Art - Photography - Shoko Ogushi's Modern Pentathlon

So I've bought the last remaining Shoko Ogushi's Modern Pentathlon book at amazon.de. The shipping cost more than the book itself, but it was worthy paying and waiting for the arrival. I never tried a photo book review, even in my native language, so I recommend to check the link at the bottom of the post to get more info about the book. Since the editions are all sold, hopefully they will publish a new one soon, stay tuned if you're interested.

The pictures were taken through several years (2005-2008) in several events under the old format (before the introduction of the combined event) and the book has 5 chapters, one for each event, plus a small- and beautiful like the pictures- text with illustrations (comics in one of Japanese typical styles). One of her declared aims was to capture the manhood sexyness (not vulgar), I'm OK with my sexuality to say she accomplished it, but then I also missed more ladies pictures. Anyway, the book is not about hot bodies and I think it catches perfectly the modern pentathlon spirit. It's a different record from the regular ones we have from the competitions, with many pictures off-competition and also under the artistic view. I highly recommend the book and a sample can be found at the website.

Shoko Ogushi's Modern Pentathlon Photo Project website:
http://www.modernpentathlonphotoproject.com/blog/?attachment_id=80

2009 Season Rankings - Women - Countries' Ranking

Adapted from the current women's New Balance World Ranking, based on nationality, with the following ranges:

Top10 (195 - 149 points)
Top20 (195-127 points)
Top30 (195-100 points)
Top50 (195-59 points)

Country with most number of pentathletes goes to top, if leveled the tie-break criteria is the average ranking.

Country Code (number of pentathletes)

Top10
1. LTU (2)
2. EGY (1)
3. FRA (1)
4. GBR (1)
5. RUS (1)
6. HUN (1)
7. CHN (1)
8. POL (1)
9. GER (1)

Top20
1. LTU (2)
2. GBR (2)
3. HUN (2)
4. GER (2)
5. CZE (2)
6. EGY (1)
7. FRA (1)
8. RUS (1)
9. CHN (1)
10. BRA (1)
11. LAT (1)
12. USA (1)
13. BLR (1)

Top30
1. HUN (5)
2. GBR (4)
3. POL (3)
4. GER (3)
5. LTU (2)
6=. CZE (2)
6=. RUS (2)
8. CHN (2)
9. BLR (2)
10. EGY (1)
11. FRA (1)
12. BRA (1)
13. LAT (1)
14. USA (1)

Top50
1. GBR (6)
2. HUN (5)
3. RUS (5)
4. GER (4)
5. POL (4)
6. CZE (4)
7. FRA (4)
8. CHN (3)
9. EGY (3)
10. LTU (2)
11. BLR (2)
12. CAN (2)
13. BRA (1)
14. LAT (1)
15. USA (1)
16. KOR (1)
17. ITA (1)
18. KAZ (1)

2009 Season Rankings - Countries' Rankings - Men

Adapted from current men's New Balance World Ranking, based on nationality, with the following ranges:

top10 (215-146 points)
top20 (215-119 points)
top30 (215-104 points)
top50 (215-68 points)

Country with more pentathletes goes to top, if there's a tie it's based on the avarage.

Country Code (Number of pentathetes)

Top10
1. CZE (2)
2. LTU (2)
3. HUN (1)
4. RUS (1)
5. ITA (1)
6. AUT (1)
7. BLR (1)
8. UKR (1)

Top20
1. HUN (3)
2. EGY (3)
3. CZE (2)
4. LTU (2)
5. UKR (2)
6. ITA (1)
7. RUS (1)
8. AUT (1)
9. BLR (1)
10. POL (1)
11. MEX (1)
12. GBR (1)

Top30
1. LTU (4)
2. EGY (4)
3. HUN (3)
4. CZE (3)
5. ITA (3)
6. UKR (2)
7. RUS (2)
8. BLR (2)
9. GBR (2)
10. AUT (1)
11. POL (1)
12. MEX (1)
13. LAT (1)
14. JPN (1)

Top50
1. LTU (4)
2. EGY (4)
3. CZE (3)
4. ITA (4)
5. RUS (4)
6. HUN (3)
7. UKR (3)
8. BLR (3)
9. POL (3)
10. KOR (3)
11. GBR (2)
12. MEX (2)
13. JPN (2)
14. LAT (2)
15. GER (2)
16. USA (2)
17. AUT (1)
18. FRA (1)
19. NED (1)

2009 Season Rankings - Women - Ranking by country

Let's have a look at the current New Balance World Ranking, pentahletes with 15 or more points in the ranking (up to #99).


Lithuania
1. Laura Asadauskaite (1)
2. Donata Rimsaite (2)

Egypt
1. Aya Medany (3)
2. Jiha El-Midany (39)
3. Yasmine Khaled (41)
4. Reem El-Sayed (77)

Great Britain
1. Heather Fell (4)
2. Mhairi Spence (15)
3. Freyja Prentice (21)
4. Katy Livingston (25)
5. Louise Helyer (37)
6. Charlotte Granfield (49)
7. Samantha Muurray (65)
8. Katy Burke (75)
9. Lydia Rosling (84)

France
1. Amelie Caze (5)
2. Juliette Darras (36)
3. Anais Eudes (42)
4. Elfie Arnaud (50)
5. Paola Bartoli (66)

Hungary
1. Leila Gyenesei (17)
2. Sarolta Kovacs (14)
3. Adrienn Toth (23)
4. Krisztina Cseh (26)
5. Zsuzsanna Vörös (28)
6. Zsofia Bartalis (74)
7. Viktoria Pataki (81)

China
1. Qian Chen (8)
2. Lean Dong (29)
3. Xiu Xiu (32)
4. Wenjing Zhu (73)
5. Yanyan Wu (80)
6. Ye Zhang (91)

Poland
1. Sylvia Czwojdxinska (9)
2. Paulina Boenisz (11)
3. Katarzyna Wojcik (24)
4. Edita Maloszyc (47)
5. Aleksandra Skarzynsk (64)
6. Magdalena Walesa (89)

Germany
1. Lena Schöneborn (10)
2. Eva Trautmann (19)
3. Claudia Knack 9220
4. Janine Kohlmann (35)
5. Annika Schleu (58)
6. Paria Mahrokh (78)
7. Ronja Doring (82)

Brazil
1. Yane Marques (12)
2. Larissa Lellys (61)

Latvia
1. Elena Rublevska (13)

Czech Republic
1. Lucie Grolichova (16)
2. Natalie Dianova (20)
3. Sylvie Cerna (31)
4. Barbora Kodedova (46)

United States
1. Margaux Isaksen (17)

