Gloucestershire’s Zoe Davison and Bristol’s Charlie Follett claim double medal swoop for Pentathlon GB
Plymouth’s Kerenza Bryson also records a top 10 finish at the Milan Kadlec Memorial
Holly Parker finishes 12th with Sarah Collin 17th and Georgia Hannam 22nd in Prague
Lancashire’s Hannam suffers nasty fall in the ride, the final discipline of the day
Zoe Davison finished 2nd with Charlie Follett 3rd as Pentathlon GB’s Junior women picked up two medals at the Milan Kadlec Memorial in Prague. Kerenza Bryson made it three Brits in the top ten as she came home 7th with Holly Parker 12 and Sarah Collin 17th. However, the day was overshadowed by Georgia Hannam suffering a nasty fall in the ride.
It was the second medal of Follett’s international career following a silver at the Swiss Women International last year and a first international medal in a full modern pentathlon for Davison in her first year as a Junior athlete.
Story of the Day
The competition began in the fencing hall where Plymouth’s Bryson led the British charge as she secured 20 victories and just 10 defeats from her 30 bouts. It was also a positive start the day for Bristol’s Follett as she finished just a single victory further back with Lancashire’s Hannam winning 18 hits, placing all three inside the top 8 of the discipline standings. Gloucestershire’s Davison and Somerset’s Parker also recorded positive fences as they finished with 16 victories and 14 defeats apiece with Buckinghamshire’s Collin picking up 12 hits.
In the swim, Davison, who competed at both World Cup 1 and World Cup 2 this season recorded a season’s best time of 2:13.92, the second quickest of the day. Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) supported duo Collin and Hannam also both swam well as they clocked times of 2:16.05 and 2:16.16 respectively with Parker just behind in 2:17.20 meaning four Brits finished inside the top ten of the discipline standings. Follett, who was the top British finisher at the Milan Kadlec Memorial last year swam a PB of 2:18.71 with Bryson stopping the clock in 2:28.72.
That meant Follett was the highest placed British athlete in 4th after the opening two disciplines with Hannam (5th), Bryson (8th) and Davison (9th) also inside the top ten after an encouraging start to the day. Parker moved up a couple of places to 11th with Collin 16th ahead of the laser run.
It was to be Davison, the youngest member of the team, who excelled in the third and fourth disciplines as she was one of just two athletes to break the 13-minute barrier; a fine display of both running and shooting moving her up to 4th position in the overall standings. Follett also performed well with the fifth quickest laser run time seeing her placed in 5th after the opening four disciplines with TASS supported Bryson also just dropping a single place in the discipline to main her top 10 status. Parker, who was making her second international appearance of the season, had a similar fate she slipped just a single place back to 12th and still well placed for a strong finish. Hannam, who only recently returned to full training following a hip injury showed some slight rustiness as she dropped to 14th with Collin crossing the line 20th at the end of the fourth discipline.
In a different format to most modern pentathlon events, it was the ride that was the final discipline in the Czech capital. Collin was the first Pentathlon GB athlete into the arena, picking up 271 points which saw her move up to 17th at the competition’s conclusion. Hannam was credited as finishing 22nd following her fall, but that was a mere sidenote to a nasty landing. Parker maintained her position in 12th with Bryson moving up to 7th after rolling just a single pole during her round.
There were to be big changes elsewhere in the top 10 too with Follett picking up 286 points, followed by Davison gaining 293 points as they put pressure on the riders following them. That pressure took its toll as France’s Emma Riff and Germany’s Rebecca Langrehr both faltered, dropping down the order and meaning Davison moved into silver medal position with Follett taking bronze for a double GB medal haul. Germany’s Anna Matthes maintained her composure to secure 285 points in the ride and take victory ahead of the GB duo.
Courtesy of Pentathlon GB
