London 2012 have today launched a new app for the iPhone and Android devices to help you follow what is going on at the Games.

The Official London 2012 Join In app is a mobile guide to help you plan, enjoy and share your Games experience.

This FREE app is an essential planning tool for everyone, whether you have tickets for a sporting event or not. From the start of the Olympic Torch Relay to the Olympics and Paralympics, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, plus all the cultural, city and community celebrations happening across the UK, Join In is your essential companion.

Click this link to get more information and download the app.

The team selections for the European Youth A Championships and European Youth B Championships are now on the Team Selection Page

Individual athletes have been notified

Britain’s Nick Woodbridge achieved the best Modern Pentathlon World Championships finish of his career to date, coming 10th in Rome this afternoon (Sunday).
 
The 2004 world youth champion and Beijing 2008 Olympian is yet to achieve the London 2012 Olympic qualifying standard – he had to win a medal in Rome to do that today.
 
But his performances at the World Championships have enhanced his chances of achieving the qualifying standard through the Olympic ranking list. Woodbridge went to the World Championships at ninth in the ranking list and most of the athletes above him have already qualified for the Games.
 
There was disappointment today for the only GB man to have achieved that standard to date – world junior champion Jamie Cooke – who ended the day in 33rd.
 
A third Brit, Sam Weale, could also still qualify through the Olympic ranking list – although only two athletes per gender per nation can compete at London 2012.
 
Jan Bartu, Performance Director of the Pentathlon GB programme, which has received National Lottery support since 1997, said: “Nick demonstrated a high international standard again today, but there is still room for improvement. If he had fenced throughout the way he started, he probably would have been in the medal zone.
 
“The pressure got to Jamie a bit in the fencing today, but it will have been a good learning experience for him. We need to remember that he is still only 21. He is a young athlete with great talent and a lot of potential who is trying to grow into a world-class competitor.”
 
Woodbridge had gone into the run/shoot in fifth place, but despite shooting well, he ended the day in 10th.
 
He had started the day in joint 15th after the fencing, winning 18 of his 35 bouts. But Cooke could only win seven contests and so started the day in 36th.
 
Cooke once again clocked the fastest time of the day in the pool, with a time of 1:56.39 for the 200m freestyle. That pushed him up to 34th overall.
 
Woodbridge recorded the third fastest time of the day – his 1:58.69 saw him climb to eighth overall ahead of the ride.
 
Woodbridge only had one fence down in the riding arena to take 1180 out of the maximum 1200 to go into the run/shoot in fifth place – 30 seconds behind competition leader, Andrei Moiseev of Russia.
 
Cooke could only take 924 points from the ride and went into the run/shoot in 33rd.
 
Aleksander Lesun, who went into the run/shoot in fourth, just edged his fellow Russian Moiseev out of the gold medal spot, with Moiseev taking silver and Korea’s Jung Jinwha taking bronze.
 
There were home celebrations for the Italian team who won team gold.
 
It means Great Britain won four medals at the World Championships. Mhairi Spence struck gold in the women’s individual event on Saturday, with Samantha Murray taking bronze. In doing so both achieved the London 2012 qualifying standard.
 
Murray, Spence and Heather Fell also collected gold in the team event on Saturday, while Katy Burke, Kate French and Katy Livingston won bronze in the team relay on Monday’s opening day of competition.
 
The World Championships were the final qualification event for the London 2012 Olympic Games. British athletes had to medal in the individual competitions to achieve the qualifying standard.
 
Thereafter the only other opportunity to qualify for the Games is through the Olympic ranking list. The final competition that will count towards the ranking list is the World Cup Final in Chengdu, China on 26 and 27 May.  The ranking list is due to be published on 1 June.
 
So far Jamie Cooke has achieved the qualifying standard for the men, and Samantha Murray, Freyja Prentice and Mhairi Spence for the women.  However, a maximum of two places per gender per nation are available.
 
The British Olympic Association is due to announce the athletes selected for the GB modern pentathlon team for London 2012 on 8 June.
 
The British modern pentathlon team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.

Two of Britain’s men have made it through to Sunday’s final of the Modern Pentathlon World Championships in Rome.
 
Jamie Cooke, Britain’s world junior champion, and world number 10 Nick Woodbridge both qualified safely from today’s semi-finals.
 
But there was disappointment for team-mate Sam Weale, who just missed out on a berth in the final.
 
With 106 men competing in the semi-finals and only 36 able to progress to the final – 70 of the athletes were set to miss out.  Athletes had to secure top-12 places in each of the three semis to progress.
 
Semi-final B started in the pool, giving Britain’s reigning world junior champion Jamie Cooke an opportunity to make a strong start to his day. He delivered with a200m freestyle time of 1:56.85, the fastest time of the three semis. 
 
He followed that up with a decent fence, winning 20 of his 34 contests, and went into the run/shoot in second place in the semi 16 seconds behind Russia’s reigning Olympic, World and European champion Andrei Moiseev.
 
Cooke was able to comfortably secure his place in the final, crossing the finishing line in first alongside Moiseev.
 
Weale and Woodbridge both went in semi-final C. Woodbridge went quickest in the pool with a time of 1:57.08 while Weale’s 2:05.54 put him in 12th.
 
Woodbridge won 20 of his 35 fencing bouts to put him third going into the run/shoot. Weale won 19 of his contests and went into the run/shoot in 11th, just five seconds ahead of Latvia’s Deniss Cerkovsis, occupying 13th place in a field in which the 11th to 22nd place athletes wereseparated by just 22 seconds.
 
Woodbridge came home in joint second alongside two other athletes and just six seconds behind semi winner Adam Marosi of Hungary.
 
Weale was in contention throughout but dropped down the field in his final shoot. Despite chasing the leading group down, he finished agonisingly close to the top-12 in 13th place. He finished just six seconds off Hungary’s world number three Robert Kasza in 12th and 19 seconds behind Marosi.
 
Jan Bartu, Performance Director of the Pentathlon GB programme, which has been supported by National Lottery funding since 1997, said: “Jamie was relaxed and more confident today and it showed in his performance. He was impressive in the fence and he held it together under pressure in the combined event. Hopefully that will build up his confidence for the final.
 
“Nick has a good swim and he started well in the fence," added Bartu. "He went into the combined event in the top-three and he got through.
 
“Sam was in the mix right up to the end, but when he left the range for the last time, the gap was too much for him to claw back.”
 
