Stroud’s Zoe Davison finished 24th with Warwick’s Georgina Mitchell 28th at the Under 19 World Championships in Prague today, two encouraging performances on their debuts at a major Under 19 international championships.
The youngsters’ day began in the pool with the 200m swim, both Brits starting strongly with Wycliffe College’s Davison recording a time of 2:14.51 and Plymouth College’s Mitchell a 2:16.80.
A blistering start from 18-year-old Davison meant she was in a four-way tie at the top of the discipline standings halfway through the fencing ranking round. The Gloucestershire athlete maintained her form throughout the second half too, making some fantastic hits on her way to an impressive score of 23 victories with just 12 defeats.
16-year-old Mitchell, who finished as the top British athlete at last month’s Under 17 European Championships in Bulgaria, was around the level fence mark throughout the discipline before finishing with a flourish to ensure a positive score of 18 victories and 17 defeats.
Both British athletes then secured two extra points in the bonus round meaning Davison was in a tie for 2nd with Mitchell 13th heading into the concluding laser run.
The final discipline was always going to be a tough affair at the end of a long day and with many quick runners in the field. It proved to be the case as Davison crossed the line 24th with Mitchell 28th to bring the girls’ final to an end.
However, it was still a tremendous display from both British athletes on their Under 19 World Championships debut and excellent experience for Mitchell who is still an Under 17 aged athlete.
Reflecting on the day, Pentathlon GB’s Pathway Manager Stuart Mason commented “Both girls produced podium level performances in all disciplines except the run today which is very encouraging. A special mention goes to Zoe who put together her best swim, fence and shoot but just didn’t have the run to cope with the new generation of runners that we are seeing this year.
“As a team we saw progress today, but also the work that we still need to do and we are confident that this can be achieved.”
Report courtesy of Pentathlon GB
