Jo Muir and Sam Curry produced a brilliant display to win mixed relay gold and claim Pentathlon GB’s 4th medal of an incredible World Cup 4 in Prague. After personal disappointments in the individual competitions this weekend, both athletes put that behind them to bounce back in the perfect fashion, never being outside the top 4 to take a deserved gold medal.
It means 7 different Pentathlon GB athletes have now taken World Cup medals during a remarkable 2019 World Cup season. It was also Curry’s first ever medal at senior level whilst Muir went one better than her World Cup mixed relay silver in 2017.
Reaction
Reflecting on their performance, Muir said “It’s an amazing feeling to win the gold medal today. We were both quite disappointed with our performances earlier in the week so it was so nice to have a good a competition. We’re both happy with our performances in every discipline so it was worth all of the hard work.”
Curry added “It feels like a massive vindication for both of us. I don’t think there was anyone on the GB squad who was hungrier than us for this. I messed up in the semi-final so I wanted to make amends today and Jo should have been top 5, if not medalling, in the women’s final if not for the ride so we’re thrilled to be able to put this together.”
Story of the Day
The mixed relay began in the pool and the Brits started as they meant to go on with a strong start seeing them record a time of 1:55.80, the third fastest of the day.
With gaps in the other disciplines often smaller than in the individual competitions, the fencing hall can often make or break a mixed relay team. Consistent scoring throughout ensured that Muir and Curry kept themselves in touch with the leaders as the British duo finished with 21 victories and 15 defeats from their 36 bouts. They were defeated by Italy in the fencing bonus round, but that was nothing to be ashamed of with the Italian pairing of Alessandra Frezza and Daniele Colasanti going on a remarkable, world-recording breaking run to claim 9 straight bonus round victories.
That left the Pentathlon GB duo in 4th after the opening two disciplines but things were extremely tight in the Czech capital with just one point separating 3rd-6th. That meant a good ride was required and University of Bath based Muir and Curry provided that, rolling just a single pole to score 293 points for their round, the second highest score of the day. That saw them move up 2nd in the overall standings heading into the laser run, although everything was still to play for with 15 seconds separating the top 5 nations.
However, the Brits made the run-shoot their own, Muir taking command and handing over to Curry with a healthy lead. That lead was one he never looked like relinquishing with some particularly impressive shooting ensuring the British pairing took an ultimately comfortable victory from Germany’s individual bronze medallist from yesterday Marvin Dogue and World silver medallist Annika Schleu with Egypt coming home third.
It was a 4th medal of an incredible bank holiday weekend for British athletes at World Cup 4 after Kate French took gold and Jess Varley bronze in the women’s final on Saturday and Joe Choong claimed silver in the men’s event yesterday.
The competition marked the final stop of the regular World Cup series with the next event on the calendar the World Cup final in Tokyo from 27th-30th June.
Courtesy of Pentathlon GB