Tomorrow (Saturday) a quartet of British women will contest their final. Heather Fell, Samantha Murray, Freyja Prentice and Mhairi Spence all qualified safely from the semi-finals on Thursday.
 
The scores achieved by Fell, Murray and Spence will count towards the team competition.
 
The World Championships are the final qualification event for the London 2012 OlympicGames. British athletes must medal in the individual competitions to achieve the qualifying standard.
 
Thereafter the only other opportunity to qualify for the Games is through the Olympic ranking list.
 
So far Britain’s Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the London 2012 qualifying standard, but with a maximum of two places per gender per nationavailable, neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 

Great Britain will have a full complement of four women competing in the Modern Pentathlon World Championships final in Rome on Saturday after Heather Fell, Samantha Murray, Freyja Prentice and Mhairi Spence all came safely through today’s semis. 
 
It means all four will get the opportunity to battle it out for individual medals on Saturday – and the chance to achieve the London 2012 Olympic qualifying standard. Prentice is the only GB woman pentathlete to have achieved that standard to date, but isn't guaranteed a place on the GB Olympic team.
 
With 77 women contesting the women’s individual competitions, today’s opening round was split into three semi-finals, so athletes had to secure a top-12 place in each semi to progress to the final.
 
Spence and Fell both qualified comfortably from semi-final B, with Spence crossing the finishing line in fourth and Fell in eighth.
 
Spence went into the run/shoot in 10th, following her 2:19.02 swim with equal seventh in the fence. Fell went into the run/shoot in fourth place after finishing fifth in the swim with a time of 2:16.83 and joint third in the fencing. She finished 21 seconds clear of the 13th place athlete at the end of the run/shoot to ensure she gets to compete in Saturday’s final.
 
In semi-final C, Murray set a personal best of 2:08.78 in the swim and then came 11th in the fencing to go into the run/shoot in sixth. Despite having to change the battery that powers the pistol’s laser during the shoot after it failed, she came home in ninth.
 
Prentice started just one place and seven seconds behind her team-mate. Her 2:24.40 200m freestyle swim put her 16th, but she fenced well to go into the run/shoot in seventh. She climbed two places in the run/shoot to end the day in fifth.
 
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director, said: “They all qualified for the final and that’s great news. It was a tough day, but they all deserve their places in the final.
 
“They all looked good today, although they have room for improvement in certain disciplines and they will all start from zero again in the final on Saturday.”
 
The biggest surprise of the day saw Ukraine’s reigning world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Victoria Tereshuk miss out on the final, finishing 16th in semi-final C.
 
The World Championships are the final qualification event for the London 2012 Olympic Games. British athletes must medal in the individual competitions to achieve the qualifying standard.
 
Thereafter the only other opportunity to qualify for the Games is through the Olympic ranking list.
 
So far Britain’s Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the London 2012 qualifying standard, but with a maximum of two places per gender per nation available, neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
The scores achieved by Fell, Murray and Spence on Saturday will count towards the team competition.
 
Tomorrow (Friday) the trio of British men – Jamie Cooke, Sam Weale and Nick Woodbridge – go into action in the men’s semi-finals.
 

Great Britain opened their campaign at the 2012 Modern Pentathlon World Championships by taking bronze in the women’s team relay.
 
The trio of Katy Burke, Kate French and Katy Livingston came home in third place behind Germany and China at the championships in Rome today (Monday).
 
With 12 teams contesting the women’s team relay on the opening day of the championships, the British trio were eighth after the fencing and climbed to fifth after the swimming.
 
With the third best riding performance of the day, the British trio went into the run/shoot in fourth place behind leaders Korea, with reigning champions Hungary second and Germany third.
 
Burke handed over to French in third place after two shoots and runs, and Britain were still third when French passed on to Livingston. Livingston dropped out of the top-three in her opening shoot, but produced a strong final run to secure Britain’s first medal of the championships.
 
China climbed from seventh to lead the field at the end of the final round of shooting, but Olympic champion Lena Schoneborn overhauled 2009 individual world champion Qian Chen on the final run to ensure Germany took gold.
 
Great Britain just missed out on the medals in the women’s team relay at last year’s World Championships in Moscow, finishing fifth.
 
The next Brits in action at the World Championships compete on Thursday when Heather Fell, Samantha Murray, Freyja Prentice and Mhairi Spence contest the women’s semi-finals aiming for places in the women’s final on Saturday.
 
The individual competitions  are the highlight of the World Championships as the championships are the final qualification event for the London 2012 Olympic Games. British athletes must medal in the individual competitions to achieve the qualifying standard.
 
Thereafter the only other opportunity to qualify for the Games is through the Olympic ranking list. So far Britain’s Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the London 2012 qualifying standard, but with a maximum of two places per gender per nation available, neither are guaranteed places on the team.
 
The team relays have no impact on Olympic qualification.
 
World Championships women’s team relay results
 
Gold: Germany (Lena Schoneborn, Janine Kohlmann, Annika Schleu) – 5434 pts
Silver: China (Qian Chen, Yihua Miao, Wenjing Zhu) – 5414 pts
Bronze: Great Britain (Katy Burke, Kate French, Katy Livingston) – 5388 pts
 
GB World Championships Team
 
Women’s individual
(home/lives)
Heather Fell (Tavistock, Devon/Tavistock & Bath)
Samantha Murray (Clitheroe, Lancs/Bath)
Freyja Prentice (Inverurie near Aberdeen/Bath)
Mhairi Spence (Farr, Inverness/Bath)
 
Men’s individual
Jamie Cooke (Cheltenham/Bath)
Sam Weale (East Coker near Yeovil/Bath)
Nick Woodbridge (Telford/Bath)
 
Women’s team relay
Katy Burke (Cleveleys, Lancs/Bath)
Kate French (Gravesend/Bath)
Katy Livingston (Redcar/Bath)
 
World Championships Schedule
Monday 7 May: women’s relay
Tuesday 8 May: men’s relay
Wednesday 9 May: mixed relay
Thursday 10 May: women’s semi-finals
Friday 11 May: men’s semi-finals
Saturday 12 May: women’s final & team event
Sunday 13 May: men’s final & team event
 

Results from the NYSC #2 at Hartpury this weekend will appear on this item as the competition unfolds.

We will tweet updates as they become available.

