Most of the world’s top modern pentathletes will be in action at the Millfield World Cup – the last major international modern pentathlon event in the UK before the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Members of the media are welcome to attend the World Cup at Millfield from 27th to 30th March.
There will also be an opportunity to interview members of the GB team ahead of the World Cup at a press conference at Millfield on Wednesday 26th March.
For media accreditation for Millfield, further information about the event or for interviews with members of the GB team, please contact Steve Ballinger at Matchtight Ltd, by email at steve@matchtight.co.uk or by phone on 07765 071683.
Further news items about the Millfield World Cup will be posted on this site in the build-up to the competition and during the World Cup itself.
Teenager Cooke set for World Cup debut posted by Steve Ballinger on23-02-2010
Eighteen-year-old Jamie Cooke will make his World Cup debut in Mexico next month.
Cooke, winner of the British Olympic Association’s modern pentathlon One to Watch Awards in 2008 and 2009, is a member of the six-strong British team competing at the first World Cup event of the season.
The Cheltenham pentathlete, which trains at the Pentathlon GB high performance centre at the University of Bath, joins Beijing 2008 Olympians Sam Weale and Nick Woodbridge in the men’s team.
Cooke, who is still classed as a junior athlete, earned his place on the team after finishing second to Weale in the overall ranking list following national selection competitions.
Heather Fell, Britain’s Beijing 2008 Olympic silver medallist, is joined by Samantha Murray and Louise Helyer in the women’s competition. Murray, who at 20 is also still a junior athlete, finished second in the national selection competitions.
The first World Cup of the season takes place in Playa Del Carmen from 4 to 7 March.
Woodbridge will return to action at the second World Cup of the year, which is in Cairo, Egypt, from 18 to 21 March. He is joined in the men’s team by David Atkinson, Russell North and Steven Mason.
Mhairi Spence, who topped the national women’s rankings, is joined by Beijing 2008 Olympian Katy Livingston, as well as Katy Burke and Freyja Prentice in the women’s team for Cairo.
Pentathlon GB wins award for World Championships posted by Steve Ballinger on15-10-2009
Pentathlon GB has picked up an award for its organisation of the 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championships at Crystal Palace.
The event was named the best overall modern pentathlon competition of 2009 by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), the sport’s international federation.
The award was announced at the UIPM’s Congress in Copenhagen.
Peter Hart, Chief Executive of Pentathlon GB, said the plaudit was recognition of a huge team effort.
“We are delighted to win this award,” he said. “Winning it is external recognition of the huge team effort by many people from the association and partners involved.
“We are now concentrating our resources in delivering a similarly successful event at the World Cup competition in Medway next year.”
UK Sport Event Consultant and 2009 World Championships Executive Committee member, Lucy Crickmore, added: "It was a pleasure working with Pentathlon GB in staging this World Championships, and UK Sport is delighted that the event has been recognized as world class by the modern pentathlon community.
"The volunteers and officials delivered an excellent World Championships, providing a fantastic competition experience for both athletes and spectators, which is crucial as we prepare for a home Games in 2012."
The 2009 World Championships – the first World Championships held in an Olympic sport in London since 1986 – took place at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre from 13-17 August.
It was the first Modern Pentathlon World Championships to feature the sport’s new combined run/shoot format and the new two-athlete team relay.
Ten nations won medals at Crystal Palace, with the British trio of Heather Fell, Katy Livingston and Mhairi Spence winning silver in the women’s team competition.
For further information, please contact Steve Ballinger in the Pentathlon GB press office at Matchtight Ltd on 07765 071683 or visit the website www.pentathlongb.org
Re-live the World Championships highlights posted by Steve Ballinger on07-09-2009
You can re-live the highlights of the 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championships on Sky Sports’ coverage over the next few days.
A one-hour programme with the best of the action from last month’s championships at Crystal Palace is screened on Sky Sports Xtra at 8pm on Tuesday 8th September.
It is repeated at 11pm on Sky Sport 3 and Sky Sports HD3.
