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Sunday, October 1
American wins silver in first women's pentathlon
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- Emily deRiel kept looking down at her
silver medal, running her fingers along the smooth edges and
caressing its face, a look of awe on her face.
|  | | Silver medalist Emily deRiel, left, and Mary Beth Iagorashvili, both of the United States, run with the American flag after DeRiel came in second in the Modern Pentathlon Sunday. |
"I can't believe it still," the Philadelphia native said
Sunday after winning the silver medal in the first Olympic women's
modern pentathlon. "I feel like maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and
it'll be the real thing.
"I don't know how it happened. I really don't."
Stephanie Cook of Britain caught deRiel during the last lap of
the 3-kilometer run and won the gold. Kate Allenby of Britain won
the bronze.
DeRiel's medal was the first for an American since 1960, when
Robert Beck won the bronze. The last American to win a silver was
George Moore in 1948.
And the Americans almost put two athletes on the medals podium,
as Mary Beth Iagorashvili of San Antonio finished fourth.
Iagorashvili was searching for her teammate as soon as she crossed
the finish line, wrapping her in a bear hug when she found her.
The two clasped hands and raised their arms in triumph, with
Iagorashvili pointing at deRiel and nodding her head in pride.
Iagorashvili then picked deRiel up and gave her a congratulatory
piggy-back ride.
"It makes me so happy," Iagorashvili said. "I'm glad to say I
was part of getting her ready. She's a great athlete. I'm so proud
of her."
To say deRiel's silver-medal finish was a surprise is just a bit
of an understatement. DeRiel, who took up modern pentathlon when
she was studying at Oxford in 1996-97, started competing at the
international level only this year.
And modern pentathlon is hardly a sport for novices -- or the
faint of heart. It consists of five events, meant to recreate the
trials of an ancient officer who was brought down in enemy
territory as he tried to deliver a message on horseback. Having
defended himself with a pistol and sword, the officer swam across a
raging river before running through woods to deliver the message.
In Olympic competition, athletes fire 20 shots at 20 targets
with a 4.5-milimeter air pistol; fence in a 24-person round robin;
swim a 200-meter freestyle race; ride a horse over a course that
has 12 jumps; and, finally, run a 3-kilometer race.
Doesn't sound too bad? Try doing all of that in one day.
"I have it in me. I'm just a very inexperienced pentathlete and
experience counts for a lot," deRiel said. "I just wanted to have
a good time. I wanted to enjoy the day, enjoy the experience of
being here."
She did more than that. She won the shooting event, and was in
second after the fencing, probably her weakest event. She was in
third after the swim and climbed back into first after the riding
event.
That just left the run, where athletes go off in staggered
starts based on their scores. DeRiel went first, but lurking five
seconds back was Allenby. Cook was 49 seconds behind.
"The run's always been my strongest event," said Cook, who
beat deRiel in the run by one minute last year. "I knew it wasn't
going to be easy. It was really just a question of being able to
pace it right."
Allenby made her move first, catching up to deRiel as they
finished the first 1-kilometer lap. Cook made up 30 seconds in her
first lap, catching Iagorashvili.
By the end of the second lap, Cook was less than 10 seconds
behind deRiel. A few minutes later, she ran past her.
"I was thinking she'd blow me out of the water, but I had a lot
of fight left in me," deRiel said. "I wasn't going to let her
dust me."
After Cook went by, it was simply a matter of not letting anyone
else pass her.
"I said, `I'm going to fight to the end,"' deRiel said. "I'm
not going to lose a medal."
She didn't, easily finishing in front of Allenby. Then all that
was left was the celebrating. After catching her breath, deRiel
grabbed an American flag from the audience and began jogging around
the track.
When Iagorashvili found her, the two shared the flag as they
waved it at the cheering audience.
"It's just like a dream. It really is," deRiel said. "To go
down in the books as one of the first medalists in the Olympics, it
means a tremendous amount."
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