After 2 events - YAB;   YAG

Swim

YAB

YAG

YBB

YBG

Final Results

YAB

YAG

CE Warm Up

Those athletes that have requested a laser barrel will be informed at Registration as to what time during the competition these will be issued. We will be transferring barrels in some cases after each CE detail. YOU WILL ALL NEED TO HAVE A NEW AA BATTERY

On arrival at the firing point athletes will have 8 minutes for zeroing, pairing and setup. 
This time is enough if someone at the gun check to setup barrel for correct type of target:

Once setup, athletes must not change the colour coding on the laser.

All athletes can go to the front of the target and test or pair the target with laser barrel. 
This can be done in max 3 min and the rest of 8 min can be use for some repair or correction.

After this period the 20min shooting/running Warm Up can start.

After the 20min the race can start immediately.

Note:

Sighting must be done with full laser beam. 

This can be done during laser barrel setup, zeroing or warm up period, however the laser will automatically un-pair with target when full laser beam is then switched off and must then pair again.

Help will be on hand throughout the whole process

General Information

Medical cover will be available at the competition disciplines throughout the Saturday and Sunday.

Camera/Video you will be required to register any camera or video equipment at registration and get a badge/sticker to be worn when using your recording equipment. If you see anyone using a camera or recording equipment without displaying the badge/sticker then please let a Competition Official know.

Refreshments the college canteen will be open during the competition and just a short walk from the main hall. There are vending machines in the main hall reception.

Car Parking signs will be displayed as to where you should park – there is parking close to the main hall and combined event range. Please be aware that a strict clamping policy is in place at the college for those that park illegally.

Emergency Contact Numbers:

Stuart: 07834 665007
Bernie: 07733 367290
Csiga: 07814 682194

Should you have an emergency during the competition then please speak direct to one of the above. 

Results will be posted immediately after each discipline and overall results at the end of Saturday and Sunday
 

Due to water logged area's around the outdoor range at the PGB Academy Hartpury, the NYSC#2 Combined Event (laser shooting phase) will take place indoors in the main hall (gym were the fencing takes place). The run will be on mixed surfaces (artificial grass, track and grass) NO spikes will be allowed.

The entries for NYSC#2 have closed and we expect close to 80 athletes next weekend.

To assist with the preparation of swim heats, fencing rounds sheets and allocation of laser barrels etc it would be very helpful if you could let us know ASAP if you are not intending to compete rather than us having to wait until registration closes to find out you are not coming. Please email istvan.gallai@pentathlongb.org

The dates for the Aldershot Biathle training sessions are as follows;

6^th May           13^th May

3^rd June          17^th June

1^st July            15^th July

All sessions are at the Aldershot Garrison Sports Centre with meet on poolside at 1600hrs and the sessions end at 1700hrs. The sessions are on a pay as you train basis with a cost of £5 per session.

The first session on 29^th April was a great success with all athletes learning new skills and getting in some quality training.

If you wish to attend and need more information please email PentathlonGBSouth@hotmail.co.uk

Following a final day of competition yesterday  that started with an early rise at 6am, breakfast, clear the hotel with all kit as we were not to be going back after the competition it was off to the relays and then straight to the airport for our flight home.

On arrival at the competition venue for the relays we were met with revised start list that included 8 Russian Teams - this was strange because at the technical meeting on Friday evening all delegations had to hand in the team list to the stats team, Team RUS did not hand team lists in as they were not doing the mixed relays. This gave us 26 team in the relay competition. So the first event was the swim and all 26 teams swam, but then to the fence and it was established that 26 teams was too many for the competition to run and LOC decided to remove a team - but who? I will leave it for your mind to run wild at the chaos that then ensued. Needless to say there was some delay!!

It was no shock to us that RUS filled the top 6 places at the end of the relay competition - as they had selected the best from the individual event on Saturday and paired athletes up accordingly. So, with Russia 1st - 6th, the encouraging thing was that GBR (Jemma Westgate and Xavier Vrigneau) was 7th. Full results will be on the UIPM website later today.

Overall this was a very good early season experience for our athletes that some of which we hope will be competing on the international stage later this year. Several things stood out, Mathew Dewey did not receive his fencing bag until 7pm on Saturady when the competition was over! (not loaded onto the outgoing aircraft) the way Mathew dealt with this was credit to him, he just got on with it, we borrowed some kit from a Spannish Military Pentathlete and Mathew went on to be the GBR top male finisher on the result sheet. Secondly in the face of very tough opposition Francesca Summers put together a solid performance all day to go into the CE in first place and and crossed the finish line in first place. It was agreed that both in the boys and girls competition the standard of fencing was very high and this was a true test - the Russians, French, Italians and Spannish along with the other nations made sure they pushed everyone to the limit.

A good overall performance from the Team GBR Youth Squad and we now look forward to NYSC#2 next weekend and the selction of athletes for European and World Teams

Congratulations to Francesca Summers who took the Youth A Gold medal in the Sant Boi International today.

The full results for the girls can be found here and the boys results are here.

We now have confirmed details for the competition: In the Youth A there will be 41 men and 32 women - so as suggested earlier it is a good competition for our athletes.

Fencing is in teams of 2 and will be one hit, the pool is short course and there will be a combined range with 45 targets, yes, 45 targets!

We have managed to get all the GBR athletes into the mixed relay on Sunday but there is no team competition in the main individual competition. We will post the mixed relay teams after tech mtg tomorrow night>

The schedule for tomorrow is:

INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION

7:00h            Breakfast                              

7:30h            Departure BUS to EELLOR

                      Only for YOUTH A MALE

8:00h            Warming UP                                    FENCING

                       YOUTH A MALE

8:30h            Start Competition boys                 FENCING

                       YOUTH A MALE

9:30h            Departure BUS to EELLOR           

                      All the female athletes

10:50h          Warming UP                                    SWIMMING

                       YOUTH A FEMALE

11:10h          Start Competition                           SWIMMING

                       YOUTH A FEMALE

12:30h          Warming UP                                    FENCING

                       YOUTH A FEMALE

13:00h          Start Competition               FENCING

                       YOUTH A FEMALE

13:40h          Warming UP                                    SWIMMING

                      YOUTH A MALE

14:00h          Start Competition                          SWIMMING

                       YOUTH A MALE

17:00h          Warming UP/Competition           COMBINED

       YOUTH A MALE

18:00h          Warming UP/Competition           COMBINED

       YOUTH A FEMALE

19:30h          MEDAL CEREMONY

20:15h          Departure BUS to ETAP                1st. GROUP

20:45h          Departure BUS to ETAP                2nd. GROUP

20:30h          Dinner IBIS hotel                            1st. GROUP

21:30h          Dinner IBIS hotel                            2nd.  GROUP 

After an exhausting journey that started at 0600hrs this morning we finally arrive at the ETAP Hotel at the competition venue for the Sant Boi International. The customs at Barcelona airport held us longer than the whole flight took and then had the nerve to impose a new tax on us for importing air weapons, nearly €200!! so 2 hours after arriving at Barcelona airport we were released along with KAZ and SUI athletes.

