Junior athletes Myles Pillage and Zoe Davison to make first individual World Championships appearances
European medallists Kate French and Joe Choong lead Pentathlon GB line-up in Mexico
Joanna Muir, Francesca Summers, Jamie Cooke and Sam Curry complete 8-strong British line-up
Plymouth’s Myles Pillage and Stroud’s Zoe Davison will make their individual Senior World Championships debuts in Mexico next month as part of an 8-strong Pentathlon GB team heading to North America. Pillage, 20, and Davison, 19, both impressed at the Junior World Championships two weeks ago, Davison finishing in a superb 4th place with Pillage 20th in the men’s final after challenging the medal places for the majority of the day.
Davison, still in her first year as a junior athlete has enjoyed a fine season, making her World Cup debut in February and then claiming the Junior European women’s relay title alongside Charlie Follett before her 4th place finish in Kladno. That has seen her selected for a first senior major championships appearance where she joins Kate French, Jo Muir and Francesca Summers in the Pentathlon GB’s women’s team.
Pillage has competed in three relays at major senior championships, including last year’s World Championships in Cairo where he and fellow junior athlete Bradley Sutton were unfortunate not to record a top 10 finish. However, next month will mark his first ever individual appearance at this level and comes off the back of a strong season where he finished as the top British male athlete at both the Junior European and Junior World Championships, as well as claiming bronze in the men’s relay at the Junior European Championships alongside Sutton. The University of Bath Student will be joined by experienced trio Jamie Cooke, Joe Choong and Sam Curry in the men’s team heading to Mexico City.
French and Choong, in particular, will go into the championships full of confidence, fresh off the back of their individual medals at last month’s European Championships in Hungary. They were the first senior major championship medals of both athlete’s careers, following a string of top international results over the past couple of seasons.
Muir, Curry and Cooke all also qualified for the European finals with Muir finishing 17th in the women’s event and Curry 28th in the men’s whilst Cooke was unable to take his place on the start line due to illness on the morning of the final. That means the 2016 Rio Olympian will be looking to bounce back and get back to the form that saw him put together a group of impressive results two seasons ago, including an 8th place finish at the 2016 World Championships in Moscow.
Meanwhile, the final member of the team, Dorking’s Francesca Summers will be returning to the scene of arguably her greatest triumph when the then 19-year-old, stormed to Junior World Championship glory in the Mexican capital. The Sky Sports Scholar has only appeared twice internationally this season but qualified for the final at both of her World Cup appearances and will be looking to make a first major championship final since 2015.
With the altitude in Mexico City likely to play a major factor in the event’s outcome, the Championships also have added intrigue as the final event for athletes to lay down a marker before Olympic qualifying begins next season. The includes the next major senior championship for Pentathlon GB athletes which will be the 2019 European Modern Championships which will be hosted on home soil in Bath.
Charlie Follett and Bradley Sutton have been selected as reserve athletes and are currently training with the team at the pre-World Championships training camp in Font Romeu.
Samantha Murray, Jessica Varley and Tom Toolis are all unavailable for selection.
Pentathlon GB’s team will just be competing in the individual competitions which begin with women’s qualifying on Monday 10th September and end with the men’s final on Thursday 13th September.
Full Schedule
Monday 10th September – Women’s qualifying
Tuesday 11th September – Men’s qualifying
Wednesday 12th September –Women’s final
Thursday 13th September – Men’s final
Women’s Team
Kate French, 27, from Gravesend, Kent. Currently training at University of Bath (National Training Centre). 2018 European Championships silver medalist.
Joanna Muir, 23, from Dumfries, Scotland. Currently training at University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Francesca Summers, 22, from Dorking, Surrey.
Zoe Davison, 19, from Stroud, Gloucestershire. Currently training at University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Men’s Team
Joe Choong, 23, from Orpington, Greater London. Currently training at University of Bath (National Training Centre). 2018 European Championships bronze medalist.
Jamie Cooke, 27, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Currently training at University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Sam Curry, 24, from Redhill, Surrey. Currently training at University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Myles Pillage, 20, from Plymouth, Devon. Currently training at University of Bath (National Training Centre).
Courtesy of Pentathlon GB