Belarus
1. Anastasia Samusevich (18)
2. Anfisa Kasyanava (27)
3. Nadejda Zasimenka (51)
4. Anna Savchenko (57)

South Korea
1. Soo-Jin Yang (33)
2. Yerin Mun (72)
3. Eun-Byeol Kim (95)
4. Cho-Rong Yun (97)

Canada
1. Donna Vakalis (34)
2. Monica Pinette (38)
3. Kara Grant (53)
4. Rachael Gardner (87)

Italy
1. Lavinia Bonessio (40)
2. Marianna Videtta (54)
3. Alessia Mancini (56)
4. Sabrina Crognale (59)
5. Alessia Pieretti (70)
6. Claudia Cesarini (93)

Kazakhstan
1. Alena Abrossimova (48)
2. Lada Jienbalanova (76)
3. Galina Dolgushina (88)
4. Xenia Alexandrova (90)

Argentina
1. Pamela Zapata (52)

Mexico
1. Marlene Sanchez (55)
2. Andrea Yumiko Ponce (69)
3. Tamara Vega (71)
4. Adriana Trujillo (79)

Finland
1. Laura Salminen (60)
2. eevi Bengs (98)

Denmark
1. Rikke Hjort-Jensen (62)

Slovakia
1. Lucia Krsnakova (63)

Switzerland
1. Berlinda Schreiber (67)
2. Valeria Moser (99)

Ukraine
1. Ganna Buriak (68)

Japan
1. Narumi Kurosu (85)

Australia
1. Angie Darby (86)
2. Charlotte Curnow (92)

Greece
1. Xeni Katsimantou (94)

Bulgaria
1. Tania Barakova (96)

2009 Season Rankings - Men - Ranking by country

Let's have a look at the current ranking, after all major competitions were held. The cut was 15 points, next to #120 in the ranking. The actual ranking can be found at UIPM website, so I've made new rankings based on the New Balance World Ranking: countries' ranking and ranking by country. Here we go with the ranking by country

Hungary
1. Ádám Marosi (1)
2. Róbert Németh (13)
3. Peter Tibolya (14)
4. Róbert Kasza (94)

Czech Republic
1. David Svoboda (2)
2. Ondřej Polívka (3)
3. Michal Michalík (29)
4. Libor Capalini (43)
5. Michal Sedlecký (74)
6. Martin Dvořák (109)

Russia
1. Ilia Frolov (4)
2. Valery Ovcharov (26)
3. Pavel Sekretev (33)
4. Semen Burtsev (39)
5. Maxim Aldochkine (72)
6. Igor Bondarev (92)

Lithuania
1. Edvinas Krungolcas (5)
2. Justinas Kinderis (6)
3. Tadas Zemaitis (22)
4. Andrejus Zadneprovskis (27)

Italy
1. Federico Giancamilli (7)
2. Nicola Benedetti (16)
3. Riccardo de Luca (28)
4. Pierpaolo Petroni (47)
5. Luigi Quarto (56)
6. Davide Lupi (102)
7. Auro Franceschini (108)
8. Domenico Porreca (119)

Austria
1. Thomas Daniel (8)

Belarus
1. Yahor Lapo (9)
2. Mihail Prokopenko (24)
3. Dzmitry Meliakh (37)
4. Mihail Mitsyk (59)

Ukraine
1. Dmytro Kirpulyanskyy (10)
2. Pavlo Tymoshchenko (11)
3. Pavlo Kirpulyanskyy (31)
4. Mykola Sirenkyy (69)
5. Sergiy Kukshin (90)
6. Yevgeny Borkin (103)

Egypt
1. Amro El-Geziry (13)
2. Omar El-Geziry (18)
3. Mustafa Nofal (20)
4. Yasser Hafny (21)
5. Raouf Abd El-Raouf (52)

Poland
1. Marcin Horbacz (15)
2. Bartosz Majewski (34)
3. Szymon Staskiewicz (38)
4. Przemyslav Galecki (68)
5. Tomasz Chmielewski (100)
6. Mateusz Posnik (101)
7. Remigiusz Golis (107)

Mexico
1. Oscar Soto (17)
2. Alvaro Sandoval (36)
3. Jorge Inzunza (61)
4. Ismail Hernandez (62)
5. Jorge Camacgo (97)
6. Jesus Galicia (106)
7. Flavio Solis (117)

Great Britain
1. Samuel Weale (19)
2. Nicolas woodbridge (23)
3. Steven Mason (70)

Latvia
1. Deniss Cherkovskis (25)
2. Sandris Sika (48)
3. Mihails Jefremenko (91)

Japan
1. Shinichi Tomii (30)
2. Hayato Noguchi (41)
3. Shinya Fujii (65)
4. Yuuki Fujimori (89)


South Korea
1. Choon-Huan Lee (31)
2. Jung-Sub Kim (45)
3. Dong-Hong Nam 950)
4. Dong-Soo Park (53)
5. Sung-Hyun Lee (58)
6. Jinhwa Jung (67)
7. Jong-Hyub Lee (88)
8. Woojin Hwang (93)
9. Il-Mo Yoon (95)
10. Ki-Hyun Kim (96)
11. Jihun Ahn (112)
12. Hwonho Jung (116)

Germany
1. Sebastian Dietz (35)
2. Eric Walther (46)
3. Matthias Lehmann (71)
4. Sascha Vetter (75)
5. Steffan Kollner (86)
6. Christopher Link (111)

France
1. Christopher Patte (40)
2. Bruno Merle (57)
3. Cyril Viala (73)
4. John Zakrzewski (77)
5. Maurin Holyst (99)

United States
1. William Brady (42)
2. Sam Sacksen (49)
3. Denis Bowsher (81)
4. Eli Bremer (98)

Netherlands
1. Kevin Hilgeholt (44)

Greece
1. Dimitrios Motsios (54)

Kazakhstan
1. Nurjan Kusmoldanov (63)
2. Vladimir Tebenkov (76)
3. Evgeny Tebenkov (82)
4. Leonid Zimarev (84)
5. Denis Turov (114)

China
1. Lin Li (55)
2. Guan Wang (60)
3. Hepeng Wu (79)

Spain
1. Jaime Lopez (64)

Kyrgyzstan
1. Anton Novikov (66)
2. Nikolay Vedmed (89)
3. Nikita Kuznetsov (110)
4. Ilias Baktybekov (113)

Brazil
1. Rafael Marzullo (78)
2. Wagner Romão (83)
3. Luís Magno (87)

Argentina
1. Emanuel Zapata (80)

Bulgaria
1. Blagoy Dimitrov (104)

2009 French Championships

Last weekend happened the French Open International Championships in Paris

Both titles (men's and women's) went to local pentathletes. Mabrin Holyst won the men's competition on Saturday, Amélie Cazé was the winner on Sunday.

