Plymouth’s Annabel Denton produces stunning display to claim first gold medal of her career
International debutant Isabella Summers tops fencing discipline on way to fine 15th place finish
Somerset’s George Case comes home 12th with Nottinghamshire’s Kieran Harby 23rd in boys’ event
Annabel Denton produced a fantastic display, capped by a brilliant laser run, to win gold at the Under 19 International Modern Pentathlon Trophy in Portugal. It was the second international medal of a promising looking career for the 14-year-old, after she claimed silver at the Under 17 Portuguese Championships just over 12 months ago.
Denton’s success was the highlight of a fine competition for Pentathlon GB’s Under 19 team with international debutant Isabella Summers finishing 15th after topping the fencing discipline standings. In the boys’ event, a strong laser run saw Somerset’s George Case cross the line 12th with Kieran Harby finishing in 23rd at the end of the two-day event.
Girls’ Competition
The event, which was carrying Youth Olympic Games qualifying points, started with the fencing discipline yesterday. It was an inexperienced girls’ team lining up for Pentathlon GB with 14-year-olds Denton and Summers in action. However, the girls’ belied their inexperience as they consistently picked up some impressive hits.
It was incredible start to her international career for Summers as she won 13 of her first 15 bouts before going on to finish with 23 victories and 6 defeats. That meant the North Kent MPC athlete, younger sister of 2015 Junior World Champion Francesca, topped the discipline standings and led the competition overnight. Plymouth College’s Denton also performed well in the opening discipline, remaining around the level mark throughout before finishing with 15 victories and 14 defeats to her name, placing her just inside the top 10.
The second day began with the 200m swim where both of the young British athletes performed close to their best. Denton, who competed at the Under 19 World Championships in Spain last month, recorded a 2:19.06, the seventh quickest time of the day with Summers stopping the clock in 2:28.75. It meant both girls were well placed after two disciplines with Summers maintaining top spot, albeit with a slightly reduced margin, and Denton situated in 9th.
It was Plymouth’s Denton who came to the fore in the laser run with a scintillating display of running and shooting seeing her move up the field throughout. With the medals all of up for grabs heading into the range for the final time, an 11-second final shoot followed by a rapid final 800m loop, saw the Brit take victory by just 2 seconds from Hungary’s Lilla Dallos and Switzerland’s Anna Jurt. With positions changing throughout the field during the laser run, Dorking’s Summers crossed the line 15th, a fine effort on her international debut.
Boys’ Competition
The boys also began their competition in the fencing hall yesterday where Leweston Pentathlon Academy’s George Case led the British charge as he finished with 15 victories and 14 defeats, placing him just outside the top 10 overnight. After a quick start which saw him win five of his opening six bouts, Yorkshire Pentathlon Club’s Harby struggled slightly more than his teammate, finishing with 11 victories from his 29 bouts in a strong entry list.
The boys’ event was following the same format as the girls’ so the Brits returned for the swim this morning. Both athletes performed well in the second discipline with Nottinghamshire’s Harby recording a time of 2:06.07 and Somerset’s Case a 2:11.84. That meant Case was in 16th with Harby 19th after the opening two disciplines in Portugal.
Another interesting laser run followed with the Pentathlon GB athletes both in the thick of the midfield battle. Strong running and shooting from Case saw him move up the order to finish as the highest placed Brit in 12th with Harby crossing the line 23rd on the second international appearances of the season for both athletes.
Next weekend sees another Youth Olympic Games ranking event taking place in Prague where Georgina Mitchell, Alex Bousfield, Josh Hood and Tom Wilton will be competing for Pentathlon GB.
Courtesy of Pentathlon GB
