Modern Pentathlete Chloe Esposito produced the biggest surprise of the first World Cup in North Carolina to qualify for the final and finish an impressive fifth.

Racing in just her fifth World Cup, Esposito finished eighth in her heat in Charlotte (USA) despite admitting she was overawed by her competition.

“When I found out my heat and I saw the girls I was competing against I nearly died! My heat was a very hard semi, maybe even the hardest! The girls in it were all really tough competitors,” she said on her website.

Putting her nerves aside in the heat, the Oceania Champion came within one second of her personal best in the 200m freestlyle leg with a solid 2:13.22 and third place after producing a best fencing performance that ranked her 12th. Her 10th place in the combined run/shoot discipline saw her finish eighth in her heat.

Needing a top 12 to qualify for the final, Esposito was locked in for a tough final against the top 12 from all three heats.

In a star-studded final that included the reigning Olympic Champion, Esposito bounced back from a fencing performance that ranked her in 22nd place with another huge display of strength in the pool. Esposito clocked a blistering 2:12.29- the third fastest time, and was suddenly in the mix for a top finish.

The Sydneysider finished 11th in the riding discipline and then bolted home in the combined leg where Anastaysia Prokopenko (BLR) broke the world shooting record, finishing the discipline fourth.

Twenty-year-old Esposito, who is coached by her father, a 1984 Olympian, amassed a total 5368 overall to place fifth.

“I’m completely over the moon,” an ecstatic Esposito said after the race.

"The field was extremely hard; all the top competitors from all over the world were there.  I never imagined I would go so well in this world cup!"

Her previous best World Cup finish was 11th in Budapest in May, 2011.

"I have trained extremely hard, but never thought I would finish this high. I now want to keep this up until the London Olympics," she said post-race.

Germany’s Olympic Champion Lena Schoneborn took gold with Mhairi Spence (GBR) winning silver and Anastaysia Prokopenko (BLR) taking the bronze medal.

The World Cup series continues in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil- home of the 2016 Olympic Games (15-18 March). Race Three is in Hungary (12-15 April) and World Cup Four is in Russia (19-22 April) before culminating in a final in China (26-27 May).

Taya Conomos
AOC