Santiago 2023 Pan American Games – it’s a wrap and a Bronze Medal

Dear friends, families, athletes, coaches, and all dedicated supporters of Pentathlon Canada,

The Santiago 2023 Pan American Games have concluded the Modern Pentathlon competition. Modern Pentathlon took place over six days, commencing on October 21 and ending on October 27. The five featured events were the Women’s Individual, Men’s Individual, Mixed Relay, Women’s Relay, and Men’s Relay. Canada competed against a lineup of nations that included Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the Independent Athletes Team (Guatemala), Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, the USA, and Venezuela.

Bronze for Canada: Congratulations, Devan and Kelly

The most notable moment of our journey was undoubtedly the Bronze Medal victory in the Women’s Relay. Led by our national champion, Kelly Fitzsimmons, alongside her teammate Devan Wiebe, it marked an incredible accomplishment. Their stellar performance included:

  • 6th place in Fencing
  • 2nd place in Riding
  • 7th place in Swimming

As we approached the final Laser Run event, Team Canada was firmly in the running for a medal. Thanks to Kelly and Devan’s outstanding performance in the Laser Run, Canada proudly secured the Bronze Medal. What an incredible achievement! Formidable!!!

Team Canada
The Team Canada lineup featured female athletes Olivia LiDevan Wiebe, and Kelly Fitzsimmons, along with male athletes Quinn Schulz and Robert Bonomo. Guiding our team were coaches Joshua Riker-Fox and Vitali Budovskiy. Our extended Team Canada included the families and friends of our athletes, a dedicated group of supporters, and our esteemed Executive Director, Shelley Callaghan. Santiago, Chile, was the place to be.

Men’s Individual
In the Men’s Individual competition, Robert secured a second-place finish in Swimming, although he did not progress to the finals. Quinn earned a spot in the Finals with a performance that comprised 17 victories and 13 defeats in Fencing, as well as a solid 4th place in Swimming. In the Finals, Quinn achieved a commendable 14th-place finish.

Women’s Individual
In the Women’s Individual, Olivia posted a 45.76 Laser shoot, the second lowest shooting time in her Laser Run Semi-Final and a solid Fence with 15 victories/17 defeats. Devan’s best result was 12th in the Laser Run. Kelly was our lone qualifier for the Finals based on a 5th place in Swimming and a perfect Ride. In the Finals, Kelly finished 11th, missing a Paris 2024 qualification spot by the narrowest of margins. Nevertheless, Kelly’s task needed to be completed. Was a podium finish on the horizon?

Relays – Mixed, Women’s and Men’s
The next phase of the competition featured the relay events, including the Mixed, Women’s, and Men’s categories. In the Mixed Relay, Kelly and Quinn excelled, securing first place in Fencing and first in Swimming, for 5th place overall. Although a podium finish eluded them, it marked steady progress for Team Canada, achieving their best performance to date.

The next event was the Women’s Relay, where Devan and Kelly earned the Bronze Medal for Canada!!!

The conclusion of Modern Pentathlon arrived with the Men’s Relay, where Quinn and Robert delivered a strong performance, earning them an overall 8th-place finish. Their standout achievement was taking the top spot in Swimming.

Let’s wrap this up with words from Shelley Callaghan, our Executive Director and Rod Staveley, President of Pentathlon Canada.

Shelley Callaghan
“They took my breath away. Team Canada displayed unwavering confidence. They competed honestly, fairly and with true Canadian spirit. I want to highlight the overall performances of Kelly, Olivia, Devan, Robert and Quinn, as well as the support of coaches Vitali and Joshua and athlete families who contributed to our team’s success. The Women’s Relay Bronze Medal was a fitting conclusion to our competition and clearly a harbinger of things to come. Merci beaucoup Team Canada.”

Rod Staveley
“Team Canada, your achievements span across numerous fronts. Congratulations! We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the nation of Chile and its capital, Santiago, for graciously hosting us. Your personnel, volunteers and incredible spirit made these XIX Pan American Games a success. Muchas gracias from your friends in Canada.”

Warm regards,

About Modern Pentathlon
Modern Pentathlon, a core Olympic sport, is the only sport created specifically for the Olympics. The founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre von Coubertin, developed the sport as the ultimate skill-and-strength test of a soldier. Modern Pentathlon debuted at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics and has featured in every subsequent edition of the Games. In 2000, the women’s competition was added. It is still the Olympic family’s most varied and demanding multisport test.

What does a Modern Pentathlete do?
Modern Pentathletes compete in a four-discipline (five sports) competition consisting of one-touch épée fencing (round-robin and bonus event), 200-metre freestyle swimming, equestrian show-jumping and lastly, a combined laser pistol shooting and running event (referred to as Laser Run). The final Laser Run event is incredibly exciting. Athletes are seeded in order of their total points accumulated from the three previous sports. The number of seconds each athlete starts after the highest-ranked competitor is determined by their points difference.

The first running lap is followed by four Laser Run laps. The first athlete crossing the finish line wins. Each Run is 600 metres. At the Laser pistol range, the athlete must complete five shots on the target’s bullseye within 50 seconds. Athletes who complete five shots before the 50-second time limit start running immediately.

The relay events (men, women and mixed) include all five sports, adjusted for teams of two.  

For more information, please contact:
George A. Skene OLY
Media, Pentathlon Canada
Mobile: 416-560-2571
media@pentathloncanada.ca

Shelley Callaghan
Executive Director, Pentathlon Canada
executivedirector@pentathloncanada.ca

Subscribe to Updates

News travels fast. Delivered straight to your inbox, SIRC’s daily newsletter will ensure you stay connected with the latest news, events, jobs, and knowledge in Canadian sport.

Latest NEWS

SIGN up for Canadian sport daily

News travels fast. Delivered straight to your inbox, SIRC’s daily newsletter will ensure you stay connected with the latest news, events, jobs, and knowledge in Canadian sport.

 

Sign up to Our Newsletter

News travels fast. Stay connected to sport and physical activity-related knowledge, news, jobs and resources through SIRC’s daily newsletter — The Canadian Sport Daily — delivered straight to your inbox.

"*" indicates required fields

Groups*
Skip to content