Pernille Svarre (born 19 November 1961) is a Danish athlete who has specialized in triathlon and modern pentathlon. [1] She competed in the modern pentathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and has been Danish modern pentathlon champion 12 times between 1980 and 2014. [2] [3] [4] In June 2000, she won the gold medal in modern pentathlon at the Senior Women World Championship in Pesaro, Italy. [1] [5]
Born on 19 November 1961, Pernille Svarre is a resident of Hillerød in the north of Zealand. In the course of her career, she has been Danish modern pentathlon champion 12 times, namely in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2014. [4] [6]
In addition to various titles in fencing, in 1987 and 1988 she competed in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii and won bronze at the Middle-Distance European Triathlon Championship in 1988. [7] In June 2000, she became world pentathlon champion, winning gold at the championship in Pesaro, Italy. The same year, she was the first Danish woman to compete in the modern pentathlon at the Summer Olympics where the discipline was included for the first time. [4]
Her most recent success was to win the Danish pentathlon championship in 2014, despite the fact that she had not competed for 13 years. She explained: "I had achieved my goals and had finally given up competing in pentathlons. But then I suddenly felt like trying again. I've maintained my form, so before the event I just spent 14 days training in riding — and couldn't walk for the next week." [8]
The modern pentathlon is an Olympic multisport that currently consists of fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, laser pistol shooting, and cross country running. Equestrian will be replaced by a form of obstacle course racing at the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Hillerød is a Danish town with a population of 36,227 located in the centre of North Zealand approximately 30 km to the northwest of Copenhagen, Denmark. Hillerød is the administrative centre of Hillerød Municipality and also the administrative seat of Region Hovedstaden, one of the five regions in Denmark. It is most known for its large Renaissance castle, Frederiksborg Castle, now home to the Museum of National History. Hillerød station is the terminus of one of the radials of the S-train network as well as several local railway lines. The town is surrounded by the former royal forests of Gribskov to the north and Store Dyrehave to the south.
Denmark competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Sheila Christine Taormina is an American former athlete who competed at four Olympics, and was the first woman to qualify for the Olympics in three different sports. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, she earned a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the women's 4×200-meter freestyle relay. She was inducted in 2009 into the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame, and in 2015 into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
Denmark first participated at the Olympic Games at the inaugural 1896 Games, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for the sparsely attended 1904 Games. Denmark has also participated in the Winter Olympic Games several times since 1948, including every Games since 1988.
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The International Modern Pentathlon Union, commonly known by the acronym UIPM, has been the international governing body of modern pentathlon since its foundation in London in 1948. Its headquarters are in Monaco and it has 115 national federation members in 2018 and 133 members in 2024. Modern pentathlon was introduced at the fifth Olympiad in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1912, comprising the contemporary sports of pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running, which embraced the spirit of its ancient counterpart.
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The following are events of the year 1961 in Denmark.
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This article lists the main modern pentathlon events and their results for 2000.