The men's competition had 27 pentathletes from 5 countries, and everyone was expecting Ádám Marosi to win another title. The Hungarian, the best pentathlete of the year, had problems in riding, when scored only 100 points and finished in 18th position. Holyst was the winner with 5976 points, and could rely in great fencing and riding to manage to win with a good 11:40 in combined event, 5th best time in this event. Second came German Christopher Link (5844 points) who had the best performance in combined event. Third position was of Italian Domenico Porreca (5832 points). Local hopes Patte, Merle and Zakrzewski were 5th, 6th and 8th, repectivelly, while Viala for some reason didn't start for the swimming, retiring from the competition.

In the women's competition, no place for surprises with Amélie Cazé winning with 5604 points. British Katy Burke was second with a pretty solid performance in first 3 events, being the first to start the combined event, ahead of Cazé, but Cazé was better in combined and took the title. French Elfie Arnaud was 3rd, scoring 5392 points and had the best time in combined event. The women's competition had 16 participants.

Results: http://ffpentathlon.franceolympique.com/ffpentathlonmoderne/fichiers/File/resultats/2009/france_sen_jun_2009.pdf

National Championships and Rankings around the world

I couldn't find rankings or national seniors competitions for Hungary, Great Britain, Egypt and Mexico. I have yet to have a look at Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, China, Japan and South Korea, all those difficult because of the different alphabet (except for the Baltic countries). I'd like also to add results or rankings for continents and regions (like Scandinavia, for example). If/when not available for any of these countries or regions, I'll build a ranking based on current New Balance World Ranking.

Coming in the next days...

2009 Polish Championships

The Polish Championships was actually an open event, with pentathletes from several countries, a really strong competition. It was held in Drzonków, where some future big events will be held, in June. Let's have a look at the results. Horbacz and Boenisz won the competitions.

Men
1 - Marcin Horbacz (POL) 6080
2 - Remigiusz Golis (POL) 5956
3 - Martin Dvorak (CZE) 5956 (no typo here)
4 - Ondrej Polívka (CZE) 5936
5 - Cyril Viala (FRA) 5908
6 - Tomasz Chmielewski (POL) 5896

http://www.pentathlon.org.pl/upload/2009/MPS_Men.xls

To have an idea of how strong was the field, were left out of the top 6 list: Majewski, Staśkiewicz, Sika, Patte, Sedeckly and Hilgelholt (of course it's not a big deal a top athlete having a bad day and a poor display, but the amount shows how tough was the field).

The women's field had less pentathletes, but was also a god line up

Women
1 - Paulina Boenisz (POL) 5648
2 - Sylwia Czwojdzińska(POL) 5600
3 - Lena Schöneborn (GER) 5564
4 - Lucia Kršňáková (SVK) 5320
5 - Joanna Gomolińska (POL) 5300
6 - Magdalena Walesa (POL) 5236

Wójcik finished 7th and legendary Małoszyc (born 1969) came 8th.

http://www.pentathlon.org.pl/upload/2009/MPS_Women.xls

2009 Italian Championships

The Italian Champioships happened in Roma, 24-25 October. Giancamilli confirmed his good form showed in Rio de Janeiro and took the title. Former champion Benedetti came fourth in this strong competition, with Lupi and De Lucca finishing ahead of last year's winner. Quarto and Petroni disappointed with performances below the expected. In the women competition, Cesarini took the title, surpassing several athletes from the army.

Men
1 - Federico Giancamilli/CS Forestale 6100
2 - Davide Lupi/ASD De Gregorio 6052
3 - Riccardo De Lucca/CS Carabineri 6020
4 - Nicola Benedetti/CS Forestale 6016
5 - Domenico Porreca/Termoli 5916

Franceschini (6th - 5840), Quarto (12th - 5636), Pier PaoloPetroni (19th - 4624 - SF)

Women
1 - Claudia Cesarini /SS Lazio 5292
2 - Alessia Pieretti/Esercito 5276
3 - Marianna Videtta /Esercito 5188
4 - Alessia Mancini/Esercito 5148
5 - Lavinia Bonessio/Esercito 5120

http://www.fipm.it/file/35084.pdf

2009 Nationals and Internationals Level3/4 - Austria, Switzerland and Slovakia

From Austria we have Thomas Daniel, who had a great season and finished 8th in New Balance world Ranking. From Switzerland, Berlinda Schreiber only competed twice this year. Slovakia has a promising new generation of Tomas, and I always wanted to know the name of AC Martin, who is not active since last year.

Austria

International Women Competition - Wien, Austria - October 2009

1- Sandy Straus (GER) 5244
2 - Tabea Budde (GER) 5148
3 - Lenka Bilková (CZE) 4716

National Austrian Women
1 - Verena Jäggle/Wiener Verien MF (6th) 3884
2 - Elke Schuller/HSV Wiener Neustadt (8th) 3644
3 - Nicole Bartoska/HSV Graz (9th) 3332

National Austrian Men - Award
1- Thomas Daniel/HSV Wiener Neustadt
2 - Rüdiger Tesar/HSV Wiener Neustadt
2 - Robin Sanz/HSV Wiener Neustadt

http://www.modernerfuenfkampf.at/

Switzerland

Swiss Open Championships - Women - Frauenfeld (SUI)
1- Louise Helyer (GBR) 5448
2 - Lydia Rosling (GBR) 5072
3 - Narumi Kurosu (JPN) 4948


Swiss Open Championships - Men - Frauenfeld (SUI)
1- Tomáš Škopek (SVK) 5888
2 - Eanna Bailey (IRL) 5816
3 - Tomáš Doležel (SVK) 5796

http://www.pentathlonsuisse.ch/downloads/news/Liste%20Excel%20Rangliste%20engl..pdf

Slovakia

Grand Prix - Veľká cena Slovenska 2009 - Banska Bystrica - September 2009
Men
1- Tomáš Doležel 6012
2 - Tomáš Škopek 5960
3 - Tomáš Vrábel 5604

http://www.pentathlon.sk/preteky/vysledky_pretek.php?id_pretek=245&nazov_p=Ve%BEk%E1+cena+Slovenska+2009&rocnik=2009&kat=O&pohl=___1%25&potvrd=Vyp%ED%9A+v%FDsledky


Slovak Cup Final - November 07, Banska Bystrica

2009 German Championships

Some old news here, the German National Championships happened in May, in the city of Bonn. Germany has a solid team featuring Olympic champion Schöneborn and also Trautmann, Knack, Kohlmann, Walther, Vetter and Dietz. Steffen Gebhardt only competed in World Cup 2 Cairo this year, I hope he can be fit for next season.