On Wednesday 9th September the programme will be screened at 4am on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD1, and it will be shown again on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports HD2 at 9am.
Times may be subject to change – please check TV listings for full details.
World Championships were a big success posted by Steve Ballinger on20-08-2009
The 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championships, which drew to a close at Crystal Palace on Monday (17 August), have been labelled a big success.
The championships were the first world championships to feature the new combined run/shoot, which has formed the climax to the sport since the start of this year.
They were also the first world championships to use the new two-athlete format for team relays – a format Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne President Dr Klaus Schormann is keen to see feature on the Olympic programme.
“It has been an excellent world championships,” said Dr Schormann. “It has been organised in one place with everything in walking distance. Everybody has enjoyed it.”
Among the guests attending the championships was Ben Bradshaw, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
During his visit to Crystal Palace he said: “It’s great to see we’re hosting the Modern Pentathlon World Championships in the UK.
“It’s also good to see that pentathlon is so strong as a sport and that we have good prospects of success, both here and at 2012.”
Anthony Temple QC, Pentathlon GB’s Chairman, praised the role of event organizers, staff and volunteers.
He said: “The World Championships require enormous commitment from everyone involved. In the event many athletes, federations and spectators have said how much they enjoyed them and how well organised they were. This considerable success is down in large part to John Woodbridge’s direction and the hard work of Pentathlon GB’s staff and our many volunteers.”
UK Sport Event Consultant and 2009 World Championships Executive Committee member, Lucy Crickmore, said: “It has been a pleasure working with Pentathlon GB in staging this World Championships. UK Sport is delighted to have been able to support this event, which has been an important test of the modern pentathlon competition system ahead of 2012.
“The volunteers and officials have delivered an excellent World Championships, and the first of its kind in the new format, which has showcased the sport and provided a world class competition experience for both athletes and spectators.”
UK Sport, via its research and innovation programme, also coordinated the production of a bespoke shooting range for the purpose of hosting the new combined run/shoot event, which is likely to play a central role in future international competitions.
Championships Director John Woodbridge said: “I think the championships have been a major success. We have put on a great event.
“When the UIPM changed the format of the sport in November, they had a vision of a pentathlon stadium, with all the action taking place there or nearby, and I think we’ve delivered exactly what they were looking for.
“The shooting range would not have been possible without UK Sport. It was a significant spend and it is by far the best shooting range on the international circuit. We have had interest from other federations about using it as a result of what we have done at Crystal Palace.
“The whole thing would not have been possible without massive amounts of assistance from UK Sport, Crystal Palace staff who have been brilliant working as part of our team, our sponsors, and above all, an army of about 200 volunteers who have given up a huge amount of their time and their holidays to make this work for athletes and coaches.
“We’ve also learned some lessons ahead of 2012,” he added. “The feedback we have had about the championships has been very positive, and I’m delighted.”
Councillor Douglas Auld, Mayor of the London Borough of Bromley, watched the individual finals on Saturday and Sunday.
He said: “It’s a privilege and an honour to have had the Modern Pentathlon World Championships here at Crystal Palace in the Borough of Bromley.
“It has been a wonderful opportunity to see the world’s top pentathletes competing here in Bromley, where we were able to have all five disciplines on one site and within walking distance.”
Councillor David Royle, Mayor of Medway in Kent, which hosts a round of the modern pentathlon World Cup next year, said: “It’s been a very successful championships and I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly. We are certainly looking forward to hosting the World Cup in Medway next year, when we will have some brand new facilities that we are in the throes of building.”
Among the sporting VIPs at Crystal Palace was Jim Fox, a four-times Olympian and member of the British gold medal winning team at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.
Britain’s four women winners of Olympic medals were also at Crystal Palace – Heather Fell, who won silver in Beijing, was competing, while Steph Cook, gold medallist at Sydney 2000, Kate Allenby (bronze, Sydney) and Georgina Harland (bronze, Athens) were also at the championships.
Ten nations win medals at Modern Pentathlon World Championships posted by Steve Ballinger on18-08-2009
Ten nations shared the medals at the 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championships, which drew to an end at Crystal Palace yesterday (Monday).