The hotel is basic but adequate for our needs - we have bunk beds in our rooms (nice) and that is it. I have made sure that we have got a chair to sit at the shelf, sorry desk and the athletes can do some revision etc. But for now they are sleeping until dinner tonight at 8pm. The Tech Mtg is at 8pm also and we dont yet know how many teams we can enter, all 16 of our athletes will compete in the Yth A category (8 each gender) but teams? wait until tech mtg. The competition seems to have grown again this year with over 200 athletes in the Yth C, Yth B and Yth A with massive team from Russia (31 athletes), TUR, SUI, POR, ITA, SPN, LTU, FRA and these are just the ones we have seen so far...... so looks like a good test for our young potentials tomorrow.

Will post the teams and schedule after the tech mtg tonight (one hour ahead)

Pentathlon GB South are starting weekly Biathle training sessions at the Aldershot Garrison Sports Centre. The sessions will start this Sunday (April 29th) and will run from 1600-1700. 

The training sessions will be open to athletes of all abilities and will be on a pay per session basis with a small fee of £5 per session. This will be a great oppertunity to practice back to back running and swimming, and get ready for the 2012 Biathle season.

If you are interested in attending or need some more information please email us at PentathlonGBSouth@hotmail.co.uk

I am pleased to report that the Biathle World Championships will return to Dubai in 2012. This was such a popular venue in 2010 that it has been chosen to replace the Egyptian venue which has been postoned until 2013.

The date for the 2012 World Championships will be Saturday 3rd November and qualification for this event will be through the National Biathle Championships to be held at Salford Quays on 22nd July. 

A limited amount of 5* accommodation will be availble for the Great Britain team at a discounted rate on a first come first served basis.

Howard Jones

The Timetable for NYSC#2 is shown below. Please note the arrangements for Registration.

Only those athletes that have requested laser barrels will have them provided by PGB for this competition, it will not be possible to arrive without one and compete if not previously ordered. Breakfast will be available at Hartpury College after the swim and before the Fence starts.

National Youth Selection 2 – Timetable

Friday 4^th May 2012

Registration will be open from 1700hrs – 1900hrs at the PGB Academy, Hartpury College for those arriving early. Range facilities will also be available for training during this time.  After 1900hrs athletes can register at the PGB desk in the Premier Inn, Twigworth

Those athletes that have requested a laser barrel and competing in the Youth A Competition will have the barrel fitted either on Friday evening 1700hrs - 1900hrs at registration or after the fence on Saturday. In either case sufficient sighting in time will be given to the athletes. For the Youth B athletes the laser barrels will be fitted on Sunday morning prior to the CE and again sufficient time will be given for sighting in. Youth B athletes that compete as Youth A on the Saturday will retain the same barrels for the Youth B Competition on Sunday morning.

Saturday 5^th May 2012 – GL1 Leisure Centre, Gloucester (25m Pool)

• Registration at GL1: For those not registered: 0620 hrs
• Swim: Youth A and Youth B – Warm up: 0630 hrs
• Swim: - Youth A and Youth B - Start 0645 hrs
• Breakfast – available at Hartpury College – 0800hrs

Saturday 5^th May 2012 - PGB Academy, Hartpury College

• Fence Warm Up: 0900 hrs
• Fence Start: 0920 hrs
• Combined Event: Equipment Control: Prior to the Combined Event warm up only for those competing in the Youth A  competition
• Combined Event Warm Up: 1300 hrs
• Combined Event Start: 1330 hrs (details will follow on directly the previous one has finished)

Sunday 6^th May 2012 - PGB Academy, Hartpury College

Combined Event: (Youth B Athletes only)

• Combined Event: Equipment Control
• Combined Event Warm Up: 0930 hrs
• Combined Event Start: 1000 hrs

Combined Event:

• Competitors will shoot with LASER Pistols, at a standing target from a distance of 10 metres. 
• Run (if CE is on outdoor range) – Grass (spikes allowed).
• Run (if CE is on indoor range) – Mixed surface (spikes NOT allowed
• Youth A - 3000m and 15 target competition:- Handicap start, approx. 20m run, 5 Targets down (time limit 1’10”); 1000m run; 5 Targets down (time limit 1’10”);  1000m run, 5 Targets down (time limit 1’10”); 1000m run.
•  Youth B - 2000m and 10 target competition:- Handicap start, approx. 20m run, 5 Targets down (time limit 1’10”); 1000m run; 5 Targets down (time limit 1’10”);  1000m run. 

Britain’s Sam Weale secured back-to-back Modern Pentathlon World Cup top-20 finishes with 17th place in Russia today (Sunday).
 
The Beijing 2008 Olympian, ranked 22nd in the world, followed up his 19th place in Hungary a week ago with 17th in Rostov.
 
Team-mate Jamie Cooke, Britain’s reigning world junior champion, ended the day 21st.
 
Cooke had gone into today's run/shoot in 11th place with Weale 22nd. But Cooke dropped down the leaderboard in the opening visit to the shooting range and Weale overtook him on the second shoot. Weale’s combined run/shoot time of 10:42.26 was the eighth fastest of the day. Cooke came home with a time of 11:15.21.
 
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director of the GB programme, which has been supported by National Lottery funding since 1997, said: “It was a tough competition for everyone today, with a strong Russian contingent.
 
“Sam had a decent combined event that took him up to 17th. Realistically I think he would have been happier with a top-12 finish today," he added.  “It was good competition experience for Jamie today."

Russian youngster Ilya Shugarov won gold.
 
Cooke and Weale were both joint 20th after the fencing with 16 wins each. It was Cooke’s best fence of the season.
 
Cooke produced another strong swim to climb to sixth on the leaderboard. His 200m freestyle time of 1:56.85 was the fastest of the day. Weale’s 2:05.52 was 14th quickest and put him equal 16th going to the riding arena.
 
Weale took 1060 from the maximum possible 1200 pentathlon points in the riding area, which saw him drop down to 23rd going into the final disciplines, the run/shoot.
 