Men's
1 - Eric Walther 5940
2 - Stefan Köllner 5800
3 - Michails Jefremenko (LAT) 5788

Sascha Vetter finished the competition in 8th, while Sebastian Dietz finished only in the 12th position. Some foreign athletes took part of the event, the most known being Martin Dvořák (CZE) and Sandris Sika (LAT).

http://www.dvmf.de/uploads/media/IDM_Bonn_Maenner_01.pdf

Women's
1 - Lena Schöneborn 5608
2 - Janine Kohlmann 5564
3 - Eva Trautmann 5464

Claudia Knack had problems in riding and finished in 18th position.

http://www.dvmf.de/uploads/media/IDM_Bonn_Frauen_01.pdf

2009 US Ranking and National Championships

Let's have a quick look at the 2009 American modern pentathlon season. The US Nationals were actually results from the NORCECA competition held in Palm Springs, California (June 2009). The American pentathletes that did well not only in national circuit but also in international competitions are Brady, Sam Sacksen, Bowsher, Bremer (men) and Isaksen (women).

Men's

National Championships (July 2009)
1 - Dennis Bowsher 5622
2 - William Brady 5397
3 - Sam Sacksen 5348
4 - Eli Bremer 5010
5 - Niul Manske 4756


Men's Ranking (as of November 2009)
1- William Brady 16837 points
2 - Sam Sacksen 16610 points
3- Dennis Bowsher 14702 points
4 - Eli Bremer 14612 points
5 - Niul Manske 4756


http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/18810/MEN_S_IPPS_Ranking_List-November_4__2009.pdf

Women's

National Championships
1- Margaux Isaksen 5014
2 - McKenzie West 3947
3 - Marissa Berger 3923

Women's Ranking (as of June 2009)
1 - Margaux Isaksen 16137
2 - Daelyn Chase 6927
3 - Suzanne Stettinius 4622

http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/13347/WOMEN_S_IPPS_Ranking_List-June_20_2009.pdf

2009 French Championships - Paris

The French Seniors Championships will be held in Paris, from 14 to 15 November. It will be a great competition, featuring French best pentahletes, like Berrou, Patte, Viala, Zakrewski and Merle in the men's and Cazé, Darras and Eudes in the women's. Pentathletes from Great Britain, Italy and Germany are expected to take part.

You can check the entry list at:

http://ffpentathlon.franceolympique.com/ffpentathlonmoderne/fichiers/File/competition/2009/engages/selections_france_seniors_2009.pdf

2009 Czech Modern Pentathlon Award

The Czech team had a great season, with medals in relay and team competitions and also great individual results. The individual highlights were Svoboda's silver in London World Senior Championships and Polívka's titles in Leipzig European Championships and World Cup 2 (Cairo), while the team won double gold in London at relay and also the silver medal in men's team. Svoboda and Polívka are currently #2 and #3, respectively, in the New Balance World Ranking. Too bad Libor Capalini and Michal Michalík couldn't compete a full season. Among the women, Grolichová won another national award but now faces close competition from junior up and coming Dianová.


Seniors

Men's
1- David Svoboda (ASC/Ados) 241 points
2 - Ondřej Polívka (ASC/Dukla) 224 points
3 - Michal Michalík (ASC/PSC) 134 points

Women's
1 - Lucie Grolichová (ASC/Ados) 135 points
2 - Natálie Dianová (ASC/Dukla) 125 points
3 - Silvie Černá (ASC/Ados) 91 points

Juniors

Men's
1 - Ondřej Polívka (ASC/Dukla) 195 points
2 - David Kindl (TJ Dukla) 49 points
3 - Jan Kuf (TJ Dukla) 41 points

Women's
1- Natálie Dianová (ASC/Dukla) 132 points
2 - Barbora Kodedová (PSC) 108 points
3 - Lenka Bilková (SCB) 64 points

In another award, Polívka won the poll of best Czech pentathlete of 2009 season. The younger pentathlete ever to be #1 at world ranking won this award for the first time, leaving Svoboda in second place and Grolichová in third place. Svoboda won the last two awards, while Capalini won for seven times. Highlights of Polívka this year were the titles mentioned above (European Championships, World Cup 2) and the gold at relay (with Svoboda) and silver at team competition (with Svoboda and Michalík) in London World Champoionships , gold in mixed relay (with his girlfriend Natálie Dianová), silver in team competition (with Svoboda and Capalini) and bronze in relay (with Sedlecký and Dvořák) in 3-relay in Leipzig European Championships. Lucie Grolichová, Natálie Dianová a Sylvie Černá won the prize of best team for their performances in London ánd Leipzig, where they won the relays competitions.

Photo Gallery of the Czech Team - pictures by Vítězslav Bureš, published at http://www.idnes.cz/

note: I've tried several times to edit this post (and others as well) with the pictures, but the edition tool sucks big time. So there is a lot of space between the pictures.

Polívka, Michalík, Svoboda (London)

Martin Dvořák, Ondřej Polívka a Michal Sedlecký (Leipzig)

Polívka, Svoboda, Capalini (Leipzig)

Grolichová, Dianová (London)

Černá and Grolichová (Leipzig)

2009 Brazilian Championships

The 2009 Brazilian Modern Pentathlon Championships was held last weekend in Resende, a city placed between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, at the Agulhas Negras Militar Academy. As expected, Yane Marques won the women seniors competition, with 5336 points. Larissa Lellys was second and Paula Souza completed the podium. In the men's competition, Aloísio Sandes clinched the title, with Luís Barroso Magno in second and veteran Wagner Romão in third. Priscila Oliveira finished first in juniors and Mariana Laporte took the title in Youth A with an impressive score of 4588 points.

Yane Marques

Good luck to girls and boys at Youth Olympic Qualifying in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that will happen in December. I hope they can get a spot in Singapore Games.

Source: http://www.pentatlo.org.br/noticia_detalhe.php?cod_noticias=225 (in Portuguese)

2009 Season's Best - Women - Riding

It's not easy to make stats about riding since it's a bit random, but let's see which pentathletes had a good ride this year.

