She has already competed in the Olympic Games in the sports of swimming and triathlon. She won a gold medal in swimming at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., swimming the third leg of the 800m freestyle relay. She finished sixth and 23rd, respectively, in the triathlon at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Taormina’s top modern pentathlon World Cup performance came in March 2007 when she won the silver medal at World Cup #2 in Cairo, Egypt.
Coming off of her own Olympic qualifying performance at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Michelle ”Mickey” Kelly (Chatham, N.Y./Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) finished ninth with 4,140 total modern pentathlon points, also in Group B to also qualify for Saturday’s final.
Taormina posted scores of 1,000 in the shoot, 808 in the fence, 1,364 in swimming and 1,052 in running to lead her group. Kelly scored 1,012 in shooting, 808 in fencing, 1,164 in the swim and 1,156 in the run.
Fifteen year-old Margaux Isaksen (Fayetteville, Ark./Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished in 24th place with 3,960 total modern pentathlon points in Group A in her first senior level World Championships while Emily Shertzer (Hershey, Penn./Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored 3,876 points to finish 27th in Group A. Neither Isaksen or Shertzer advanced to the final round.
The U.S. men will compete in semifinal action tomorrow, August 17. Representing the U.S. will be Eli Bremer (Monument, Colo./Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Air Force), who won the gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to qualify himself for the 2008 Olympic Games. Bremer will be joined by Dennis Bowsher (Dallas, Texas/Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army), Niul Manske (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) and Sam Sacksen (Somerset, Pa./Colorado Springs, Colo.).
The USA Pentathlon Team is coached by Janusz Peciak (Colorado Springs, Colo.). He is assisted by Scott Christie (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) and Michael Cintas (Rancho Mirage, Calif.) who serves as the riding coach.
As was the case with the 2007 Pan American Games, the 2007 World Modern Pentathlon Championships is also an Olympic qualifying event. Athletes must finish in the top three of the final to automatically earn an Olympic berth. Including these World Championships, athletes have four more opportunities to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The gold medal winners at the 2007 World Cup Final, September 15-16 in Beijing, China earn an automatic Olympic berth, as will the top three finishers at the 2008 World Championships next May. The remaining seven Olympic slots will be determined by the World Cup ranking from the Olympic qualifying season, June 2007 through June 1, 2008.
For complete women’s semifinal results from the 2007 World Modern Pentathlon Championships in Berlin, Germany, please visit the UIPM website at www.pentathlon.org. Representing the United States of America at the 2007 World Modern Pentathlon Championships in Berlin, Germany are:
- Women:
Margaux Isaksen (Fayetteville, Ark./Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Michelle ”Mickey” Kelly (Chatham, N.Y./Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army)
Emily Shertzer (Hershey, Penn./Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Sheila Taormina (Livonia, Mich./Colorado Springs, Colo.)
- Men:
Dennis Bowsher (Dallas, Texas/Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army)
Eli Bremer (Monument, Colo./Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Air Force)
Niul Manske (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army)
Sam Sacksen (Somerset, Pa./Colorado Springs, Colo.)
- Staff:
Head Coach: Janusz Peciak (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Assistant Coach: Scott Christie (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Riding Coach: Michael Cintas (Rancho Mirage, Calif.)