The Czech Republic won the most medals of any country, with two golds and two silvers.
Their total was boosted on yesterday’s final day of action when the Czech Republic took gold in both the men’s and women’s team relays.
The championships were the first to feature the new two-athlete format for the team relays, and the Czechs impressed with David Svoboda and Ondrej Polivka collecting the men’s title, followed a few hours later by Lucie Grolichova and Natalie Dianova winning the women’s relay.
It was a terrific championships for Svoboda who also won the individual and team silvers – the latter with Polivka and Michael Michalik.
Svoboda was one of only two athletes to win medals in each of the maximum three events they could contest. The other was Lena Schoneborn, Germany’s Olympic champion, who won individual bronze, team gold and ended her campaign with team relay silver.
Hungary were the only nation apart from the Czech Republic to come away from Crystal Palace with two golds – Adam Marosi won the individual men’s gold and helped the Hungary win the men’s team gold on Saturday. Hungary’s women followed that up with team bronze on Sunday.
On Saturday Qian Chen made a piece of history by becoming the first Chinese woman to win the individual gold medal at a Modern Pentathlon World Championships.
The bronze medal won by Egypt’s El Geziry brothers, Amro and Omar, in the men’s team relay meant athletes from three different continents collected medals at the championships.
Great Britain were also in the medals. The trio of Heather Fell, Katy Livingston and Mhairi Spence won the team silver medal, a repeat of their silver in the team event in Budapest last year.
But there was disappointment for the British relay teams on the final day of competition when both the men and women finished agonisingly close to the medals in fourth place.
Fell’s ninth was the highest finish by a Briton in the individual competitions, while Nick Woodbridge came 13th in the individual men’s event.
The championships were first world championships held in an Olympic sport in London since 1986.
Final results round-up:
Men’s individual
Gold: Adam Marosi (HUN) - 6136
Silver: David Svoboda (CZE) - 6116
Bronze: Dmytro Kirpulyanskyy (UKR) - 6100
13th: Nick Woodbridge (GBR) - 5936
29th: Sam Weale (GBR) – 5664
74th: Steve Mason (GBR) – 4380 (semi-finals only)
79th: Russell North (GBR) – 4272 (semi-finals only)
Men’s team
Gold: Hungary – Adam Marosi, Robert Nemeth, Peter Tibolya – 18116
Silver: Czech Republic – Ondrej Polivka, David Svoboda, Michael Michalik – 17956
Bronze – Lithuania – Justinas Kinderis, Edvinas Krungolcas, Andrejus Zadneprovskis – 17648
7th: Great Britain - Nick Woodbridge, Sam Weale, Steven Mason – 15980
Women’s individual
Gold: Qian Chen (CHN) - 5840
Silver: Laura Asadauskaite (LTU) - 5736
Bronze: Lena Schoneborn (GER) - 5664
9th: Heather Fell (GBR) - 5556
14th: Mhairi Spence (GBR) – 5444
15th: Freyja Prentice (GBR) – 5432
23rd: Katy Livingston (GBR) - 5328
Women’s team
Gold: Germany Lena Schoneborn, Eva Trautmann and Janine Kohlmann - 16604
Silver: Great Britain – Heather Fell, Katy Livingston, Mhairi Spence - 16328
Bronze: Hungary - Sarolta Kovacs, Leila Gyenesei and Zsuzsanna Voros - 16328
Men’s team relay
Gold: Czech Republic – David Svoboda, Ondrej Polivka – 6642
Silver: Russia – Sergey Karyakin, Semen Burtsev – 6636
Bronze: Egypt – Omar El Geziry, Amro El Geziry – 6608
4th: Great Britain – Nick Woodbridge, Sam Weale - 6600
Women’s team relay
Gold: Czech Republic - Lucie Grolichova, Natalie Dianova - 6064
Silver: Germany – Lean Schoneborn, Eva Trautmann - 5988
Bronze: Poland – Sylvia Czwojdzinska, Paulina Boenisz - 5914
4th: Great Britain – Mhairi Spence, Heather Fell - 5896
Double top for Czechs who win men’s and women’s relays on final day of world championships posted by Steve Ballinger & Jess Whitehorn on17-08-2009
Lucie Grolichova and Natalie Dianova completed a relay double for the Czech Republic by winning the final event of the 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championships at Crystal Palace tonight (Monday).
