of 36 athletes participated in the competition at Tokyo Stadium over Thursday and Friday.

Modern pentathlon is based on five skills that were considered the core skills a cavalry officer needed: Fencing, swimming, horseback riding, pistol shooting and cross-country running, the last two of which are combined into one final round, the laser-run. The first three sports determine the order in which the athletes start the laser-run.

Kim Se-hee had ended Thursday's fencing ranking round in second place, and held onto that ranking on Friday even after a gruelling day of swimming, fencing and riding; she could thus start her run only ten seconds after the first runner. Korea's first-ever Olympic medal in the modern pentathlon seemed to loom on the horizon.

Unfortunately, Kim Se-hee's ranking suffered severely in the final round, with her laser-run time clocking in at 24th, which took her down all the way from 2nd to 11th overall.

The gold medal went to Great Britain's Kate French, who totaled 1,385 points. Lithuania's Laura Asadauskaite, who set a new Olympic record in the laser-run, won silver with 1,370 points. Hungary's Sarolta Kovacs took home the bronze with 1,368 points.

BY JEON YOUNG-JAE [[email protected]]