Strong displays from Olivia Green and Georgia Hannam saw them finish 11th and 24th respectively with the three individual scores also seeing Bryson, Green and Hannam claim team bronze, matching their feat from last month’s Junior European Championships.

That took the British medal total at this year’s Junior major championships to 7 and underlined the incredible group of athletes and coaches GB currently boasts with a plethora of medals on the senior world cup circuit in 2019 too. For Bryson, it was a first individual major championship medal whilst she became the first British athlete to claim an individual medal at a Junior World Championships since Francesca Summers’ 2015 triumph in Mexico City.

Story of the Day

The women’s final began yesterday with the fencing ranking round, Plymouth’s Bryson immediately vaulting herself into medal contention with an excellent performance of 24 victories and just 11 defeats from her 35 bouts. Morecambe’s Hannam (18 victories) and Saddleworth’s Green (16 victories) also performed well to leave themselves well placed overnight.

19-year-old Green, the youngest member of the British women’s squad in Poland, led the way in the swim, clocking a 2:18.17 for her 200m. Hannam (2:20.61) and Bryson (2:23.17) also improved on their qualifying times, demonstrating that the British trio were all in good form. That left Bryson 3rd after the opening two disciplines with Hannam 17th and Green 20th in the overall standings.

The ride caused issues for many of the athletes and included six eliminations. However, the Brits kept their composure whilst others around them faltered, Bryson and Green both rolling just a single pole apiece to score 293 points for their rounds. It was also just poles for TASS supported athlete Hannam with four knockdowns seeing her pick up 272 points.

That moved Bryson up to 2nd with Green 11th and Hannam 19th heading into the concluding laser run.

Although she was unable to close the gap on Russian leader Adelina Ibatullina, some sharp shooting saw Bryson increase the gap on those behind her to take a superb silver medal at the sport’s flagship junior event. Behind her, strong running saw Green maintain her place in 11th despite some struggles on the range with Hannam crossing the line 24th to ensure the British team bronze and her second medal of the week after teaming up with Bryson in Sunday’s relay.

Tomorrow sees the men’s final concluding in Drzonkow after their ranking round took place today. There was further British optimism with Oliver Murray finishing the discipline in 2nd with 22 victories and 12 defeats to his name, 2 victories ahead of Myles Pillage. Bradley Sutton ended the day with a level fence of 17 victories and 17 defeats meaning all three athletes are well placed heading into tomorrow.

Courtesy of Pentathlon GB

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 8^th 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 6^th 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

Josh Miller (Photo: Chris Green)

The event started with the swim where Summers and Miller recorded a time of 2:05.50, the 12^th quickest of the day. The majority of the field were tightly matched with less than 9 seconds covering the top 16 teams meaning the British duo were well placed after one of their less favoured disciplines.

Summers, who trains at North Kent Modern Pentathlon Club, and Miller, who was based at Hartpury College Academy until graduating this summer then both excelled in the fencing salle. The young British duo were placed well throughout and finished the discipline standings in 2^nd on 20 victories and 12 defeats. The Brits then defeated Germany in the fencing bonus round to pick up an extra point meaning they sat 4^th after two disciplines.

An excellent ride from the two 18-year-olds saw them pick up 290 points after knocking down just a single pole alongside 3 time faults. As a result, Dorking’s Summers and Oxted’s Miller moved up a place to third ahead of the final event in the Egyptian capital, the combined run-shoot.

With many quick athletes close behind them, it was always going to be tough to maintain their position, but a strong performance from both athletes saw them cross the line 6^th, a fantastic performance in their debut Junior World Championships.

Sunday was the last day of the Championships, the final major international of the 2016 season. On Monday, Jess Varley and Charlie Follett finished 12^th in the Women’s Relay with Miller teaming up with fellow Hartpury College graduate Harry Sykes to finish 14^th in the Men’s Relay.

In the individual competitions, Varley finished as the top Brit in the women’s event in 23^rd with Summers 27^th and Follett 30^th after all three qualified for the final.

Rio 2016 Olympian Joe Choong finished 18^th on his final international appearance of the season on Saturday.

Choong comfortably qualified for the final 36 on Thursday and was the lone British representative in the final as Youth A (U19) athletes Harry Sykes, Josh Miller and Bradley Sutton narrowly missed out on qualifying on their step up to Junior level.

