JER is our resident expert in the sport of Pentathlon, and we are happy to share her updates as the London Olympics draw closer. Last month, we followed Team Canada through a training session and onto the World Cup event in Charlotte, NC. Today we catch up with the North and Central American and Caribbean Championships in Guatemala. As always, thanks to JER for writing and thank you for reading.
From JER:
Pentathlon Nation, NORCECA edition – Gold for Donna!
A few months’ back, I posted a video of my young mare Niina doing a Novice dressage test. The video was clear, steady and focused; the real-time narration by Mike Plumb was insightful and wise.
Today’s video is nothing like that one.
What you’re about to watch might be the worst riding video ever in the history of modern pentathlon, and it’s not the riding that’s the problem here. See for yourselves. (Careful with those volume controls.)
This is what I get for sending my video camera to Guatemala for the NORCECA Modern Pentathlon Championships. (NORCECA stands for North and Central America and Caribbean.) My good friend Bob was assigned to coach the Canadian team that weekend, and he assured me he could take some EN-worthy videos while guiding the Canadians to pentathlon glory.
And one of those things actually happened. Canadian girl Donna Vakalis took gold in a competition decided only in the last seconds of the final run/shoot combined phase. After a perfect 1200-point ride, Donna started first in the combined, just four seconds ahead of the USA’s Suzanne Stettinius. Donna outran Suzanne but Suzanne outshot Donna. The two girls traded places through the first two laps. Going into the final 1km run, Suzanne held a sizable lead.
But Donna got to the finish line first.
Donna on the podium with Suzanne Stettinius (USA) and Marines Garza (GUA).
Runner-up Suzanne Stettinius with a young volunteer.
The NORCECA victory gives Donna a healthy number of points towards her goal of qualifying for London, so let’s keep our fingers crossed for her in the final two World Cup competitions.
PS. Perhaps that’s not the worst modern pentathlon video ever. I’m not really sure what this is, or how it relates to modern pentathlon, or why these girls aren’t wearing pants.
