The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Spence named in GB squad
Mhairi Spence will defend her world title in Chinese Taipei next month.
Modern pentathlete Spence has been named in the Great Britain squad along with fellow-Scot Freyja Prentice after proving to herself she is one of the best in the world.
MHAIRI SPENCE will defend her world title in Chinese Taipei next month, confident she has consigned her London 2012 disappointment to ancient history.
Modern pentathlete Spence has been named in the Great Britain squad along with fellow-Scot Freyja Prentice after proving to herself she is one of the best in the world.
After going into last year’s Olympics as one of the favourites, she was handily placed ninth going into the show jumping.
Allocated a feisty horse, Coronado’s Son, which she struggled to control, she slipped out of medal contention and eventually finished 21st.
She later stated in an interview that her Olympic experience had “destroyed part of me”.
Spence, 27, took five months off and spent two-and-a-half months backpacking in Australia with an old school friend.
She returned to competition at the World Cup series in Rio at the start of the year where, not yet in full training, she was 33rd but then won a bronze medal at the round in Budapest.
That showed she was back on form and she is adamant that during her long spell away from the sport that she never considered quitting.
“It was obviously a tough time. To have gone to the Olympics as the reigning world champion, I had high expectations of myself and it didn’t go according to plan,” she said.
“It was hard to come to terms with it but I have come to terms with it now and I’m at peace with what happened. In sport, it’s the highs and lows of the game that we play and I go into every competition knowing that.
“It is what it is and I’ve moved on and am focused on what’s next to come.
“I would never contemplate retirement just because of a bad competition. If anything, I want to retire when I’m at the top and have proven to myself that I am the athlete I’d been working towards. I’d never bow out after a bad performance as that would make me look like a bad loser.
“I just went off with my friend to Australia and forgot about things and just had some fun. Over time, I have put the Olympics behind me.”
For now, all her energies are gearing towards defending her world crown.
She leaves with the rest of the GB team for altitude training in France next week before heading to the world championships. She is not looking any further ahead.
Another Olympics? “Rio is a long way off and, at the moment, I wouldn’t say ‘yay’ or ‘nay’. I’m focused on the world championships and seeing how they go. I’m not getting any younger but I’d really like to try and make it to another games.”