USA Pentathlon Hosts Final Olympic Selection Event in Colorado Springs February 27-28

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – USA Pentathlon has teamed up with the Colorado Springs Sports Corp. to host the final qualifying competition for the 2021 US World Cup Team. Selected athletes will compete in World Cup competitions in Budapest, Hungary, Sofia, Bulgaria and Seoul, Korea to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.

2019 Pan American Games medalists Amro El Geziry, Brendan Anderson, Samantha Schultz, Isabella Isaksen and Jessica Davis will join finalists from around the nation in this last of three US qualifying events. El Geziry, Schultz and Isaksen are also members of the US Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP). The US Army has been supportive of this Olympic sport comprised of equestrian jumping, fencing, swimming, running and shooting (laser pistols) since General George Patton participated in the 1912 Games as a young Lieutenant.

This will be the first competition of note for athletes who have been sidelined since the pandemic began. “It’s been over a year since our athletes last competed and the first World Cup is scheduled to start March 24 in Budapest-so our back is against the wall for team selection”, said Rob Stull, Director of USA Pentathlon and a 3-time Olympian in the sport. “It has been hard to confirm venues due to COVID restrictions and this is where Sports Corp. President/CEO Tom Osborne came to our rescue, locating venues in and around Olympic City, USA that will work for this important selection event.”

Competition begins Saturday, February 27th with the Women’s final and concludes Sunday with the Men’s competition. COVID protocols will be strictly enforced and unfortunately general spectators will not be allowed to attend.

About USA Pentathlon. The Olympic Sport of Modern Pentathlon was created by the founder of the Modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre DeCoubertin as the test of the “most complete athlete in the world.” The sport consists of the 5 skills required of a courier to deliver a message during the Napoleonic wars. The messenger would need to ride any horse over obstacles, use sword and pistol for defense and be able to run and swim the message home. Pentathlon is considered a core sport on the Olympic program. For more about USA Pentathlon Multisport go to www.usapentathlon.org