Cooke knocked down eight fences in the riding arena on a horse that had performed poorly with its previous rider with three refusals.  It meant Cooke added 1040 points to his score, which put him just outside the top-10 in 11th place ahead of the run/shoot. That saw him start the run/shoot 59 seconds behind event leader Ilya Shugarov of Russia. Weale, who went to Rostov ranked 22nd in the world, started a further 21 seconds back.
 
The action now moves on to the World Championships in Rome from 7 to 13 May, which is the next opportunity for athletes to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard.
 
The GB team for the World Championships will be announced at a media session at Pentathlon GB’s High Performance Centre at the University of Bath on 1 May.
 
The World Cup in Rostov was an opportunity to try to qualify for the World Cup Final in China in late May. The World Championships and the World Cup Final are the last chances to score valuable ranking that could ultimately help athletes qualify for 2012.
 
A maximum of two British men and two women can represent Great Britain in the pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the qualifying standard, but neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 
Results:
Gold: Ilya Shugarov (RUS) –  5840 pts
Silver: Stanislau Zhurauliou (BLR) – 5756 pts
Bronze:  Christopher Patte (FRA) – 5752 pts
17th: Sam Weale (GBR) – 5596 pts
21st: Jamie Cooke (GBR) – 5548 pts
 

Britain’s Samantha Murray collected the first Modern Pentathlon World Cup medal of her career when she took bronze in Russia today (Saturday).
 
The 22-year-old followed up her fourth place in Hungary a week ago and sixth in the USA last month with the best result of her career to date.
 
Her performance comes as the battle for places on the GB Olympic team intensifies – there were five British women in the top-30 in the world ahead of the compeion in Rostov with a maximum of two athletes per gender per nation able to compete in the London 2012 pentathlon.
 
Murray went into today’s run/shoot in first place with a five-second lead over compatriot Katy Burke in second, with team-mate Heather Fell starting in seventh.
 
It was Anastasiya Prokopenko of Belarus who came away with gold. Murray held on to the lead until the final run, but Prokopenko, who went into the run/shoot in 11th, overhauled the Brit on the last 1k run.
 
Murray, who is a French and Politics student at the University of Bath, was pipped to silver at the finish line by Victoria Tereshuk, Ukraine’s Olympic bronze medallist and reigning world champion.
 
Murray becomes the second British woman to medal on the World Cup circuit this season, following Mhairi Spence’s silver in Charlotte, the USA in the opening World Cup of the year in March.
 
"It is a great performance to win my first World Cup medal,” she said. “My running is normally better but today I didn't have it in my legs."
 
Beijing 2008 silver medalist Fell produced a strong sprint finish to edge Poland’s Katarzyna Wojcik out of seventh place, while Burke finished just outside the top-10 in 11th place, her best World Cup result of the season. Katy Livingston ended the day in 35th after an unlucky horse draw put her out of contention.
 
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director of the GB programme, which has been supported by National Lottery funding since 1997, said: “Congratulations to Samantha, it was a fantastic result both for her and for the GB programme today.
 
“Samantha had a very balanced day. She was leading a World Cup for the first time in her life going into the run/shoot with some strong athletes behind her, so it was good for us to see how she handled the situation.
 
“She did really well under the circumstances and went on to win the first big medal of her career. She has demonstrated consistency at a high level.”
 
Katy Burke led the British challenge early on. She was joint third after the fencing with 21 wins from 35 fencing bouts.
 
Katy Livingston was just behind with 20 wins for equal seventh place. Samantha Murray won 18 contests for joint 12th and Heather Fell’s 17 wins put her in equal 17th.
 
Burke moved up to the top of the leaderboard after the swim. Her time of 2:14.02 was the third fastest 200m freestyle time of the day.
 
Murray was one of only two swimmers to go quicker. She clocked a time of 2:09.73 to promote her 10 places to second going into the ride.
 
Livingston climbed a place to sixth with the sixth fastest time in the pool with 2:17.03. And Fell climbed to 13th with a time of 2:18.18, the 11th fastest.
 
But it was Murray that would lead the field into the run/shoot. She had two fences down in the riding area to add 1160 points to her total, enabling her to leapfrog Burke into first place.
 
Burke had gone into the ride in the lead but had two fences down and took a wrong turn after fence nine for a 40-point penalty. That meant she took 1120 points from the 1200 maximum to put her second overall. She went into the run/shoot 20 points and five seconds behind her compatriot.
 
On a day when Italy’s Sabrina Crognale was the only rider to go clear in the allowed time, Fell had just one fence down, to add 1180 to her total. That saw her start the run/shoot in seventh, 26 seconds behind Murray.
 
But Livingston’s challenge was effectively ended by an unlucky horse draw – she could only take 400 points from the ride which saw her drop down the field to 34th.
 
Tomorrow (Sunday) sees Jamie Cooke and Sam Weale contest the men’s final.
 
The World Cup in Rostov is the final opportunity for GB athletes to impress ahead of selections for the World Championships in Rome at the beginning of May, which is the next chance for athletes to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard.  It is also an opportunity to try to qualify for the World Cup Final in China later in May. That’s the last chance to score valuable ranking that could ultimately help athletes qualify for 2012.
 
A maximum of two British men and two women can represent Great Britain in the pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the qualifying standard, but neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 
Results:
Gold: Anastasiya Prokopenko (BLR) – 5392 pts
Silver: Victoria Tereshuk (UKR) – 5352 pts
Bronze: Samantha Murray (GBR) – 5344 pts
7th: Heather Fell (GBR) – 5224 pts
11th: Katy Burke (GBR) – 5172 pts
35th: Katy Livingston (GBR) – 4500 pts
 

Britain’s Jamie Cooke and Sam Weale will both contest the men’s final of the fourth Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year in Russia on Sunday after qualifying from their semi today (Friday).
 
With a top-18 place needed to reach the final, Britain’s world junior champion Jamie Cooke was joint 32nd after the fencing, but produced a decent swim and a good run/shoot to progress in 11th from semi-final A. The first 11 finishers crossed the line separated by just two seconds.
 
Beijing 2008 Olympian Sam Weale was a further four seconds behind Cooke in 16th to secure the top-18 place needed to reach the final. He went into the run/shoot in eighth, but slipped down the field in his second shoot.
 
It means all six of Britain’s athletes in action in Rostov will compete in their finals after the four GB women progressed from Thursday’s semis to the final tomorrow (Saturday).
 
“That’s good for us and gives us the confidence that the standard of performance is where we want it to be at this point,” said Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director.
 