Competitions:
World Cup 1 - Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico - March 2009 - WC1
World Cup 2 - Cairo, Egypt - April 2009 - WC2
World Cup 3 - Székesfehérvár, Hungary - May 2009 - WC3 (note: different venue from the men's competition, which happened a week before in Budapest)
World Cup 4 - Roma, Italy - May 2009 - WC4
World Cup Final - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - WCF
Senior World Championships - London, Great Britain - August 2009 - SWC


Best scores:
WC1 - El Midany (EGY), Eudes (FRA), Knack (GER), Rimsaite (LTU), Samusevich (BLR), Spence (GBR), Tóth (HUN) 1192; Marques (BRA), Trujillo (MEX) 1188
WC2 - Rimsaite (LTU), Chen (CHN), Darras (FRA), Kasyanava (BLR) 1180; Grolichová (CZE) 1172; Asadauskaitė (LTU) 1164
WC3 - Fell (GBR), Feshchenko (RUS), Heyler (GBR), Pinette (CAN), Rimsaite (LTU), Vörös (HUN), 1200; Guo (CHN), Kovács (HUN) 1192; Kuznetsova (RUS) 1188; Boenisz (POL), Czwojdzińska (POL), Cseh (HUN), Isaksen (USA), Livingston (GBR), Maloszyc (POL), Spence (GBR), Tóth (HUN) and Trautmann (GER) 1180
WC4 - Arnaud (FRA), Bartoli (ITA), Černá (CZE), Cesarini (ITA), Crognale (ITA), Skarzynsk (POL), Videtta (ITA) 1200; Cseh (HUN), Dianová (CZE), Eudes (FRA), Gretchichnikova (RUS), Gyenesei (HUN), Kasyanava (BLR), Mancini (ITA), Medany (EGY), Prentice (GBR), Rublevska (LAT), Tóth (HUN), Walesa (POL) 1180
WCF - Boenisz (POL), Knack (GER), Marques (BRA) 1200; Asadauskaitė (LTU), Černá (CZE), Dianová (CZE), Fell (GBR), Gyenesei (HUN), Medany (EGY), Rimsaite (LTU), Rublevska (LAT), Wojcik (POL) 1180
SWC - Czwojdzińska (POL) 1200; Kohlmann (GER) 1184; Prentice (GBR) 1172; Trautmann (GER) 1168; Asadauskaitė (LTU), Schöneborn (GER) 1164; Cseh (HUN) 1160, Knack (GER) and Wojcik (POL) 1160

Rimsaite didn't lose much points in equestrian this season, neither did her countrywoman Asadauskaitė and Cseh . Trautmann and Knack were the highlights of the German squad that had a god ride this year, just like the Czech and Polish pentathletes that had to worry about others disciplines than equestrian, where they gained a lot of points.

2009 Season's Best - Women - Fencing

Let's see which pentathletes did well this year in fencing and riding.

Competitions (only finals):
World Cup 1 - Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico - March 2009 - WC1
World Cup 2 - Cairo, Egypt - April 2009 - WC2
World Cup 3 - Székesfehérvár, Hungary - May 2009 - WC3 (note: different venue from the men's competition, which happened a week before in Budapest)
World Cup 4 - Roma, Italy - May 2009 - WC4
World Cup Final - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - WCF
Senior World Championships - London, Great Britain - August 2009 - SWC


880 or better scores:
WC1 - Struchtkova (RUS) 1048 (27), Cazé (FRA) and Czwojdzińska (POL) 1024 (26), Medany (EGY), Samusevich (BLR) 1000 (25); Rublevska (LAT) 976 (24); Boenisz (POL) 928 (22); Spence (GBR) 904 (21); Asadauskaitė (LTU), Kasyanava (BLR) and Livingston (GBR) 880 (20)
WC2 - Cazé (FRA) 1096 (29), Medany (EGY) 1000 (25), Rublevska (LAT) 976 (24); Czwojdzińska (POL) 952 (23), Gretchichnikova (RUS) 928 (22); Asadauskaitė (LTU), Boenisz (POL), Grolichová (CZE) and Schöneborn (GER) 904 (21); Černá (CZE), Dong (CHN), Pinette (CAN) and Struchtkova (RUS) 880 (20)
WC3 - Cazé (FRA) 1072 (28); Gretchichnikova (RUS) and Czwojdzińska (POL) 952 (23); Asadauskaitė (LTU), Schöneborn (GER), Cseh (HUN) and Maloszyc (POL) 904 (21); Boenisz (POL), Helyer (GBR), Kovács (HUN), Pinette (CAN), Spence (GBR) and Vörös (HUN) 880 (20)
WC4 - Rublevska (LAT) 1024 (26); Kasyanava (BLR), Tóth (HUN) and Struchtkova (RUS) 976 (24); Grolichová (CZE), Spence (GBR) and Samusevich (BLR) 952 (23); Crognale (ITA), Gretchichnikova (RUS), Gyenesei (HUN) and Mancini (ITA) 904 (21); Medany (EGY) and Livingston (GBR) 880 (20)
WCF - Cazé (FRA) and Grolichová (CZE) 1040 (17); Marques (BRA) 1000 (16); Rimsaite (LTU), Gyenesei (HUN) and Rublevska (LAT) 960 (15); Livingston 920 (14), Spence (GBR) 908? (14?), Černá (CZE) 880 (13)
SWC - Livingston (GBR) 1096 (29), Cseh (HUN) 1024 (26), Chen (CHN) 1000 (25), Struchtkova (RUS) 952 (23), Gretchichnikova (RUS), Medany (EGY), Vörös (HUN) and Rublevska (LAT) 928 (22); Rimsaite (LIT) and spence (GBR) 904 (21); Schöneborn (GER) 880 (20)

Top 12 Fencing
1 - Livingston (GBR) 1096 (29) SWC London and Cazé (FRA) 1096 (29) WC2 Cairo
3 - Cazé (FRA) 1072 (28) WC3 Székesfehérvár
4 - Cazé (FRA) and Grolichová (CZE) 1040 (17) WCF Rio de Janeiro
6 - Cseh (HUN) 1024 (26) SWC London, Cazé (FRA) and Czwojdzińska (POL) 1024 (26) WC1 Ciudad de Mexico; Rublevska (LAT) 1024 (26) WC4 Roma
10 - Chen (CHN) 1000 (25) SWC London; Marques (BRA) 1000 (16) WCF Rio de Janeiro; Medany (EGY) 1000 (25) WC2 Cairo

Cazé had a very good year in fencing, and her success is based on good performances in swimming and fencing. She has 4 of 9 best scores this year. Then we have mostly pentathletes from Eastern Europe, Great Britain, Medany and Marques. Another highlight is Chen, whose good run in fencing helped her taking the World Championship title, where the crowd favourite Livingston had probably the most impressive record of the year.

2009 Season's Best - Women - Swimming

Let's see how the girls who swam faster this season, last year of the full swimsuit. I'd like to know what will be of Medany, who swims with the "burkini" due to her religion belief (she's Muslim), hopefully they will find a solution for this question.

