Eight senior Pentathlon GB athletes return for second World Cup of 2018
Rio Olympians Murray, Cooke and Choong head strong British line-up in Los Angeles
Joanna Muir, Jessica Varley, Francesca Summers, Sam Curry and Tom Toolis complete PGB team
Pentathlon GB’s senior athletes will return to the international circuit as a strong team heads to the second World Cup of the year is Los Angeles next month. The squad contains 7 of the 8 athletes who competed at last year’s World Championships with the only change seeing Jess Varley, who finished 2nd in the opening Pentathlon GB ranking competition of the year, heading to the USA instead of Kate French who has taken 6 months away from full time training following last year’s Worlds in Egypt.
That means Varley will join Clitheroe’s Samantha Murray, Dumfries’ Jo Muir and Dorking’s Francesca Summers in the women’s team heading to California. The men’s line-up contains Cheltenham’s Jamie Cooke, Orpington’s Joe Choong, Salfords’ Sam Curry and Romford’s Tom Toolis.
As a result, 16 different Pentathlon GB athletes will have tasted World Cup action after the first two World Cups of the season with none of the eight athletes selected heading to Cairo this week.
Murray and Cooke will both head into the event in fine form having topped both of this year’s Pentathlon GB Ranking Competitions at the University of Bath. All 8 athletes performed well in the ranking competitions with the octet finishing in the top 4 positions of the men’s and women’s events at the first ranking event in January.
Six of the team currently train full-time at Pentathlon GB’s National Training Centre at the University of Bath with Toolis studying for a Masters degree at St Mary’s University in London and Summers in the final year of her Fashion degree in Paris.
It is the second consecutive year that a World Cup has been held in Los Angeles following the season opener in 2017. That proved to be a successful competition for Pentathlon GB athletes with Kate French claiming silver in the women’s competition, Jamie Cooke recording a top 10 in the men’s event and Myles Pillage and Jess Varley narrowly missing out on a medal in the mixed relay during an event which saw them both make their World Cup debuts.
The USA has held regular competitions in the past and this is the 8th consecutive year that a leg of the Modern Pentathlon World Cup Series has been held across the Atlantic. There have been plenty of high notes during that time including a triple podium success for Samantha Murray (gold), Jamie Cooke (gold) and Kate French (bronze) in 2015 and World Cup Final victory for Jamie Cooke in Florida in 2016 before the move to California 12 months ago.
Full Schedule
Monday 26th March – Women’s qualifying
Tuesday 27th March – Men’s qualifying
Wednesday 28th March – Women’s final
Thursday 29th March – Men’s final
Friday 30th March – Mixed relay
Women’s Team
Samantha Murray, 28, originally from Clitheroe, Lancashire. Currently training at the University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Jessica Varley, 22, originally from Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire. Currently training at the University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Joanna Muir, 23, originally from Dumfries. Currently training at the University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Francesca Summers, 21, originally from Dorking, Surrey. Currently training in Paris.
Men’s Team
Jamie Cooke, 26, originally from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Currently training at the University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Thomas Toolis, 25, originally from Romford, Essex. Currently training in London.
Sam Curry, 24, originally from Salfords’ Surrey. Currently training at the University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Joe Choong, 22, originally from Orpington, Greater London. Currently training at the University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Report courtesy of Pentathlon GB