Great Britain are one of just three nations to have four women competing in tomorrow’s final.  Katy Burke Heather Fell, Katy Livingston and Samantha Murray all qualified from the semis. Germany and Russia also qualified four athletes for the women’s final.
 
The World Cup in Rostov is thefinal opportunity for GB athletes to impress ahead of selections for the World Championships in Rome at the beginning of May, which is the next chance forathletes to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard.  It is also an opportunity to try to qualify for the World Cup Final in China later in May. That’s the last chance to score valuable ranking that could ultimately help athletes qualify for 2012.
 
A maximum of two British men and two women can represent Great Britain in the pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the qualifying standard, but neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.

Great Britain will have the maximum of four athletes competing in the women’s final at the fourth Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year in Russia on Saturday (21 April).
 
Katy Livingston, Katy Burke, Samantha Murray and Heather Fell all qualified from the semis in Rostov today (Thursday).
 
With 57 athletes in action there were only two semi-finals, so a top-18 place was needed in each to progress to the final.
 
Beijing 2008 Olympian Katy Livingston finished second in semi-final A with team-mate Katy Burke joining her in the final with 12th place in the same semi.
 
Samantha Murray led semi-final B going into the run/shoot and finished third overall. Beijing 2008 silver medallist Heather Fell had to recover from a disappointing fence and produced the third fastest run/shoot of the semi to book her place in the final, finishing 14th.
 
“Heather managed to claw back three or four positions in the last shoot and stay there to the finish, but the other three had a fairly regular passage to the final,” said Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director. “Hopefully there will still be room for improvement in the final, where the competition will be tough."
 
Tomorrow (Friday) Jamie Cooke and Sam Weale represent Great Britain in the men’s semis. They both go in semi-final A.
 
The World Cup in Rostov is the final opportunity for GB athletes to impress ahead of selections for the World Championships in Rome at the beginning of May, which is the next chance for athletes to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard.  It is also an opportunity to try to qualify for the World Cup Final in China later in May. That’s the last chance to score valuable ranking that could ultimately help athletes qualify for 2012.
 
A maximum of two British men and two women can represent Great Britain in the pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the qualifying standard, but neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.

World Cup 4 – 19 to 22 April, Rostov, Russia

Schedule
Thursday 19 April: women’s semi-finals
Friday 20 April: men’s semi-finals
Saturday 21 April: women’s final
Sunday 22 April: men’s final
 

GB team
Women
Katy Burke (Bath/Cleveleys near Blackpool)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock)
Katy Livingston (Bath/Redcar)
Samantha Murray  (Bath/Clitheroe, Lancashire)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke  (Bath/Cheltenham)
Sam Weale  (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
 

Having now cross checked the submitted entries against those that have ordered a laser container (barrel) for NYSC#2, the following athletes have lasers on order to be loaned but we have no record of an Entry Form being received as at today:

Harry Lane

Emilia Bowes-Hall

Alex Allen

Josh Boom

Mckenna Rench

Please could the above athletes either cancel your laser order or submit an entry form asap (closing date 20th April 2012) stuart.mason@pentathlongb.org

A last minute reminder that entries close tomorrow 20th April 2012 and late entries cannot be accepted due to the laser format and preparation for the laser combined event. Note: only those athletes that have already requested a laser barrel for their pistol will have one provided by PGB for this competition. Previous request via News Item refers.

Breakfast on Saturday 5th May 2012: As for the GB Youth International it maybe possible for parents/spectators to have breakfast at Hartpury College after the early swim and before the fencing starts. This would be a full breakfast. If you would like to take advantage of this service then please email me directly and NO LATER than 1000hrs Tuesday 24th April 2012 to book a breakfast. It will cost £4.00. email: stuart.mason@pentathlongb.org Those parents that have already booked need not reply again.

Sam Weale was the highest placed of the British men at the third Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year in Hungary today (Sunday), finishing 19th.
 
Beijing 2008 Olympian Weale, who went into the competition ranked 22nd in the world, was 10th going into the run/shoot at Szazhalombatta.
 
But a disappointing first shoot saw him slip down the leaderboard, and despite a 10-second second shoot, he was unable to claw his way back up the field. Team-mate Jamie Cooke, Britain’s World Junior Champion, finished 25th.
 
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director, said: “The competition was very unforgiving today. The field is so equal now and there are so many good athletes.”
 
Weale, who finished seventh in the last World Cup in Rio last month, won 17 of his fencing bouts for 15th place, while Cooke started the day with 10 wins for 33rd place.
 
Cooke’s 200m freestyle time of 1:51.14 was the second fastest of the day, propelling him to 22nd overall. Weale’s 2:01.06 was 14th quickest and was enough to keep him in 15th place overall going into the ride.
 
Weale made further progress up the leaderboard in the riding arena. He had just one fence down and also accumulated some time penalties to add 1172 pentathlon points from the maximum 1200 available from the ride to his total score. Cooke had two fences down but also had some time penalties to add 1148 to his score.
 
That meant Weale went into the run/shoot in 10th place, 48 seconds behind leader Andrei Moiseev of Russia, with Cooke in 23rd and starting a further 25 seconds back.
 
Italy’s Nicola Benedetti climbed from seventh in the run/shoot to take gold. But Weale dropped down to end the day in 19th with a run/shoot time of 10:58.35, while Cooke 10:46.49 saw him finish 25th.
 
The action now moves on to Russia, where World Cup 4 gets underway in Rostov on Thursday (19 April).
 
World Cup 3 men’s final results:
Gold: Nicola Benedetti (ITA) – 6000 pts
Silver: Andrei Moiseev (RUS) – 5944 pts
Bronze: Peter Tibolya (HUN) – 5896 pts
19th: Sam Weale (GBR) – 5720 pts
25th: Jamie Cooke (GBR) – 5668 pts
 
World Cup 3 – 12 to 15 April, Szazhalombatta, Hungary
 
GB team
Women
Katy Burke (Bath/Cleveley near Blackpool)
Samantha Murray  (Bath/Clitheroe, Lancashire)
Freyja Prentice (lives: Bath/ Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)

 
Men
Jamie Cooke  (Bath/Cheltenham)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
Sam Weale  (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)

Britain’s Samantha Murray produced a terrific run/shoot to equal the best performance of her career at a Modern Pentathlon World Cup as she finished fourth in Hungary today (Saturday).
 