Competitions (finals only):
World Cup 1 - Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico - March 2009 - WC1
World Cup 2 - Cairo, Egypt - April 2009 - WC2
World Cup 3 - Székesfehérvár, Hungary - May 2009 - WC3 (note: different venue from the men's competition, which happened a week before in Budapest)
World Cup 4 - Roma, Italy - May 2009 - WC4
World Cup Final - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - WCF
Senior World Championships - London, Great Britain - August 2009 - SWC

Best times:
WC1 - Cazé (FRA) 1192 (2:14.19), Struchtkova (RUS) 1172 (2:15.97), Kovács (HUN) 1168 (2:16.20)
WC2 - Gyenesei (HUN) 1256 (2:08.92), Struchtkova (RUS) 1208 (2:12.73), Cazé (FRA) 1208 (2:12.80)
WC3 - Gyenesei (HUN) 1248 (2:09.42), Kovács (HUN) 1212 (2:12.60), Cazé (FRA) 1208 (2:12.75)
WC4 - Gyenesei (HUN) 1244 (2:09.71), Struchtkova (RUS) 1192 (2:14.21), Fell (GBR) 1168 (2:16.30)
WCF - Cazé (FRA) 1192 (2:14.00), Gyenesei (HUN) 1188 (2:14.39), Marques (BRA) 1176 (2:15.62)
SWC - Struchtkova (RUS) 1244 (2:09.76), Gyenesei (HUN) 1236 (2:10.64), Kovács (HUN) 1216 (2:12.02)

Others pentathletes that swam under 2:18 (or pretty close, in two cases under 2:18.10):
WC1 - Medany (EGY) 1156 (2:17.03)
WC2 - Granfield (GBR) 1196 (2:13.89), Medany (EGY) 2:16.00, Helyer (GBR) 1152 (2:17.75), Czwojdzińska (POL) 1148 (2:17.66), Trautmann (GER) 1148 (2:17.75)
WC3 - Vörös (HUN) 1160 (2:16.77), Livingston (GBR) 1160 (2:16.80), Isaksen (USA) 1156 (2:17.13), Dianová (CZE) 1156 (2:17.17), Czwojdzińska (POL) 1144 (2:18.01)
WC4 - Medany (EGY) 1164 (2:16.38), Livingston (GBR) 1164 (2:16.58), Walesa (POL) 1160 (2:16.79), Isaksen (USA) 1156 (2:17.17), Dianová (CZE) 1148 (2:17.77)
WCF - Medany (EGY) 1168 (2:16.27), Fell (GBR) 1164 (2:16.39), Dianová (CZE) 1152 (2:17.40)
SWC: Cazé (FRA) 1208 (2:12.67), Livingston (GBR) 1188 (2:14.64), Dianová (CZE) 1184 (2:14.80), Trautmann (GER) 1180 (2:15.27), Fell (GBR) 1172 (2:15.93), Vörös (HUN) 1156 (2:17.23), Marques (BRA) 1152 (2:17.40), Czwojdzińska (POL) 1148 (2:17.91), Medany (EGY) 1144 (2:18.05)

Top 11 - Women - Swimming - 2009
1 - Gyenesei (HUN) 1256 (2:08.92) WC2 Cairo
2 - Gyenesei (HUN) 1248 (2:09.42) WC3 Székesfehérvár
3 - Gyenesei (HUN) 1244 (2:09.71) WC4 Roma and Struchtkova (RUS) 1244 (2:09.76) SWC London
5 - Gyenesei (HUN) 1236 (2:10.64) SWC London
6 - Kovács (HUN) 1216 (2:12.02) SWC London
7 - Kovács (HUN) 1212 (2:12.60) WC3 Székesfehérvár
8 - Cazé (FRA) 1208 (2:12.67) SWC London, Cazé (FRA) 1208 (2:12.75) WC3 Székesfehérvár, Cazé (FRA) 1208 (2:12.80) WC2 Cairo, Struchtkova (RUS) 1208 (2:12.73) WC2 Cairo

Gyenesei was the fastest swimmer this season, with 4 scores in top5. Kovács also honour the Hungarian tradition in swimming and with Cazé and Struchkova make the top4 swimmers that dominated 4 of 6 in best three times (in the other 2 competitions, only the third place was a different athlete). Then we have Medany and behind her Fell, Marques, Livingston, Dianová, Trautmann, Czwojdzińska, Vörös and Isaksen being consistent and gaining important points in swimming.

2009 Season's Best - Women - Combined Event

First season of the combined event (running and shooting), we have a clear leader here and a smaller field of the top pentathletes in this event.

Competitions (finals only):
World Cup 1 - Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico - March 2009 - WC1
World Cup 2 - Cairo, Egypt - April 2009 - WC2
World Cup 3 - Székesfehérvár, Hungary - May 2009 - WC3 (note: different venue from the men's competition, which happened a week before in Budapest)
World Cup 4 - Roma, Italy - May 2009 - WC4
World Cup Final - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - WCF
Senior World Championships - London, Great Britain - August 2009 - SWC

Top scores:
WC1 - Asadauskaitė (LTU) 2264 (12:54.13), Medany (EGY) 2208 (13:08.45), Boenisz (POL) 2204 (13:09.44)
WC2 - Asadauskaitė (LTU) 2652 (11:17), Medany (EGY) 2556 (11:41), Rimsaite (LTU) 2520 (11:50)
WC3 - Asadauskaitė (LTU) 2512 (11:52.08), Boenisz (POL) 2348 (12:33.64), Gretchichnikova (RUS) 2328 (12:38.33)
WC4 - Medany (EGY) 2432 (12:12.04), Gretchichnikova (RUS) 2400 (12:20.07), Samusevich (BLR) 2360 (12:30.20)
WCF - Rimsaite (LTU) 2344 (12:34), Asadauskaitė (LTU) 2328 (12:38), Fell (GBR) 2284 (12:49)
SWC - Asadauskaitė (LTU) 2584 (11:34.76), Chen (CHN) 2564 (11:39.67), Gretchichnikova (RUS) 2524 (11:49.53)

Others scores under 12 minutes:
WC2 - Samusevich (BLR) 2516 (11:51), Gretchchinikova (RUS) 2484 (11:59.00)
SWC - Trautmann (GER) 2500 (11:55.32), Fell (GBR) 2496 (11:56.76), Schöneborn (GER) 2492 (11:57.18), Rimsaite (LTU) 2488 (11:58.97)

Top 10 - Women - Combined Event - 2009
1 - Asadauskaitė (LTU) 2652 (11:17) WC2 Cairo
2 - Asadauskaitė (LTU) 2584 (11:34.76) SWC London
3 - Chen (CHN) 2564 (11:39.67) SWC London
4 - Medany (EGY) 2556 (11:41) WC2 Cairo
5 - Gretchichnikova (RUS) 2524 (11:49.53) SWC London
6 - Rimsaite (LTU) 2520 (11:50) WC2 Cairo
7 - Samusevich (BLR) 2516 (11:51) WC2 Cairo
8 - Asadauskaitė (LTU) 2512 (11:52.08) WC3 Székesfehérvár
9 - Trautmann (GER) 2500 (11:55.32) SWC London
10 - Fell (GBR) 2496 (11:56.76) SWC London

It seems Asadauskaitė adapted very well to the new format and took advantage of it to make an amazing season. Her name is the only one that is listed more than once in the top 10 list, with 3 records, including the top 2. From the 6 events, she had the best performance in the combined event in 4 of them, and once she was the second best of the field, that's really impressive. Medany, Gretchichnikova, Rimsaite, Boenisz, Fell and Samusevich also had a good season when it comes to the combined event. Chen's combined event in London was really impressive and third overall, enough to manage to win the title over Asaudaskaitė who had actually the best combined event run.

