A field of 36 athletes from 17 nations will compete in the women’s final of the UIPM Pentathlon World Cup Los Angeles Wednesday in Claremont and Pomona, including Olympic silver medalists Elodie Clouvel of France and Samantha Murray of Britain.
There are two Americans in the field, Isabella Isaksen and Samantha Achterberg.
Isaksen, who was 24th in the 2016 Olympic women’s modern pentathlon, matched the 14th-highest point total among the 67 athletes in qualifying Monday, 1,006. Achterberg had the 33rd-highest total, 985.
Both are members of the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program which provides outstanding soldier-athletes the support and training to compete and succeed in national and international competitions leading to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, while maintaining a professional military career and promoting the U.S. Army to the world.
Isaksen, a 24-year-old from Fayetteville, Arkansas, is a private. Isaksen’s husband, Amro El Geziry, will be the only American competing in Thursday’s men’s final.
Achterberg, who turned 26 Tuesday, is from Littleton, Colorado. She is also a private. Achterberg and Isaksen both joined the Army in 2017.
Clouvel, the 2016 women’s pentathlon Olympic silver medalist, was 34th in qualifying, with 984 points. She won the season-opening World Cup competition in Cairo March 2.
Murray, the 2012 women’s pentathlon Olympic silver medalist, matched the 12th-highest qualifying score, 1,007. She did not compete in Cairo.
Uliana Batashova of Russia had the top score in qualifying, 1,035 points, 19 ahead of fellow Russian Gulnaz Gubaydullina and Tamara Vega of Mexico.
Riding is not included in qualifying.
There are four athletes from Italy in the field and three each from Mexico, Germany, France, Korea and Russia.
The competition will begin at 9 a.m. at The Claremont Club with 200-meter swimming. Fencing will begin at 10:30 a.m. at Fairplex’s Expo Hall 8.
Riding will begin at 3 p.m. at Fairplex’s Grandstand. The laser-run, where the athletes seek to hit a target five times from 10 meters with a laser pistol before running each of the four 800-meter laps, will be held at 5 p.m., also at the Grandstand.
Competitors receive points based on their performances in each element of the modern pentathlon.
The fencing bonus round, riding and laser-run will be streamed on UIPM TV, the video service of modern pentathlon’s international governing body. Admission is free. Parking is $12.