- Pentathlon GB’s Kate French claims World Championships bronze in Budapest
- Medal adds to 2019 European silver for the Rio Olympian
- Joanna Muir (9th) and Francesca Summers (15th) both record best ever World Championships results
- Trio claim World Championships team silver for Great Britain
Kate French added world bronze to her European silver with another superb modern pentathlon display. The 28-year-old Olympian was in fine form once again in Budapest as she also led Great Britain to team silver alongside Joanna Muir (9th) and Francesca Summers (15th).
The double medal haul continued Pentathlon GB’s stunning 2019 season with British athletes winning medals at all eight major championships across Under 17, Under 19, Junior and Senior level.
It was a first individual World Championships medal of her career for French as she underlined her status as one of the world’s leading modern pentathletes with Muir and Summers backing up their top ten results from August’s European Championships.
Reaction
Reflecting on her performance French said “I’m so happy with the bronze medal today. I had a solid day across all disciplines and the sand wasn’t easy in the laser run but I gave it my all.
“I could have picked up a few more points here and there so it wasn’t a perfect day and I know there’s still more to come.
“It’s been a long season so on the last lap I was just concentrating on finishing the season on a high and pushing all the way to the line.”
Story of the Day
The women’s final started in the fencing hall, Kent’s French immediately vaulting herself into contention with an excellent start to the ranking round, eventually finishing with 24 victories and 11 defeats from her 35 bouts. A strong start to the women’s final for Summers saw her secure 20 victories with Muir recording 14 hits.
It was Dumfries’ Muir who led the way in the pool, clocking a 2:12.62 for her 200m swim. Former North Kent duo French and Summers recorded times of 2:14.90 and 2:17.98 respectively. In the fencing bonus round, French added two points to her overall tally with Muir also securing an extra hit on the show piste. That meant French was the lead Brit in 5th with Summers 14th and Muir 25th after the opening two disciplines.
The British trio all rolled two poles in the ride, but on a twisty, technical course, there were many athletes who ran into difficulties meaning all three moved up the overall standings. Consequently, French was situated in 4th with Summers 12th and Muir 21st heading into the concluding laser run.
After losing ground at the first shoot, French made progress from then on, closing on the athletes ahead of her and moving into bronze medal position at the third visit to the range. With Belarus’ Volha Silkina way out in front and a gap to those behind, French’s battle was for silver and bronze with Elena Micheli. After trading places back and for on the final lap it was the Italian who snatched silver in a sprint finish with French claiming a fantastic bronze to add to her gold from World Cup 4 and European silver in 2019.
Behind her, Muir was making significant progress through the field with superb shooting and strong running seeing the Pentathlon GB athlete crossing the line 9th thanks to the second quickest laser run of the day. Despite feeling under the weather, Summers battled throughout, crossing the line 15thas all three British athletes recorded their best ever World Championships finishes. Their scores also saw Britain claim team silver behind Belarus with Germany taking bronze.
Tomorrow sees the men’s final taking place in Budapest with Joe Choong, Jamie Cooke, Tom Toolis and Sam Curry all in action for Pentathlon GB.
Courtesy of Pentathlon GB
