Aussie Esposito claims incredible gold in pentathlon

Chloe Esposito is Australia's first-ever modern pentathlon medallist, charging to a remarkable gold medal in the event in Rio.

In seventh place going into the final event, she finished on 1372 points, a new Olympic record.

RIO 2016 LIVE: All the action from Day 14

GUT-FEELING: How Esposito became Australia's new golden girl

Esposito finished in the middle of the pack during the fencing round, but had a strong swimming leg and did well in the equestrian section to move up the rankings.

Image: Getty

She then finished first in the combined running and shooting event, her strongest of the competition, taking out Australia's eighth gold medal of Rio 2016.

Esposito had a 48-second handicap behind Poland's Oktawia Nowacka when she started the combined running and shooting event.

After initially being recorded as starting the final leg in fourth, further penalties actually saw her start in seventh but she then moved up to sixth after the first shooting section.

On each run Esposito made up ground and her superior shooting saw her overtake quickly to sit third.

On the final shooting leg Esposito overtook Nowacka and she powered the final 800-metres to streak away for victory.

"This morning and yesterday before the fence I was thinking `stop thinking about this, you might jinx yourself or something'."

Esposito finished seventh in London and moved to Budapest two years ago to improve her fencing, and the move paid off in golden fashion.

Image: Getty

with AAP