The pair followed the victory by the Czech men’s relay team of David Svoboda and Ondrej Polivka just hours earlier by taking the women’s team relay gold.
The Czechs had gone into the final event, the run/shoot, in third place behind Great Britain and Russia. But they beat the German team of Eva Trautmann and Olympic champion Lena Schoneborn into second place by nine seconds.
Afterwards Grolichova said: “We won the European Championships so we had big ambitions of another medal here, but we didn’t expect it would be gold. It’s great.”
Trautmann said: “We were really lucky. With the combined it is a little bit difficult and today it was good.
“Germany has had a good Championships. Gold medal in the team, and now silver in the relay, Lena got bronze and I was sixth overall – a good championships for us.”
The Polish team of Sylvia Czwojdzinska and Pauline Boenisz just edged the British pair of Heather Fell and Mhairi Spence into fourth – a repeat of the finish achieved by Sam Weale and Nick Woodbridge in the men’s event earlier in the day.
Boenisz said: “That was super – a big surprise for us. We know that the Great Britain team is very strong and before running we just wanted to run and shoot well and we did this. We managed to climb three places and this was our only medal of the Championships so it’s a great finish.
“Everything at these championships has been very impressive and that is great for pentathlon. We got the result and that is the important thing.”
Spence said: “We got where we were by pulling together throughout the day, but it just didn’t work out at the end. It’s obviously disappointing, but it just makes us want to work harder.
“It’s been really good fun competing here and the organisation of the competition has gone really well,” she added. “I’m exhausted now, but I think it’s my most enjoyable world championships so far.”
Spence and Fell went into the riding arena in second place behind the Russian pair of Polina Struchtkova and Vera Feshtchenko, but produced a strong performance to climb to pole position, with the Czech pair third.
Earlier in the day Fell and Spence topped the leaderboard in the fencing with 34 wins and 18 defeats with Russia and Lithuania in second place going into the swim with 31 wins a-piece from their bouts, worth 910 points.
For further information please see the World Championships website at http://www.pentathlongb.org/mpwc/index.htm You can also contact the World Championships press office at Matchtight Ltd on 00 44 (0)7826 234760 or by email on steve@matchtight.co.uk
For further information about the 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championships, which take place from 13 to 17 August at Crystal Palace in London, please see www.pentathlongb.org/mpwc
GB back in lead in women's team relay going into run/shoot posted by Steve Ballinger on17-08-2009
Britain’s Heather Fell and Mhairi Spence go into the run/shoot at the end of the women’s team relay event in first place after leapfrogging Russia in the show jumping arena.
The Russian pair of Polina Struchtkova and Vera Feshtchenko led the field after the swim, but sustained more penalties in the riding arena than the British pair.
That put Fell and Spence to the top of the leaderboard with 3324 points – 12 ahead of Russia. That means Fell and Spence will start the run/shoot relay with a three second advantage.
The Czech Republic pair of Lucie Grolichova and Natalie Dianova remained third, from Germany and Hungary.
The women’s team relay is the last event to be contested at the 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championships at Crystal Palace.
Britain’s men just miss out on team relay podium as Czechs win their third medal of world championships posted by Steve Ballinger & Jess Whitehorn on17-08-2009
The British men’s relay team came within two seconds of winning Britain’s second medal of the 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championships at Crystal Palace this afternoon (Monday).
Nick Woodbridge and Sam Weale finished just behind Omar and Amro El Geziry (EGY) in fourth in a thrilling climax to the new team relay format, being used for the first time at the world championships.
World number one and European champion Ondrej Polivka and his team-mate David Svoboda, winner of the individual world championship silver medal on Saturday, led the Czech Republic team to gold.