The 22-year-old went into the run/shoot in 20th place but shot impressively well on all three shoots, particularly on the final visit to the range, when she hit all five targets in around 10 seconds.
 
That saw her leave the range in third place locked in a three-way battle for bronze. But although she fended off Germany’s Janine Kohlmann, she couldn’t quite hold off the challenge of Lithuania’s Laura Asadauskaite, who took bronze after going into the run/shoot in 17th.
 
Murray, whose run/shoot time of 11:21.05 was the fastest of the day, crossed the finish line eight seconds behind the Lithuanian.
 
It was a good day too for fellow Briton Mhairi Spence, who also secured a top-10 finish, coming eighth.
 
“I’m really pleased, I’ve worked so hard,” said Murray, a French and Politics student at the University of Bath, who went to Hungary ranked 23rd in the world. “I’m so proud and so grateful for everyone who has helped me. It was a pb for me in the shoot today and I felt so good running and strong in the pool.”
 
After watching Murray come 27th in the both the fencing and riding, before fighting her way through the field to finish fourth, Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director, said she still has plenty of potential to improve.
 
“It’s been a massive learning for Samantha, she hasn’t been around as long as many of the other athletes at the top,” he said. “This was a fantastic experience for her, but the room for her to improve looks massive.
 
“Mhairi had a very good start to the fence, but her performance dropped off a bit at the end,” he added. “She swam and rode well, and her running was good today, so that should be encouraging for her.”
 
Murray’s fourth place finish in Szazhalombatta today equalled her fourth in Budapest in 2010, but she also finished sixth in Charlotte, the USA, in the opening World Cup of the year in March.
 
Spence, who took silver in Charlotte earlier this year, was equal 10th after the fencing, winning 19 of her bouts. Murray started with 13 wins for 27th place.
 
Both of the Brits climbed up the leaderboard in the swim. Spence’s 2:13.22 was the 10th fastest of the day, promoting her two places to eighth overall.
 
Murray, meanwhile, leapt 13 places up the field to 14th, courtesy of a 200m freestyle time of 2:06.82, the third quickest of the day.
 
Spence continued her upwards momentum in the riding arena. She had just one fence down to add 1180 points from the maximum 1200 to her total, pushing her up to sixth going into the run/shoot.
 
Murray didn’t fare so well in the ride, hitting seven fences to drop 140 points from the maximum 1200 to go into the run/shoot in 20th. Only one rider, Germany’s Annika Schleu, went clear in the allowed time.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 
Tomorrow (Sunday) Jamie Cooke and Sam Weale represent Great Britain in the men’s final.
 
Women’s final results
Gold: Amelie Caze (FRA) – 5424 pts
Silver: Donata Rimsaite (RUS) – 5400 pts
Bronze: Laura Asadauskaite (LTU) – 5384 pts
4th: Samantha Murray (GBR) - 5352 pts
8th: Mhairi Spence (GBR) – 5288 pts
 
 
World Cup 3 – 12 to 15 April, Szazhalombatta, Hungary
 
Schedule
Sunday 15 April: men’s final

GB team
Women
Katy Burke (Bath/Cleveley near Blackpool)
Samantha Murray  (Bath/Clitheroe, Lancashire)
Freyja Prentice (lives: Bath/ Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)

 
Men
Jamie Cooke  (Bath/Cheltenham)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
Sam Weale  (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)

Jamie Cooke and Sam Weale will fly the flag for Great Britain in the men’s final at the third Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year in Hungary on Sunday (15 April).
 
Cooke, Britain’s World Junior Champion, progressed safely from semi-final B at the competition in Szazhalombatta today (Friday), and was joined in the final by Beijing 2008 Olympian Weale, who qualified from semi C.
 
A top-12 spot was needed in each of the three semis to book a berth in the final. Cooke was 13th going into the run/shoot, but clocked a time of 10:49.41 – the fifth best in the semi – to reach the final in 11th place, five seconds clear of Ukraine’s Oleksandr Mordasov in 13th.
 
“It was tough today, I just had to get my head down in the run and keep going,” said Cooke. “I’ve made the final now so let’s see how it goes.”
 
But there was disappointment in the same semi-final for Nick Woodbridge, who went into the run/shoot in 10th but missed out on the final finishing 16th.
 
Weale was just outside the qualification berths in joint 15th going into the run/shoot in semi-final C. But he impressed in the run/shoot with a time of 10:46.41. That was the fourth quickest time of the semi, promoting him to seventh place overall.
 
Steven Mason was 25th in semi A going into the run/shoot. He produced an impressive run/shoot – his time of 10:43.12 was the fifth fastest in the semi, pushing him to 17th overall.
 
Tomorrow (Saturday) the British pair of Mhairi Spence and Samantha Murray contest the women’s final in Szazhalombatta after qualifying in first and second place in their semi-final on Thursday.
 

Britain’s Mhairi Spence and Samantha Murray both qualified safely for Saturday’s final of the third Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year in Hungary.
 
World number five Spence won her semi-final with Murray crossing the finishing line 11 seconds behind her to take second at Szazhalombatta today (Thursday).
 
Murray continued her impressive season by setting the fastest 200m freestyle time of the day with a personal best of 2:05.56 and rounded off her day with the seventh fastest run/shoot of semi-final C.
 
Spence was consistent throughout the day with third in the semi in the fence, eighth in the swim and she shot well for the third best run/shoot time.
 
“Both had a steady run and they easily came first and second, without being under any kind of pressure,” said Istvan Nemeth, Pentathlon GB’s women’s head coach.
 
But there was disappointment for the British pair in semi-final B, where both Katy Burke and Freyja Prentice missed out on the final.
 
Burke, competing in her first World Cup of the year, came 14th with performances that included a 200m freestyle time of 2:08.74 – the second fastest in the semi.
 
With a top-12 place needed to secure a place in the final, Prentice went into the run/shoot in 11th but ended the day in 18th.
 
The action continues tomorrow when a quartet of GB athletes contest the men’s semis.

World Cup 3 – 12 to 15 April, Szazhalombatta, Hungary
 
Schedule
Friday 13 April: men’s qualification
Saturday 14 April: women’s final
Sunday 15 April: men’s final

GB team
Women
Katy Burke (Bath/Cleveley near Blackpool)
Samantha Murray  (Bath/Clitheroe, Lancashire)
Freyja Prentice (lives: Bath/ Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)

 
Men
Jamie Cooke  (Bath/Cheltenham)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
Sam Weale  (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)

 

The timetables for the British Tetrathlon Championships at Tudor Grange Leisure Centre, Solihull have now been published.

