Intro:

Victoria Tereshuk of Ukraine won the first women's gold in the 2013 Modern Pentathlon World Cup Series on Saturday (23rd February), pipping China's Xiaonan Zhang in Palm Springs, USA.

Script:

Palm Springs California was the destination as Victoria Tereshuk of Ukraine won the first women's gold in the 2013 Modern Pentathlon World Cup Series on Saturday

The 20 year-old former boxer finished the fencing discipline with a massive 30 victories and only five defeats.

Making her debut on the international circuit, China's Xiaonan Zhang almost had the perfect day.
The Chinese newcomer was still ahead after the riding discipline.

Gulnaz Gubaydullina of Russia led the swimmers, while Brazil's Yane Marques and 2011 world champion Victoria Tereshuk closed the gap to Zhang as she occupied 28th place.

Meanwhile, Tereshuk - who had placed seventh in the fencing and 14th in the swimming, before dropping just 40 points in the ride - had a 24-second handicap.

But the 30 year-old Ukrainian outpaced first Marques and then Zhang to complete a last-gasp victory.

The second stop of five in the series will be in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next month (March)