The Czech pair started a minute and 23 seconds behind the leaders going into the run/shoot, the El Geziry brothers from Egypt.
Both Svoboda and Polikva produced outstanding shoots and Polivka held enough in reserve to just hold off Russia’s Semen Burtsev by two seconds in the chase for gold. The Czech pair’s time of 13:34.95 was almost 40 seconds faster than the next fastest pair. It was the third medal for the Czech team, who also won silver in the team event.
Afterwards Svoboda said: “We didn’t expect that. We thought we could maybe get fourth, fifth place, maybe if we had a lot of luck we coud fight for a medal, but the gold medal this is something unbelievable for us. This is my third world championship medal.”
Sergey Karyakin, who was on the first leg of the run/shoot for Russia said: “I am pleased, this is my first senior medal.”
Weale, running the last leg for Great Britain, gave it everything, producing a stunning late sprint, but couldn’t quite charge down Egypt’s Amro El Geziry.
Despite having just run 2km and completed two shoots, Woodbridge, chased after Weale to shout encouragement as Weale set off in pursuit of Amro El Geziry in the final run. El Geziry was well ahead of Weale going into the last run, but Weale took big chunks out of the deficit before he just ran out of time as the finish line approached.
Afterwards Woodbridge said: “I could see the Egyptian tiring and in the end it was probably down to a second or two.
“I’m obviously gutted,” he added. “The men’s programme has so much to prove given how well the women have done. I feel as though we’re so close to doing that and it would have been nice to have started it here.”
The El Geziry brothers were in impressive form throughout the day, winning each of the first three disciplines.
Indeed, the positions remained the same with Egypt leading from Great Britain, with Russia in third from the fencing through to the start of the run/shoot.
The Czechs meanwhile, were fourth after both the fence and swim, but dropped down the field after the ride.
The El Geziry brothers led at the start, winning both of the first two disciplines. They won 43 of their 60 fencing contests – six more than Weale and Woodbridge – to open up an early 96-point lead.
They stretched that lead by just four points after the 2x100m freestyle swim as the brothers just edged out the Brits by 0.23 seconds.
The Egyptians extended their lead at the top of the leaderboard during the equestrian phase. Amro and Omar El Geziry had just one fence down each and also sustained four penalty points to add 1156 points to their score.
Great Britain remained in second place. Sam Weale had three fences down and Nick Woodbridge went clear. Russia’s Burtsev and Karyakin were in third after both the fence, swim and ride.
Yesterday (Sunday) Heather Fell, Katy Livingston and Mhairi Spence won the team silver for Great Britain.
For further information please see the World Championships website at http://www.pentathlongb.org/mpwc/index.htm You can also contact the World Championships press office at Matchtight Ltd on 00 44 (0)7826 234760 or by email on steve@matchtight.co.uk
For further information about the 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championships, which take place from 13 to 17 August at Crystal Palace in London, please see www.pentathlongb.org/mpwc
Russia take lead in women's team relay posted by Jess Whitehorn on17-08-2009
The Russian team of Polina Struchtkova and Vera Feshtchenko moved up from second to first after two events in the women’s team relay at the Modern Pentathlon World Championships.
Russia won the fastest swimming heat to nudge Great Britain off the top spot heading into the show jumping event. Great Britain are now second, just two points behind the Russians with 2232 overall and the Czech Republic have moved up to third with 2200 points.
Lithuania slipped down from third to fourth.
El Geziry brothers extend lead in men's relay posted by on17-08-2009
The El Geziry bothers from Egypt extended their lead at the top of the leaderboard during the equestrian phase of the men’s team relay competition at the Modern Pentathlon World Championships at Crystal Palace.
Amro and Omar El Geziry had just one fence down each and also sustained four penalty points to add 1156 points to their score, taking their total to 3672.
The El Gezirys have won each of the three disciplines going into the run/shoot.
Great Britain remained in second place. Sam Weale had three fences down and Nick Woodbridge went clear, adding 1140 to take their points score to 3556.
Russia remained third with 3488 points.
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