Modern pentathletes at European Championship
Seven Pentathlon GB athletes have been selected for this month’s European Championships in Hungary, led by reigning British Champions Kate French and Joe Choong.
The duo, who claimed the national crowns in Bath last month, will be joined by fellow Olympians Samantha Murray and Jamie Cooke in Szekesfehervar. A strong and experienced Pentathlon GB lineup is completed by Joanna Muir, Sam Curry and Tom Toolis, the third consecutive European Championships in which the trio have competed in the individual competitions.
The selection comes off the back of the German Open Championships last weekend where five of the Hungary-bound athletes competed, all recording top 15 finishes. In the women’s competition, a fine display from Muir saw her finish fourth on just her second international appearance of the season, with Murray also performing strongly to finish two places behind.
In the men’s competition, there was another GB fourth from Choong, going one better than he managed at the German Championships last year. A consistent day for Cooke saw him also record a top ten finish as he came across the line ninth with Curry 14th in his final event before the European Championships.
Kate French and Tom Toolis – will also head to Hungary in encouraging form with Toolis qualifying for the final on both of his World Cup starts in 2018. Meanwhile, French preceded her British Championships win by taking victory at World Cup 4 in Sofia, just her second international appearance of the season.
This year’s Championships begin with the women’s relay on Tuesday, which is followed by the men’s relay on Wednesday. The next four days see the individual qualifying and individual finals taking place before the mixed relay concludes the competition on Monday, July 23.
■ Just as Pentathlon GB’S current crop of world stars leave for this year’s European Championships in Hungary, it has been announced that they will enjoy home advantage at the same event next year when Tokyo 2020 places will be up for grabs.
The National Lottery funded European Modern Pentathlon Championships will take place at the University of Bath, home of Pentathlon GB’S National Training Centre, from August 6 to 11, 2019. The Championships, dubbed ‘Gladiators Return,’ will see the best modern Pentathletes from across Europe descend on the former Roman Spa town which also played host to the 2015 Championships where Choong and French both bagged Rio qualifying slots for GB.
Choong said: “This is great news. It was the best feeling ever in 2015 and definitely competing at home helped. As I came around the last lap I could hear the crowd screaming and I thought that no-one was going to get past me because of that.
“I have really good memories of an excellently-run event in 2015 which set me on the road to Rio. Let’s hope we can have more of the same in 2019 and wow the spectators with the sport I love”.
French said: “I can’t wait to compete in front of a home crowd. We had a great atmosphere for the Europeans in 2015 and I’d encourage anyone who hasn’t seen our sport before to come along.
“It’s a tough sport, with five disciplines, and can get very tense in the final stages.”
More than 100 leading athletes from across the continent will be in action in Bath. Tickets for the event, which will feature men’s and women’s individual competitions as well as men’s, women’s and mixed relays, will go on sale in the Autumn. Team Bath’s Sports Training Village will be transformed into spectator arenas for all five disciplines, including the show-jumping.
There will be interactive opportunities to try the sports involved and other attractions for spectators – providing a great family day out.