2009 Season's Best - Women -Total Points

Well, now let's have a look at the women's season. I apologize in advance if there are mistakes, if I missed something or if there is any typo.


Competitions:
World Cup 1 - Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico - March 2009 - WC1
World Cup 2 - Cairo, Egypt - April 2009 - WC2
World Cup 3 - Székesfehérvár, Hungary - May 2009 - WC3 (note: different venue from the men's competition, which happened a week before in Budapest)
World Cup 4 - Roma, Italy - May 2009 - WC4
World Cup Final - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - WCF
Senior World Championships - London, Great Britain - August 2009 - SWC

Podiums:
WC1 - Medany (EGY) 5544, Asaudaskaitė (LTU) 5436, Cazé (FRA) 5408
WC2 - Asadauskaitė (LTU) 5840, Medany (EGY) 5816, Cazé (FRA) 5768
WC3 - Asadauskaitė (LTU) 5636, Cazé (FRA) 5572, Gretchichnikova (RUS) 5544
WC4 - Medany (EGY) 5656, Gyenesei (HUN) 5596, Gretchichnikova (RUS) 5544
WCF - Rimsaite (LTU) 5548, Marques (BRA) 5508, Gyenesei (HUN) 5492
SWC - Chen (CHN) 5840, Asadauskaitė (LTU) 5736, Schöneborn (GER) 5664

Others scores over 5600 points were:
WC2 - Gretchichnikova (RUS) 5668, Boenisz (POL) 5632
SWC - Gretchichnikova (RUS) 5652, Czwojdzińska (POL) 5648, Trautmann (GER) 5632, Medany (EGY) 5624, Rimsaite (LTU) 5604

Top 10 - Women - Total Points - 2009

1 - Chen (CHN) 5840 SWC London and Asadauskaitė (LTU) 5840 WC2 Cairo
3 - Medany (EGY) 5816 WC2 Cairo
4 - Cazé (FRA) 5768 WC2 Cairo
5 - Asadauskaitė (LTU) 5736 SWC London
6 - Gretchichnikova (RUS) 5668 WC2 Cairo
7 - Schöneborn (GER) 5664 SWC London
8- Medany (EGY) 5656 WC4 Roma
9- Gretchichnikova (RUS) 5652 SWC London
10 - Czwojdzińska (POL) 5648 SWC London

London and Cairo were the toughest competitions. Russian Gretchichnikova came 4th in both competitions with over 5600 points. Chen and Asadauskaitė had the best score of 5840 points, and the pentathlete of Lithuania appears twice in the top 10, Medany from Egypt also is twice in the list. The season was dominated by Asadauskaitė, Medany and Cazé. The most important title went to Chinese Chen, though, a great performance in the strongest field.

2009 Season's Best - Men - Fencing and Riding

These are the best scores of the year for fencing and equestrian, in the following competitions:

World Cup 1 - Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico - March 2009 - WC1
World Cup 2 - Cairo, Egypt - April 2009 - WC2
World Cup 3 - Budapest, Hungary - May 2009 - WC3
World Cup 4 - Roma, Italy - May 2009 - WC4
World Cup Final - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - WCF
Senior World Championships - London, Great Britain - August 2009 - SWC


Fencing - Top scores (only finals)

WC1 - Horbacz (POL) 1024 (26), Daniel (AUT) 1000 (25), Woodbridge (GBR) 952 (23)
WC2 - Omar El Geziry (EGY) 1024 (26), Kinderis (LTU) and Sekretev (RUS) 952 (23), Svoboda (CZE) and Cherkovskis (LAT) 904 (21)
WC3 - Choon-Huan Lee (KOR) 952 (23), Omar El Geziry (EGY), Cherkovskis (LAT), Nofal (EGY) and Tibolya (HUN) 928 (22)
WC4 - De Lucca (ITA) 1024 (26), Marosi (HUN) 928 (22), Michalík (CZE) and Prokopenko (BLR) 904 (21)
WCF - Omar El Geziry (EGY) 1056 (24), Tymoschenko (UKR) 1028 (23), Marosi (HUN) 1000 (22)
SWC - Sika (LAT) 1024 (26), Frolov (RUS) 1000 (25), Dmytro Kirpulyanskyy (UKR) and Woodbridge (GBR) 952 (23)

It's interesting how in fencing the top athletes are usually contenders to the podium - like we saw in last Olympics - and is the competition that usually gives less points. The highlights are Sika and Omar El Geziry (London and Rio de Janeiro), in the strongest fields (ironically, none of them ended in top 3 in those competitions). The Egyptian was the best fencer in the year, but his strong starts were not enough to reach a podium. Marosi was pretty solid being twice in the list above, same with Cherkovskis, and Horbacz, Tymoschenko and Dmytro Kirpulyanskyy had their best results helped by a great fencing competition.

Riding - Top scores

WC1 - Majewski (POL), Daniel (AUT), Brady (USA) 1200; Horbacz (POL) 1192
WC2 - Cherkovskis (LAT), Kinderis (LTU) 1200; Krungolcas (LTU), Németh (HUN) 1192
WC3 - Zemaitis (LTU) 1180, Marosi (HUN) 1160, Cherkovskis (LAT) 1152
WC4 - Woodbridge (GBR), Dong-Soo Park (KOR), Tomii (JPN), Marosi (HUN) 1200; Lapo (BLR), Weale (GBR), Quarto (ITA) 1180
WCF - Omar El Geziry (EGY), Polívka (CZE), Daniel (AUT), Cherkovskis (LAT) 1200; Nofal (EGY), Woodbridge (GBR), Tomii (JPN), Kinderis (LTU), Romão (BRA), Amro El Geziry (EGY), Staskiewicz (POL), Lapo (BLR), Marosi (HUN) 1180
SWC - Krungolcas (LTU) 1200; Németh (HUN), Brady (USA) 1196

In equestrian I should have get the bottom scores to have an idea of how tough was each field. It seems Budapest was a tough competition, while Rio de Janeiro (where I worked) was a smooth field. The pentathletes from the Baltic countries had a good year in riding, losing few points in the competitions. Marosi had great shows in his way to several medals,

2009 Season's Best - Men - Swimming

2009 was the last year of the full length body suits - following the decision of FINA, these high-tech swimsuits won't be allowed in the next season. We may expect slower times in the next seasons, but I guess the leaders in this event will remain the same (except for up and coming pentathletes).

