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Athlete Weekly Blog
Athlete Weekly Blog
Come visit this page every week to get an unique insight into the life of a Modern Pentathlete. The current featured athlete is World #8 and USA Champion Margaux Isaksen.
Hello everyone!
Sorry it’s been so long since I last wrote…training and the World Cup season have kept me quite busy. My most recent competition was in Moscow, Russia. I was very excited about representing my country in the first-ever Kremlin Cup! I knew going into it that it was going to be a unique experience for me. I was going into a competition without my coach, which was something I’d never had to do before. I had to rely on my own judgment and observations throughout the various disciplines, so it was a great chance for me to learn. Instead of having my coach there to tell me what I was doing wrong and what to do to correct it, I had to be aware of my weaknesses and take action to correct them. This is something that I can take with me in my future competition experiences, so I was very grateful to get the chance to learn.
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Learning from mistakes...........
Last weekend, the USA had the honor of hosting the first world cup. After only training for two weeks before the competition, I tried not to have any expectations for myself and to enjoy the experience of competing in my home country. What a great feeling. Knowing that all the spectators are there cheering for the USA!! :) [ Read more... ]
Colorado has officially welcomed winter:-) It has been extremely cold the last few weeks and I am eagerly awaiting warm weather!!!
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Happy New Year Everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to write! I have had a very busy few weeks. Let me begin where I left off.... [ Read more... ]
Hey Everyone,
These last two weeks have been extremely painful. Getting back into a serious training mindset, has taken me a little time to get accustomed to again. This early into the season I’m working on building up my base work in all the events. This is a great time of year to work on my technique which often gets overlooked later in the season. This year, my focus is being put towards fencing as that is my worst event and the event I can gain the most points in . This requires me to train less in the other events and put most of my energy towards fencing.
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What a great week! No better place to kick off the season, than in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. It was great to escape the cold weather in Colorado and get to enjoy the sunshine in one of the worlds greatest cities. Brazil hosted the 2010 Pan American Championships this past weekend. The Brazilians really know how to host a great competition. So early into the training season, I had no idea what to expect from myself.
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My name is Margaux Isaksen. I am a 19-year-old American Pentathlete.
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Hi Guys,
First of all I would like to give a BIG congratulations to my team mates and countrymen Sarolta Kovacs and Bence Demeter who both won the gold medal at the Junior World Championships in Hungary. I was lucky enough to be there to see these amazing performances which exceeded everybody’s expectation.
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Hi Guys,
Sorry, I have not written for awhile, but I have been busy training and then competing at the European Championships.
Last time I wrote, I was in a National Training camp in Tata. This was fantastic for me, I got so strong and fit leading into the European Championships. A competition that means so much to me, especially since it was in my home country.
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Hi Guys,
I am writing this from our Training camp in Tata, Hungary which is about 70km from Budapest.
[ Read more... ]Hi Guys,
The last 2 weeks were very tough for training wise. I sat out of World Cup #5 due to I had already qualified for the World Cup Final and so I could just focus on my training. We developed my basic endurance and also improved my pace. So it was alot of training sessions but I enjoyed it! Especially last week because the weather was hot which I loved! This is my perfect weather, more than 30 degrees! :-)
[ Read more... ]Hey Guys,
After getting away with my boyfriend Peter the previous weekend to relax after claming the bronze medal at World Cup #4 is has been straight back into intense training to get ready for the business end of the season.
[ Read more... ]Hi Guys
Last Saturday was my big day, my chance to show all my family and friends the progress I had made over the past 12 months at World Cup #4 in my home town of Budapest, Hungary. But again I had a poor fence, I just couldn’t get the hits. My swim was good as usual and pulled me back up the leader board and then I managed to have a decent score in the ride. However I was still well down going into the combined event, where my confidence was still low after what happened at World Cup #3. But to my delight I blitzed the course and finished in 3rd position. I was so excited, I could not believe it. To do this in front of everyone I loved was amazing!! I felt great with all the cameras pointed at me and everyone smiling and congratulating me on my Bronze Medal. When I got presented my Medal on the podium it was a fantastic feeling with everybody cheering, a moment i will never forget, I was just so happy.
Hi Guys
This week has been a very relaxing one for me. I needed it after the gruelling 4 days of very tough training at a training camp in Prague. I even had to train of my birthday! However I got a very nice surprise from by boyfriend who is also a top Pentathlete Peter Tibolya, who surprised me with flowers, this made me very happy!
This week has been dedicated to resting and getting ready for World Cup #4, which is very special to me as it is in my home town Budapest, so I don’t have to travel anywhere and I get to compete in front of my family and friends.
But even my resting I have to do some light training with my usual running, swimming, fencing and riding, however a lower intensity as usual. On Monday me and my team mates had a very enjoyable riding session in the sunshine where we just got to have fun and play with the horses!
On Thursday the big moment came to compete in the qualification round. I think I was a bit nervous as my fencing was very poor, I just couldn’t get any hits and finished down in 24th. This only spurred me on for the swimming where I managed to win my group and do a Personal Best! This put me into a strong position for the combined event, but I knew I still had to work hard if I wanted to qualify in the top 18.
My first shoot was terrible! I think the whole situation with my family and friends got to me and I was trying too hard. My run made up for it and my second and third shoots were better and I just qualified in 15th spot, I was VERY relieved.
On Friday I am recovering from the day before and am supporting my team mates (especially Peter) in the men’s qualification and showing off my beautiful dog Lemonade. I can’t wait for the final and I hope I make everyone proud and get on the podium!
Leila xoxo
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Hi my name is Leila Gyenesei, I am a 24 year old Hungarian Pentathlete. Over the next few months I will be sharing with you my experiences and struggles as a full time Modern Pentathlete and Student.
I first started Modern Pentathlon in 2006 after I competed in the Torino Winter Olympics Games where I competed in the 10km classic style in cross-country skiing. In 2004 and 2005 I was Hungarian Champion in 3 skiing disciplines. While training for the Winter Olympics I was also training and competing in Triathlons where I was the Hungarian Junior Champion. However I stopped triathlon in 2004 where I had a terrible bike crash where I decided to stop the sport. Together with my skiing and triathlon titles I have won 48 different National Titles in 6 other sports.
So in 2006 I needed a new fresh challenge. I knew I was already a strong swimmer and runner so I decided to give Modern Pentathlon a go. However I had only ridden a horse a few times ,never shot a gun and never fenced so it was definitely going to be a challenge.
I moved straight away down to Szekesfehervar, Hungary where 2004 Olympic Gold Medallist Susan Vörös and many other top athletes trained. I trained very hard and picked up the sport quickly. After one year of training I was part of the Hungarian Junior who claimed gold at the 2007 World Championships and I was also the Hungarian Senior Champion.
In 2008 I managed to make the Hungarian Olympic team to compete in Beijing. I had a disappointing event and only finished 24th, however this gave me the motivation to improve more. In 2008 I also managed to get 6th place at the Senior World Championships.
2009 was my breakthrough year. I got bronze at the World Cup Final, Silver at Rome World Cup and a team Bronze at the Senior World Championships.
2010 has been a solid year so far with 4th position in my first World Cup of the year In Cairo, Egypt. I had a disappointing event in Medway, GB where I had gun problems in the Combined Event which pushed me down to 18th position.
I have been training VERY hard the past few weeks with the hope to claim my first international gold individual medal at my home World Cup in Budapest which starts 6 May.
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