The final started in the pool where Choong’s time of 2:02.11 was the 4^th quickest of the day and just 1 second between Italian Matteo Cicinelli who was quickest. The field was extremely closely matched in the opening discipline with just 5 seconds (15 points) covering the top 16.

As he did in Brazil, Choong, who is studying for a maths degree at the University of Bath alongside his training, performed impressively throughout the fencing ranking round, eventually finishing the discipline in 5^th with 22 victories and just 11 defeats.

In the fencing bonus round, the Orpington born athlete picked up two extra points courtesy of victories over Kazakh Igor Sozinov and Russian Lev Kolyazov. It meant he sat in 2^nd position after the opening two disciplines in the Egyptian capital.

In the ride, Choong suffered a tough round on his horse Mashaallah, picking up 34 obstacle penalties and 14 time penalties. It meant the 21-year-old started the combined event in 6^th but still in a good position to secure a strong result.

However, a long international season that started at the Spanish Open International in early February and has included the Olympic Games, Senior World Championships, Senior European Championships and 2 World Cups finally caught up with the Brit as he slipped to 18^th by the line.

Fellow Olympians Charles Fernandez of Guatemala and Korea’s Jun Woongtae claimed gold and bronze respectively with Russian Alexander Lifanov securing bronze.

The next time Pentathlon GB athletes will be in action is at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow on October 2^nd.

Report courtesy of Pentathlon GB.

N.B. The attached images show Josh Miller in action at the Youth A European Championships in July. Please photo credit Chris Green should you wish to use.

Having all qualified on Wednesday, the GB trio’s day started in the pool. Follett, who currently trains with Dorset Pentathletes, was quickest of the GB athletes in 2:24.38 with Varley, who is based at Pentathlon GB’s National Training Centre at the University of Bath, recording a time of 2:25.83. Summers, who trains at North Kent Modern Pentathlon Club, started her day with 2:26.91 swim.

18-year-old Summers excelled in the fencing salle, placing in the top 10 throughout the ranking round before eventually finishing the discipline standings 5^th with 22 victories and just 11 defeats. 19-year-old Follett recorded 15 victories and 20 defeats with 21-year-old Varley securing 10 victories alongside 25 defeats.

In the bonus round, both Varley and Follett picked up an extra point with victories over Egyptian Salma Abdelmaksoud and Italian Aurora Tognetti respectively whilst Summers lost out to German Rebecca Langrehr.

It meant that Summers was the top Brit at the end of the morning, sitting in 11^th place after two disciplines with Follett 28^th and Varley 36^th.

Varley, who became the new British Modern Pentathlon Champion in June went first in the ride and picked up 279 points after knocking down 3 poles before Follett, who finished 2^nd in the British Championships, produced a brilliant clear round to pick up the maximum 300 points. Summers, who recorded top 10 finishes in the Budapest Indoor International and Spanish Open International earlier this year also completed a fantastic round, recording just a single time penalty to secure 299 points.

It meant that all 3 Pentathlon GB athletes moved up the standings with Summers starting the closing combined event in 6^th with Follett 17^th and Varley 31^st.

The standings heading into the run-shoot were extremely close meaning there were huge changes in the final discipline. Varley produced a sublime combined event of 13:27 to move up to 23^rd in the final standings, narrowly ahead of Summers in 27^th and Follett in 30^th at the competition’s finish.

The event was won by South Korean Sunwoo Kim who becomes the new Junior World Champion, succeeding Brit Francesca Summers after her victory in Mexico City 12 months ago. Francesca – the older sister of Georgina – unfortunately missed this year’s event due injury.

Another Francesca, Italy’s Tognetti, claimed silver with Russian Sofia Serkina in bronze medal position.

Today (Saturday) sees the men’s final taking place with Rio 2016 Olympian Joe Choong in action for Pentathlon GB.

Harry Sykes, Josh Miller and Bradley Sutton who were all appearing in their debut Junior major international at the age of 18 put up strong performance but failed to qualify for the final 36.

In the Women’s Relay on Monday, Jess Varley and Charlie Follett finished 12^th with Harry Sykes and Josh Miller placing 14^th in the men’s relay on Tuesday.

Report courtesy of Pentathlon GB