Joe Choong Fencing (Photo: Pentathlon GB)

Day 13 of the 2016 Olympic Games saw the modern pentathlon competitions begin with the Women’s and Men’s fencing ranking rounds.

Team GB are being represented by Kate French, Samantha Murray, Joe Choong and Jamie Cooke with the British quartet enduring mixed fortunes on their first day.

In the men’s event, Choong made a fantastic start to his debut Olympics by finishing 8th with 22 victories and 13 defeats. He secured the 4th highest number of hits but unfortunately a late red card meant he received a 10 point penalty. Cooke, the current World Number 1, finished the ranking round in a tie for 28th on 14 victories and 21 defeats. .

Orpington born Choong was naturally delighted with his performance, commenting that “I feel like that’s the best fence I’ve had by a couple of hits, which is quite a lot in modern pentathlon.

“It’s marred a little bit by the red card I got towards the end, but even with that 10 point deduction it’s the best score I’ve had so it puts me in good stead for Saturday.

“It definitely gives me confidence because if I look at my previous results I haven’t fenced this well. Also, I’ve not had a perfect ride so as long as my riding goes well I’ll be really close to the medals at the end of Saturday I think.

“I’ve loved my time in Rio so far, I’ve been smiling like a little child! Obviously it’s my first time at an Olympics so I’m really enjoying the atmosphere and the village.”

Meanwhile, in the women’s competition, French finished in a tie for 15th with 17 victories and 18 defeats whilst London 2012 silver medallist Murray picked up 14 victories and 21 defeats to complete the opening discipline in joint 28th. Both women were disappointed with their performances with Gravesend born French saying “I finished really strongly but it wasn’t really the result I was hoping for.

“I definitely think I can make up some ground tomorrow; we’ve got another 4 events to go, so it’s certainly not over yet.

“I was really looking forward to it this morning, I warmed up well. I can be proud of how I did; it just took me too long to get going.

“I’m definitely not going to give up and I’ll do my best tomorrow.”

Clitheroe’s Murray stated “I’m disappointed with the result. I didn’t really find myself on the piste and didn’t get a rhythm going with scoring hits. I think that because my momentum was off I didn’t build much confidence throughout the day, so I wasn’t very positive with my movements, especially coming forwards.

“That probably showed in my body language and how I executed my positions. Fourteen victories is the worst I’ve fenced this year. I know that didn’t fence very well and didn’t do myself justice and for that reason I accept what I scored.”

However, the former World Champion was still focusing on making a positive impact throughout the remainder of the completion tomorrow, saying “My focus is still on making the top ten. I’m not focussing on a medal. Now it’s different, it isn’t about the combat element; the other sports are different so it is solely down to me. I have the swimming, which is my strongest event next, and I’ll try to execute a really good ride.

“The final event, the running and shooting, is where you can make up the most ground in pentathlon, so I’ll just go and run my best and be as accurate as I can in the shooting.

“Because it’s the Olympics Games, the best thing I can do tomorrow is to go out and enjoy it because it is a great opportunity, it is an experience, and that’s what I intend to do.

“I know if I cross the line  and look back in hindsight tomorrow and today and know I’ve given it everything then I can walk away feeling happy.”

The women’s competition concludes tomorrow (Friday 19th August) starting with the swimming at 16:00 BST before the fencing bonus round, riding and combined run-shoot which concludes at 22:20 BST. The men’s final continues on Saturday and follows the same timings as the women’s event.

Report courtesy of Pentathlon GB

Amongst the 12 strong men’s and women’s squads are three Loughborough alumni, with current student Meg Jones also named as a travelling reserve. The number of Paralympian’s is still to be finalised, with selections continuing over the coming weeks, however it is now confirmed that 38 current or former Loughborough students are going to the Olympic Games. Add in Loughborough University based athletes and the total number is 53.

In Team GB men’s Rugby 7’s news, Alex Davis and Phil Burgess have both been rewarded with places in the squad for Rio, whilst on the women’s side fellow alumna Claire Allan (pictured above evading a tackle) gets the nod.

The trio will make history as the first ever Loughborough Rugby Olympians, as Rugby 7s is making its Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro.

Of the announcement Loughborough’s Director of Rugby Dave Morris commented: “The inclusion of Alex and Phil in the final Team GB men’s sevens squad is a very special moment for the club. They are two excellent young men who gave everything in a Loughborough shirt and left a lasting impression.

