Junior European Champions Charlie Follett and Zoe Davison produced another fine display as they finished 8th in the Junior World Championships women’s relay today. Although not quite matching their performance in Barcelona last month, it was another good experience for the young Brits ahead of the individual competition which begins on Thursday.
Story of the Day
The women’s relay began this year’s Junior World Championships in the Czech Republic with 15 nations from around the globe entering teams on a high-profile first day of action. The start list included three of the other four medallist from the Junior European women’s relay as well as current world junior silver and bronze individual medallists Aurora Tognetti (Italy) and Adelina Ibatullina (Russia).
A strong start to the day from the British pairing of Bristol’s Follett and Stroud’s Davison saw them record a time of 2:07.38 in the swim as they finally entered competition after a 10-day training camp in Poland.
In the fencing hall, the GB duo were around the level mark throughout, eventually finishing the discipline with 13 victories and 15 defeats to their name. With a total of 28 bouts, it meant each additional victory was worth 8 points, placing a major factor on the second discipline and consequently seeing Follett and Davison lose ground on some of the other nations. In the bonus round, victories over Germany and Kazakhstan saw the Brits collect two additional points, placing them in 8th after the opening two disciplines in Kladno.
A single refusal in the ride saw the University of Bath based duo drop 10 points for their round. However, impressive speed around the course ensured there were to be no time penalties despite the obstacle fault, resulting in a score of 290 points which moved the Brits up to 6th in the overall standings.
As has been the case around most of Europe in recent months, conditions were extremely hot in the Czech Republic with the temperature still in the mid-30s during the laser run, making the final discipline a punishing affair. Therefore, with the medal positions out of reach, the key in the final discipline for the girls was to get used to the competition range and build confidence ahead of the individual competition. That task was achieved with the girls in the mid-pack throughout the 3200m course, crossing the line in 8th position.
Follett and Davison will both be back in action for women’s qualifying on Thursday where they will also be joined by Holly Parker and Georgia Hannam in the Pentathlon GB line-up. Tomorrow sees the men’s relay taking place with European bronze medallists Myles Pillage and Bradley Sutton in action for Pentathlon GB.
Courtesy of Pentathlon GB
