Britain’s pentathletes get season underway
10th January 2014
Britain’s modern pentathletes will get their season underway at the first of two GB national ranking competitions in Bath this weekend.
The competition gives a host of younger athletes an opportunity to show their mettle alongside some of the more established athletes training at the National Training Centre at the University of Bath.
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director, said: “Competition is the best form of training, so this will be good preparation for the athletes.
“They will come into the competition under a little bit of pressure and it will allow the coaching team to see where the improvement areas are at this point.
“The door is open, so there is an opportunity for some of the younger athletes to mix with the senior athletes and try to get a foot in the door,” he added.
London 2012 Olympic silver medallist Samantha Murray competes in the women’s event, along with Kate French and Freyja Prentice. The trio all represented Great Britain at last year’s world championships.
Former world junior champion Jamie Cooke, ranked four in the world, is among the men competing, along with Sam Curry and Tom Toolis, who are ranked 13th and 21st respectively in the world junior rankings.
As it’s the first ranking competition of the year, the swim and run/shoot will feature longer distances than in standard pentathlon competitions.
Both the men’s and women’s competitions take place over two days with fencing, swimming and the run/shoot at the Pentathlon GB National Training Centre at the University of Bath and riding at the West Wilts Equestrian Centre.
A second National Ranking Competition takes place next month.
2014 modern pentathlon events
January
18.01-19.01: National Ranking Comp 1 – Bath
February
08.02-09.02: National Ranking Comp 2 – Bath
February/March
26.02 – 03.03: World Cup 1 – Acapulco, Mexico
March
15.03 – 16.03: GB Youth International - Birmingham
April
02.04-06.04: World Cup 2 – Cairo, Egypt
05.04-06.04: British Schools Modern Biathlon Champs, London
16.04-21.04: World Cup 3 – Chengdu, China
April/May
30.04-04.05: World Cup 4 – Budapest, Hungary
May
14.05-18.05: World Youth A Champs – Budapest, Hungary
21.05– 26.05: World Junior Championships – Dronzkow, Poland
June
06.06 – 08.06: World Cup Final – Sarasota, Florida, USA
14.06-15.06: Kremlin Cup - Moscow, Russia
17.06 -23.06: European Junior Champs – Minsk, Belarus
July
09.07-14.07: European Champs – venue tbc
17.07-23.07: European Youth A Champs – Uppsala, Sweden
August
22.08-26.08: Youth Olympic Games – Nanjing, China
September
01.09-09.09: World Champs – Warsaw, Poland
October
23.10-26.10: Champion of Champions – Doha, Qatar