Holly Parker and Jamie Harper finished 10th in the Mixed Relay on the final day of the Junior European Championships in Drzonkow today. Against some athletes boasting far more international experience, including at Senior level, it was an encouraging day for the two young Brits.
Having both missed out on qualifying for the individual finals, the Mixed Relay gave both athletes an opportunity to gain more experience in their first year at Junior level. The duo started off strongly with a 2:06:23 placing them 7th after the swim.
10 victories in the fencing ranking round – 6 for Parker and 4 for Harper – meant the British pair ended the morning in 11th place. With many athletes struggling in the ride, Somerset’s Parker and Cheltenham’s Harper gained 276 points from their round, the 5th best of the day, to move up to 10th ahead of the combined event.
A strong closing run-shoot meant the two teenagers maintained their 10th place, narrowly missing out on overhauling 9th placed Romania by the finish.
It was Harper’s second relay of the week having finished 11th in the Men’s Relay with Adam Price on Tuesday. In the individual competitions, Georgia Pipes finished 27th in the Women’s Final on Friday.
Adam Price produced strong performances across all five disciplines to finish 18th on his Junior European Championships debut in Drzonkow, Poland on Saturday.
The 20 year-old got the final off to a great start in the fencing salle, collecting 20 victories from his 35 bouts to lie 9th overnight. With the competition following the same format as this summer’s Olympic Games, the remainder of the men’s final took place today, starting with the 200m freestyle swim. With some extremely quick swimmers in action, Price’s time of 2:17.60 meant he slipped slightly down the order to 24th after two disciplines, but still well in contention for a strong overall finish.
The Yorkshire born athlete secured an extra point in the fencing bonus round before a calm and composed ride on his horse Caravella saw him knock down just a single pole to pick up 293 points, the 6th best round of the competition. This meant Price, who now trains at Pentathlon GB’s National Training Centre at the University of Bath, headed into the closing combined event in 17th place.
Some excellent shooting and strong running meant Price crossed the line in 18th, an impressive performance in his first ever Junior European Championships.
It continues a solid season for Price who finished 15th in the Polish Junior International at the same venue and 14th at the Milan Kadlec Memorial in Prague last month.
Price was the only Brit to make the final, qualifying courtesy of his 3rd place finish in Group B on Thursday. Teammate Jamie Harper missed out after finishing 24th in the same group.
Report courtesy of Pentathlon GB
