A day after the men competed in the men’s semifinals, the women competed at the picturesque Place of Versailles. Great Britain’s Kerenza Bryson set an Olympic record to claim the top qualifying spot in the final.
Semifinal A results:
Defending Olympic champion Kate French qualified to advance to the final in the first semifinal group competing. It was her teammate Bryson that led from end-to-end and scored 1,402 points for the top spot.
French was reserved after the semifinal.
"I was really happy with that," she said. "Really happy to execute the race as I wanted and rest through to the final tomorrow."
After struggling in the fencing round, the only round that carries over every day, Lithuania’s Laura Asadauskaite qualified for the final. Paris is her fifth Olympic Games at the impressive age of 40.
American Jessica Davis had a good start to her day, but unfortunately a slow swim left her out of the top 9 in the heat.
She had a strong showing in the equestrian round and only received one jumping penalty. Unfortunately for her, six riders had clean rides. She scored two fencing wins in the bonus round to gain four points and sat in 12th overall with 209 points, just 6 points behind the final qualifying spot heading into the swim discipline. She finished last in the swim, which ended her chances of advancing to the final.
Davis finished 15th in the laser run with a time of 12:27.42, but 14th overall in her Olympic debut.
RIDING RESULTS l BONUS FENCING RESULTS l SWIMMING RESULTS l LASER RUN RESULTS
Semifinal B results:
France’s Elodie Clouvel crossed the finish line in the laser run holding hands with Spain’s Laura Heredia and Michelle Gulyas of Hungary to hold on to her top spot in semifinal B with 1398 points.
The day began with an inauspicious start in the riding discipline. Mexico’s Mariana Arceo, the first rider, started before the bell and was eliminated but she didn’t know it, which caused a dramatic reaction after celebrating her clean run.
Clean rides continued in the second semifinal with six riders finishing before the 60-second time limit with no penalties. Clovel, the leader after fencing on Day 1, had one of the worst jumping showings with two penalties assessed and finished in 16th.
Despite the poor riding showing, Clouvel had such a large lead that she was in no danger of relinquishing it. She extended her lead to 17 points after the bonus fencing round.
Japan’s Uchida Misaki finished first in the swim with a time of 2:08.45. It was impressive, but not enough as Ochida struggled in the laser run and wouldn’t qualify for the final.
The laser run didn’t start well for Clouvel who timed out on the first shooting range stop. She made up for it with a quick run lap and improved each time she stopped at the range after that. By the final lap, she was back in front with Heredia and Gulyas. In a display of sportsmanship, the trio crossed together while holding hands to end the day on a high as all three had easily qualified for the final which will start at 5:00 a.m. ET on Sunday.
Clouvel shared, "It was so nice. It was a beautiful act of solidarity. It was to show that we are together, and that we cheer each other on.
"Of course, we all want to win. When it's time to compete, we compete. But that's also what pentathlon is about. It's about sharing. And since it's the semifinal, there comes a time when we can share it together and enjoy it together."
While not a part of the moment, Bryson had good perspective on the closeness of the pentathlon community.
"You have to remember that with a lot of these athletes we’ve been running and competing together since we were 14 years old. We’ve grown up together, we’ve all been friends, and we have a really good community and culture within the pentathlon, and I’m just really proud for the girls working so hard. Some of my friends have had tough days and it's been difficult, but unfortunately that’s the nature of pentathlon and the nature of having five sports. We’re all really supportive of each other and I’m really proud of that."
RIDING RESULTS l BONUS FENCING RESULTS l SWIMMING RESULTS l LASER RUN RESULTS