“I know everyone in the Loughborough family who had the pleasure of playing with, working with, or supporting them during their time at Loughborough would want to say: ‘AJ and Burg, we are incredibly proud of you both and we are all behind you in your journey to win gold in Rio.

“With alumna Claire Allan making the women’s squad and current student Meg Jones named as a traveling reserve, it is fantastic for the rugby family at Loughborough and I firmly believe that they, along with Alex and Phil, will inspire many more Loughborough students to be future rugby sevens Olympians.”

Additionally, alumna Angela Hannah has been rewarded with a last minute spot on Team GB in the K2 Kayak Sprint. Competing alongside Lani Belcher, the duo finished third at the European qualifying event in Germany in May, which wasn’t enough to fulfil their Rio dream.  However after a number of positive drugs tests, Romania have been disqualified, meaning the duo have rightfully earned their spot.

Of the news Hannah said: “We’re amazed really. It all came about at the last minute, and we only learned it could be happening on Saturday. It’s cutting it fine but I am super excited. I really hope they ensure it is clean in Rio but we just need to keep building in our boat and make sure we go fast ourselves.

“I think we’ll be more relaxed just because we are there. We really want to make the final and then we’ll just have to see what happens on the day.”

Report courtesy of Loughborough University

The quartet were officially confirmed as being Britain’s modern pentathlon representatives during a team announcement at Hyde Park Barracks in London on Wednesday.

All four train at the University of Bath, which has proudly hosted Pentathlon GB’s National Performance Centre since 1999 during which time five medals have been won in the sport across four Olympic Games.

Murray is among those medalists, having memorably won Team GB’s 65^th and final medal of London 2012 with silver on the last day of the Games, and she is ambitious to continue that history of podium finishes in Rio this summer.

“That has been my goal now for four years, to become the first British female pentathlete to win medals at two Olympic Games,” said Murray, a French & Politics graduate.

“Having competed at London I now know what it’s all about, I know what it’s like to compete at the Games, and I feel like I know what it takes to get on the podium again.

“It’s really exciting – to represent Team GB is an amazing honour and I’m really looking forward to doing it again.”

Murray will be joined in the women’s competition on August 18-19 by Sports Performance graduate French, whose Olympic journey was inspired by the bronze medal won by Georgina Harland at the Athens 2004 Games.

“I started doing Pony Club tetrathlons when I was young and Georgina came to a prize-giving one year,” French explained. “She brought her Olympic medal and I was able to hold it. I remember thinking ‘I’d like one of these one day!’.

“Competing at an Olympic Games would mean so much to me, it’s something I’ve wanted to do from a very young age. To be on that plane to Rio is a dream come true.”

Cooke will make his Olympic debut ranked as the number-one male pentathlete in the world after winning two gold medals on the international stage already in 2016.

He set the qualification standard for London 2012 but missed out on selection, with only two Olympic places available per gender per nation, so is determined to make the most of this opportunity.

“Not being selected in 2012 was a huge disappointment and made me question a lot of things but it also drove me to be the best I can be over the last four years,” said Cooke, a former World Junior Champion.

“Hopefully I can get out there in Rio and show that all hard work has paid off.

“The British women have won Olympic medals at the past four Games and that drive to be better has created success. We want to try and emulate that in the men’s squad and we are working as hard as we can.”

Joining Cooke in pursuing a first-ever British men’s individual Olympic medal is Choong, who is a Mathematics student at the University of Bath.

“The Olympics has been a dream since I started the sport in Year 9 at school,” said Choong, who – like French – qualified via a top-eight finish at the 2015 European Championships, staged at the University of Bath.

“When you start a sport and start doing well, you always keep looking at the next level and thinking bigger, and it doesn’t get any bigger than the Olympics.

“I watched London 2012 and that definitely motivated me to try and get to the next Games. It’s a big moment for me.”

Today’s announcement takes the number of confirmed University of Bath-based athletes in the Team GB squad up to eight, following the selection of swimmers Jazz Carlin, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, Chris Walker-Hebborn and Andrew Willis last month.

Stephen Baddeley, Director of Sport at the University of Bath, said: “Congratulations to Joe, Jamie, Kate and Samantha on their selection for Rio. We get to see just how hard they train every day to excel in five different disciplines – and, in Joe’s case, fit in his studies – so they have very much earned this accolade.

“We have had a very strong and successful partnership with Pentathlon GB for almost two decades and we wish all the athletes and support staff well this summer as they seek to continue that proud tradition of bringing Olympic medals back to the University.”

Report courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.