Special report:   2008 Olympic Games

    LOS ANGELES, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. pentathletes are set to begin the 2008 World Cup Season and final push to the Beijing Olympic Games with first stop in Cairo, Egypt, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) announced on Tuesday.

    Seven U.S. pentathletes will compete in the first World Cup stop of the 2008 Modern Pentathlon season on February 20-23 in Cairo, Egypt with the goal of earning valuable ranking points in hopes of qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, the USOC said in a statement.

    The women's semifinal will be held on Wednesday, February 20 with the men's semifinal set for Thursday, February 21. The women's final will be on Friday, February 22 and the men's on Saturday February 23.

    The remaining five World Cup stops during the Olympic qualification period will be critical to determining the athletes that will make up the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for Modern Pentathlon.

    The 2008 World Modern Pentathlon Championships, May 27-31 in Budapest, Hungary, will serve as a direct Olympic qualifier for the top three finishers who have not already qualified their spot for the Olympic Games.

    The final and most likely way for the U.S. to qualify for a final Olympic slot will be through the Modern Pentathlon World Rankings for the Olympic qualification period of June 1, 2007 - June 1, 2008.

    This final means of qualification will go to the top seven ranked athletes that have not already qualified by some other means.

    Each country can only qualify a maximum of two men and two women. If the U.S. has more than two men or two women that meet the qualification criteria, USA Pentathlon will determine the two Olympic representatives based on the two highest ranked U.S. athletes in the World Cup standings.

    The top four U.S. women will all compete in World Cup #1 in Cairo. Michelle "Mickey" Kelly has already qualified a spot for the 2008 Olympic Games by virtue of her performance at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and will look to use the World Cup season to keep her ahead in the pack. Sheila Taormina, Emily Shertzer and Margaux Isaksen will be joining Kelly.

    On the men's side, the U.S. will be represented in Cairo by Niul Manske, Sam Sacksen and Will Brady. Top ranked U.S. pentathletes Eli Bremer and Dennis Bowsher will sit out the first World Cup stop, deciding to focus their energies on preparing for the second World Cup stop of the season in Mexico City, Mexico, March 5-8.

    Bremer has already qualified his spot for the 2008 Olympic Games based on his gold medal performance at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bowsher is in line to qualify through the World Ranking system, but must keep himself in that position.