Czech Republic's Svoboda wins gold

David Svoboda of the Czech Republic wins the combined event of the men's modern pentathlon during the London 2012 Olympics at Greenwich Park August 11, 2012.

LONDON (Reuters) - Czech military officer David Svoboda took gold in the Olympic men's modern pentathlon on Saturday, pipping China's Zhongrong Cao to the title in a thrilling combined run and shoot finale to the one-day event.

Svoboda, who stormed to an early lead after equalling the Olympic fencing points record, had slipped into second behind Cao after struggling in his swimming heat.

But a cleaner result in the riding than his Chinese rival put the 27-year-old first going into the final event, where he proved the stronger runner, crossing the finish line six seconds ahead of Cao to set an Olympic record of 5,928 points.

Hungary's Adam Marosi took the bronze, with Russia's Andrei Moiseev, who had been seeking his third successive Olympic gold, only managing seventh.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, editing by Matt Falloon)