GB just miss out on ending campaign on a high note
27th August 2013
Great Britain just missed out on ending their Modern Pentathlon World Championships campaign on a high note, finishing fifth in the final competition of the championships in Chinese Taipei today (Tuesday).
The trio of Jamie Cooke, Joe Evans and Nick Woodbridge came home in fifth place in the men’s relay, just 19 seconds behind gold medallists Hungary and six seconds off Russia in third.
It means the British team will travel home from Kaohsiung with two medals. Kate French, Samantha Murray and Mhairi Spence won gold in the women’s team event on Saturday, with Nick Woodbridge winning individual silver the same day. His medal was the first individual medal won by a British man at a Modern Pentathlon World Championships for 20 years.
The GB trio had started the men's relay today seventh among the 17 teams after the fencing and then produced a stunning 3x100m freestyle relay swim time of 2:39.92, which was more than five seconds faster than the next best team, promoting them to fifth place overall.
They then dropped 122 points from the maximum 1200 in the riding arena – the fifth best performance of the day.
The GB trio went into the run/shoot in second, 19 seconds behind the leaders, Ukraine and with a slender three-second advantage over Russia in third.
But a run/shoot relay time of 16.58.17 was the seventh fastest of the day and they were edged out of a podium place.
“It was an exciting day today and the boys were in contention from the outset,” said Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director. “They were fighting hard all day and they wanted that medal badly. They were absolutely gutted not to get on the podium, but you have to say that the opposition were stronger in the end.
“They should take this as a positive and a learning experience and come back stronger next year,” he added. “They have proved they belong with the top teams it the competition.”
And he said a pair of medals and a series of top-10 finishes were good results at this stage in the Olympic cycle.
“We can be satisfied at this point in the Olympic cycle,” he added. “Nick’s individual medal was another historic milestone and the girls have dominated the team event in consecutive years.”
Men’s relay results
Gold: Hungary (Adam Marosi, Robert Kasza & Bruce Demeter) – 6148 points
Silver: China (Guo Jianli, Chen Fulao & Cai Zhaohong) – 6118 points
Bronze: Russia (Aleksander Lesun, Ilia Frolov & Dmitry Lukach) – 6094 points
5th: Great Britain (Jamie Cooke, Joe Evans & Nick Woodbridge) – 6070 points
GB team medals
Gold: women’s team - Samantha Murray, Mhairi Spence & Kate French
Silver: men’s individual – Nick Woodbridge