Modern Pentathlon

Australian Team Profile

The modern pentathlon in a unique event comprising five disciplines: shooting, fencing, swimming, show jumping and running.

Victorian student Angie Darby will be Australia's sole representative in the Modern Pentathlon after Alex Parygin was sensationally booted from the team.

Parygin won gold representing Kazakhstan at the Atlanta Games in 1996, but he won't be able to go for gold again after the Court of Arbitration of Sport ruled he was ineligible to compete.

The Modern Pentathlon Association of Great Britain appealed against Parygin's selection, saying he had not accrued enough points to earn his Olympic spot.

They argued that the 2007 Oceania Championships in Tokyo was not a qualifying event because it was run without show jumping, which had been banned because of the equine influenza outbreak.

The decision is final, meaning that Australia will have no men's competitor in the event.

Twenty-one-year-old Darby will represent Australia in the women's event, having only just been introduced to the sport at the age of 18.

After securing her position on the Olympic team in 2007, Darby has spent a lot of time gaining international experience by competing in Europe and has spent time at the world-class modern pentathlon training facility in Bath, England.

The closest Australia has come to a medal was in 1964, when Peter Macken finished fourth.

Modern Pentathlon Team:
Angie Darby