When the international modern pentathlon federation announced the allocation of the remaining quota spots for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the U.S. women’s team became a sister act, as Isabella Isaksen has been selected to join sister and two-time Olympian Margaux on the squad headed to Brazil.
Isabella climbed to a ranking of 30th in the world on the strength of an eighth-place finish at the Pan American & South American Championships in March in Buenos Aires, Argentina, coupled with a top-12 finish at the World Cup Final last month in Sarasota, Florida.
Members of the resident athlete program at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the sisters have worked together to secure international medals in team-relay competition, including a gold at the 2012 junior world championships, where Margaux, now 24, took gold and Isabella, 22, placed seventh individually. They also won team gold at the 2014 PanAm and NORCECA Senior Championships in Mexico City.
Margaux earned her third Olympic team berth based on her position in the May 30 world rankings, where she stood 20th. She competed in her first Olympic Games in Beijing at the age of 16, placing 21st. Despite battling mononucleosis weeks before competition, she was able to place fourth at the London 2012 Olympic Games, just two seconds away from a bronze medal.
The Isaksens join Nathan Schrimsher to comprise the U.S. entries in modern pentathlon in Rio. Schrimsher was the first athlete to qualify for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team by virtue of his top-three finish at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games last July.