3 pentathletes dominated the swimming in 2009 season: Amro El Geziry (EGY), Nicolas Woodbridge (GBR) and the NB world ranking leader Ádám Marosi (HUN). Let's have a look at the best times of the year.

Competitions:

World Cup 1 - Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico - March 2009 - WC1
World Cup 2 - Cairo, Egypt - April 2009 - WC2
World Cup 3 - Budapest, Hungary - May 2009 - WC3
World Cup 4 - Roma, Italy - May 2009 - WC4
World Cup Final - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - WCF
Senior World Championships - London, Great Britain - August 2009 - SWC


Top 3 by event - Swimming (only finals)

WC1 - Amro El Geziry (EGY) 1372 (1:59.00), Woodbridge (GBR) 1328 (2:02.84), Marosi (HUN) 1308 (2:04.46)
WC2 - Amro El Geziry (EGY) 1404 (1:56.51), Sung Hyun Lee (KOR) 1336 (2:02.27), Omar El Geziry (EGY) 1328 (2:02.81)
WC3 - Petroni (ITA) 1392 (1:57.40), Marosi (HUN) 1392 (1:57.64), Zadneprovskis (LTU) 1376 (1:58.87)
WC4 - Amro El Geziry (EGY) 1384 (1:58.29), Woodbridge (GBR) 1372 (1:59.18), Marosi (HUN) 1344 (2:01.63)
WCF - Woodbridge (GBR) 1372 (1:59.26), Amro El Geziry (EGY) 1368 (1:59.57), Tomii (JPN) 1340 (2:01.80)
SWC - Woodbridge (GBR) 1404 (1:56.40), Motsios (GRE) 1368 (1:59.61), Horbacz (POL) 1352 (2:00.95)

Others with less than 2 minutes are:
WC3 - Omar El Geziry (EGY) 1372 (1:59.13), Németh 1368 (1:59.60), Tomii (JPN) 1364 (1:59.69), Weale (GBR) 1364 (1:59.91), Walther (GER) 1364 (1:59.97)

Top 10 - Swimming - 2009
1 - Woodbridge (GBR) 1:56.40 SWC London and Amro El Geziry (EGY) 1:56.51 WC2 Cairo - 1404
3 - Petroni (ITA) 1:57.40 and Marosi (HUN) 1:57.64 - WC3 Budapest - 1392
5 - Amro El Geziry (EGY) 1:58.29 - WC4 Roma - 1384
6 - Zadneprovskis (LTU) 1:58.87 - Wc3 Budapest - 1376
7 - Amro El Geziry (EGY) 1:59.00 WC1 Mexico, Omar El Geziry (EGY) 1:59.13 WC3 Budapest, Woodbridge (GBR) 1:59.18 WC4 Roma, Woodbridge (GBR) 1:59.26 WCF Rio de Janeiro - 1372


The World Cup in Hungary had the most competitive field, with 8 pentathletes finishing under 2 minutes; the higher scores were in London and Cairo, though. Woodbridge and Amro El Geziry have 6 of the top 10 best times. Marosi kept his high level regularity in swimming as well and Omar El Geziry comes close to his brother.

2009 Season's Best - Men - Combined Event

This is the first year of combined event, let's see what happened in the season.

Competitions:

World Cup 1 - Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico - March 2009 - WC1
World Cup 2 - Cairo, Egypt - April 2009 - WC2
World Cup 3 - Budapest, Hungary - May 2009 - WC3
World Cup 4 - Roma, Italy - May 2009 - WC4
World Cup Final - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - WCF
Senior World Championships - London, Great Britain - August 2009 - SWC

Top 3 by event (combined event - only finals):

WC1 - Sandoval (MEX) 2624 (11:24.47), Hernandez (MEX) 2612 (11:27.71), Soto (MEX) 2592 (11:32.10)
WC2 - Sandoval (MEX) 2856 (10:26), Polívka (CZE) 2812 (10:37), Benedetti (ITA) 2752 (10:52)
WC3 - Cherkovskis (LAT) 2656 (11:16.46), Jung-Sub Kim (KOR) 2620 (11:25.58), Mitsyk (BLR) 2584 (11:34.58)
WC4 - Benedetti (ITA) 2824 (10:34), Patte (FRA) 2764 (10:49), Daniel (AUT) 2736 (10:56)
WCF - Soto (MEX) 2680 (11:10), De Lucca (ITA) 2660 (11:15), Tibolya (HUN) 2628 (11:23)
SWC - Frolov (RUS) 2840 (10:30.82), Daniel (AUT) 2836 (10:31.88), Svoboda (CZE) 2832 (10:32.53)

Others top scores (under 10:50)
SWC - Ovcharov (RUS) 2784 (10:44.54), Brady (USA) 2768 (10:48.21), Kinderis (LTU) 2768 (10:48.79), Marosi (HUN) 2764 (10:49.07)

Season Best - Top 10 - Combined Event
1 - Sandoval (MEX) 2856 (10:26) - WC2 Cairo
2 - Frolov (RUS) 2840 (10:30.82) - SWC London
3 - Daniel (AUT) 2836 (10:31.88) - SWC London
4 - Svoboda (CZE) 2832 (10:32.53) - SWC London
5 - Benedetti (ITA) 2824 (10:34) - WC4 Roma
6 - Polívka (CZE) 2812 (10:37) - WC2 Cairo
7 - Ovcharov (RUS) 2784 (10:44.54) - SWC London
8 - Brady (USA) 2768 (10:48.21) and Kinderis (LTU) 2768 (10:48.79) - SWC London
10 - Marosi (HUN) 2764 (10:49.07) - SWC London and Patte (FRA) 2764 (10:49) - WC4 Roma

Sandoval had the best performance in the combined event (considering the events listed above). His countryman Soto and also Daniel and Benedetti are others pentathletes that are doing great in the combined event, which was introduced this year. Frolov, Svoboda, Polívka and Marosi could rely on their performance in combined event to boost or manage their positions to win important points for the rankings.