Pernille Svarre (born 19 November 1961) is a Danish athlete who has specialized in triathlon and

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...

. She competed in the modern pentathlon at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

, and has been Danish modern pentathlon champion 12 times between 1980 and 2014. In June 2000, she won the gold medal in modern pentathlon at the Senior Women World Championship in

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

, Italy.

Biography

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. In addition to various titles in fencing, in 1987 and 1988 she competed in the

Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

in Hawaii and won bronze at the Middle-Distance European Triathlon Championship in 1988. 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. 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."

References

External links

Pernille Svarre's website
(in Danish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Svarre, Pernille 1961 births Living people People from Hillerød Municipality Danish female modern pentathletes Danish female triathletes Danish female fencers Danish female middle-distance runners Modern pentathletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic modern pentathletes for Denmark Sportspeople from the Capital Region of Denmark