Pentathlon GB’s Cooke & Murray finish 5th on first post-Rio outing at the Kremlin Cup
Jamie Cooke and Samantha Murray finished 5th at the Kremlin Cup yesterday on their return to action following the Rio 2016 Olympics. The mixed relay competition was the first time either had been in action since Brazil and the British duo performed strongly throughout.
They were in the top 5 during the entire competition which featured many of their rivals from this summer’s games including Men’s Champion Aleksander Lesun and Women’s silver medallist Elodie Clouvel.
The day started in the pool with Cooke and Murray showing their renowned class by finishing quickest in a time of 1:56.94, nearly 3 seconds clear of their nearest challengers. The Brits picked up 20 victories alongside 24 defeats in the fencing salle meaning they sat 4th after the opening two disciplines.
A strong ride saw Salisbury born Cooke and Clitheroe’s Murray pick up 286 points as both athletes knocked down a single pole apiece. With the Egyptian pair of Haydy Morsy and Yasser Hefny being eliminated, in meant the Brits moved up to 3rd ahead of the combined event.
A run-shoot time of 12 minutes, 52 seconds saw Cooke and Murray cross the line 5th, narrowly missing out on the podium following blistering combined events from Lithuania’s Gintare Venckauskaite and Dovidas Vaivada and the second Russian pair of Sofia Serkina and Aleksander Lifanov.
Home favourites Donata Rimsaite and Aleksander Lesun took gold ahead of Poland’s Anna Maliszewska and Sebastian Stasiak with Lithuania in third.
Pentathlon GB athletes will next be in action at the Olympic Hopes in Tata at the end of the month, a youth competition for young up-and-coming starts to gain international experience.
Report courtesy of Pentathlon GB
