01 Apr UIPM 2016 World Cup #3 – Laura Asadauskaite wins again in Rome
Order was restored on the UIPM World Cup circuit as Laura Asadauskaite won her first event of the season ahead of another member of the Olympic champions’ club.
Asadauskaite, the London 2012 gold medallist from Lithuania, and Lena Schoeneborn, Germany’s Beijing 2008 champion, re-asserted their supremacy in the Women’s Individual event by winning gold and silver respectively ahead of bronze medallist Anastasiya Prokopenko (Belarus).
For Asadauskaite (LTU), it was a timely return to form after she could only finish 13th in her first event of the 2016 Olympic season, World Cup #2 in Rio de Janeiro.
For Schoeneborn (GER), it was a continuation of an excellent season: she came home 2nd in Rio de Janeiro having previously won gold at World Cup #1 in Cairo. So there was a familiar feel about the appearance of the podium as the two Olympic champions stood side by side at the medal presentation.
Asadauskaite (LTU) said afterwards: “It was almost a perfect day. It started with the Fencing where I was very focused, win by win.
“In the Riding I went clear and I was very happy about that. In the Combined Event, for the first two laps I worked very hard and then after that I just kept calm.
“I enjoyed being the podium because I won here in Rome last year and I am very happy to be back on the top of the podium.
“The process of Olympic preparation is getting better and better and I will keep it going.”
Schoeneborn (GER) said: “I am very happy. I didn’t expect it to go like this at all – not for the first World Cup, not for the second and not for this one, but if I have a good fence I can look forward to a good day.
“Of course it depends on the Riding and the Run/Shoot but this time by ride was really unbeatable, so I am very glad with the second place.
“I will probably have a long training camp now, after one World Cup after another. There is time for training now because we still have another goal coming up this year, which I want to prepare for.”
Halfway through the Women’s Individual Final it was neither of the former Olympic champions who were setting the pace. Instead, it was Elodie Clouvel (FRA) who led the standings, but her medal challenge ended abruptly when she was eliminated in the Riding.
The Fencing Ranking Round saw Schoeneborn (GER) lead the way with 27 wins from her 35 bouts, ahead of Asadauskaite (LTU, 26) and Clouvel (FRA, 25).
After the Swimming, the Frenchwoman moved to the top of the leaderboard having registered the second-fastest time of the day (2mins 08.73secs). The only woman to swim faster was Gulnaz Gubaydullina (RUS, 2:08.30), who repeated the outstanding form she showed in Rio when edging out Clouvel (FRA) in a thrilling 200m race.
Clouvel (FRA) continued to seize the day in the Fencing Bonus Round where she came out on top, taking maximum points into the last two disciplines.
Unfortunately for the world No.7, a zero score in Riding took all of the momentum out of her charge and her experienced rivals took full advantage of her struggles on horseback.
Eight pentathletes enjoyed a flawless round, including Asadauskaite (LTU), and this allowed her to start the Combined Event in pole position with a nine-second advantage over Yane Marques (BRA) and Schoeneborn (GER).
The world No.1, who is the reigning World Cup and European champion as well as holder of the biggest honour in the sport, never had any cause to look behind her as she stretched her lead to enjoy a comfortable victory in front of an appreciative Roman crowd.
Similarly, Schoeneborn (GER) soon left Marques (BRA) behind and enjoyed a comfortable last lap knowing that she had done enough to keep the challenge of Prokopenko (BLR) at bay, and knowing the leader was out of sight. Marques, who is the great hope for a home medal at Rio 2016, finished 5th, one place behind Kim Sunwoo (KOR).
There was no home success for Italy to cheer, as Elena Micheli finished 17th and Claudia Cesarini, the winner of World Cup #2, 22nd. The home crowd will return today in the hope of seeing something special from Riccardo de Luca, the defending World Cup champion in the Men’s Individual.
The UIPM President, Dr Klaus Schormann, said: “In Rome, the historical Olympic city, the final of the Women’s Individual event was a big success with a fantastic environment created by the Carabinieri Cavalry and other elements of the cultural programme.
“But the most important part was to have our Olympic champions from 2008 and 2012 on the podium, as well as our Brazilian lady Yane Marques in 5th place. We have our best athletes on the podium and that shows that preparations for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro are really on course.
“This was a great occasion for our athletes on the way to Rio.”
The Combined Event of each final at World Cup #3 is available to watch on live stream at UIPM’s online TV channel uipmtv.org, where coverage resumes at 1715 CEST tomorrow (April 2) with the Men’s Individual Final, followed by the Mixed Relay on April 3. For up-to-date results of all competitions go to pentathlon.org.
2016 UIPM World Cup #3, Rome
Women’s Individual Final Final Standings
1 ASADAUSKAITE Laura LTU 1417
2 SCHONEBORN Lena GER 1383
3 PROKOPENKO Anastasiya BLR 1369
4 KIM Sunwoo KOR 1358
5 MARQUES Yane BRA 1351
6 KHOKHLOVA IRYNA ARG 1350
7 SHIMAZU Rena JPN 1348
8 SCHLEU Annika GER 1347
9 MALISZEWSKA Anna POL 1343
10 SOTERO Alice ITA 1342
11 FRENCH Kate GBR 1336
12 OZYUKSEL Ilke TUR 1332
13 KARMANCHIKOVA Olga RUS 1330
14 KODEDOVA Barbora CZE 1327
15 VENCKAUSKAITE Gintare LTU 1311
16 ALEKSZEJEV Tamara HUN 1309
17 MICHELI Elena ITA 1304
18 BURIAK Anna RUS 1293
19 PRASIANTSOVA Iryna BLR 1282
20 MCCANN Melanie CAN 1281
21 RUBLEVSKA Elena LAT 1280
22 CESARINI Claudia ITA 1279
23 POTAPENKO Elena KAZ 1276
24 JEONG Mina KOR 1252
25 ISAKSEN Isabella USA 1252
26 SALMINEN Laura FIN 1249
27 TOMONAGA Natsumi JPN 1244
28 RIMSAITE Donata RUS 1217
29 ARCEO Mariana MEX 1198
30 CLOUVEL Elodie FRA 1105
31 YANG Soo jin KOR 981
32 OTEIZA Marie FRA 981
33 LELLYS Larissa BRA 976
34 SERAPINAITE Ieva LTU 949
35 GUBAYDULLINA Gulnaz RUS DNS
36 VEGA Tamara MEX DNS
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