Competition timetables and other details are available here.

PentathlonGB have organised a coaching course for the popular event of Biathle. This course will primarily be aimed at coaches who are already involved in coaching run/swim/run Biathle and have existing swimming or running coaching qualifications. It will serve to supplement their knowledge  covering items peculiar to Biathle and not normally covered in existing coaching courses as well as other basics in sports science.

If space permits, other interested parties may be accommodated on the course.

Subjects covered will include but not be limited to background, rules, technique, tactics, enhancing performance, organising training, governance, health & safety and organising a race.

The course will be held at Osprey Leisure Centre, Castletown, Portland, DT5 1BD on Saturday 5^th May 2012. There will also be the opportunity to see a GB Series Race in progress.

Please complete the registration form attached to secure a place in the course.

Pentathlon GB has just released a compliation of images from the Schools Biathlon Championships held at Crystal Palace on 25 March 2012. The video has been produced for Pentathlon GB by Paul Roberts from RobertSport Photo.  Our thanks go to him.

See if you can spot yourself here!

It would be very helpful for the Performance Team to have a comprehensive
list of any non-programme athletes that have selected Bath University to
commence their degree or further education in 2012. We are maintaining a
list that will allow the Performance Team to try and manage the expectations
of athletes that wish to train at the National Training Centre.



If you are in this category would you please let me know immediately by
email Bernie.moss@pentathlongb.org 

The Board of Pentathlon GB recognises the difficult circumstances surrounding the introduction of laser and the issues this has created for our members and the Association generally. The Board has discussed the issues at length and whilst there continue to be further developments with the technology the Board appreciate the need to give some interim guidance. 

The purpose of this posting is to allow the Pentathlon GB Board to give the best direction it can to members regarding the use of laser technology and pellet in competition going forward. The Interim guidance document is available on the Resources Section of the website. Within the Guidance reference is made to the establishment of a representative 'Working Group' to develop more detailed proposals for consideration and approval at the next Board meeting on the 26 April 2012.

As soon as more detailed guidance has been agreed this information will be published on the Pentathlon GB website

Jon Austin

CEO  

British modern pentathlete Samantha Murray continued her impressive start to 2012 by winning the Budapest Cup in Hungary.
 
And there was further good news for the Brits, with team-mate Kate French taking silver, Katy Burke finishing fifth and Kerry Prise 11th.
 
Murray came fifth in the fencing in Budapest, second in the swim and went clear in the ride, to lead the field going into combined run/shoot. She clocked a time of 12:44.34 for the run/shoot to take gold. She finished 23 seconds ahead of French, who is currently number two in the world junior rankings.
 
Murray’s performance at the Budapest Cup following on from her victory at the Hungarian Indoor Championships, also in Budapest, in February, and a sixth place finish at the opening World Cup of the year in Charlotte, the USA earlier this month.
 
She is currently 25th in the senior world rankings, but is the fifthBritish woman in the rankings and one of six in the world’s top 35.
 
Murray is originally from Clitheroe in Lancashire and now combines training at thePentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath with studying for a degree in French and Politics at the University.
 
Murray and Burke are both in the GB teams to compete at the remaining two World Cups of the year, at Szazhalombatta in Hungary and Rostov in Russia next month.
 
Budapest Cup results
Gold: Samantha Murray (GBR) – 5388
Silver: Kate French (GBR) – 5284
Bronze: Tamara Alekszejev (HUN) – 5276
5th: Katy Burke (GBR) – 5256
11th: Kerry Prise (GBR) - 5036
 
 
For further information please contact the Pentathlon GB press office at Matchtight Ltd on 01225 383518 or 07765 071683. You can also check the Pentathlon GB website at www.pentathlongb.org
 
 

Almost 900 young people from across the country will begin to converge on Crystal Palace today in readiness for the British Schools Biathlon Championships which takes place tomorrow.

Athletes will also have the opportunity to try fencing and laser shooting, two of the other disciplines of Modern Pentathlon, at ‘taster’ sessions.

Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter as we cover the day’s event.

The competition for places on the GB modern pentathlon team for the London 2012 Olympic Games steps up a gear next month when the final two rounds of the World Cup Series takeplace in Hungary and Russia.
 
The results from this year’s World Cups will be used to decide the British team for the World Championships in Rome in May, which is the next opportunity for athletes toachieve the Olympic qualifying standard.
 
With six British women currently featuring in the top-35 in the world and only four able to compete at the World Championships, the competition for places in Rome will be intense. A maximum of two athletes per gender per nation can compete in the modern pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
 
The competition is also intense for men’s places at the Games, with three British men in the top-25 in the world.
 
Samantha Murray (left) has been selected for both of the remaining World Cups of the year in Hungary and Russia after impressing with a sixth place finish at the opening World Cup of the year in Charlotte, the USA.
 
Katy Burke will also compete in both World Cups – her first of the year - after recovering from injury. Mhairi Spence, who won silver in Charlotte, competes in Hungary.
 
The trio of Jamie Cooke, Sam Weale and Nick Woodbridge (below) are due to compete at both World Cups and are joined by Steven Mason in Hungary. Woodbridge produced two consistent performances in the World Cups in Charlotte and Rio, finishing sixth on both occasions, with fellow Beijing 2008 Olympian Weale coming seventh in Rio.
 
GB Performance Director Jan Bartu said Britain’s pentathletes now have to go flat out to secure places at the World Championships.
 
“Once they get to the World Cups they need to go flat out,” he said. “That’s how it is at this point, there’s no hiding place.”
 
So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the London 2012 qualifying standard, althoughneither are guaranteed places on the team.
 
As well as trying to qualify places on the World Championship team, athletes will also be eager to score points at World Cups to boost their positions in the World Cup Series rankings.   The top 36 men and women – up to a maximum of three athletes per nation – will be invited to compete at the World Cup Final at Chengdu in China at the end of May. That will be the last opportunity to score world ranking points. The final Olympic qualifying places will be distributed according to positions on the world ranking list as of 1 June.
 
 

GB teams for World Cups 3 and 4
World Cup 3 – 12-15 April, Szazhalombatta, Hungary
GB team
Women
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Freyja Prentice (lives: Bath/ home: Inverurie)
Samantha Murray  (Bath/Clitheroe, Lancashire)
Katy Burke (Bath/Cleveleys, near Blackpool)
 
Men
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale  (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Jamie Cooke  (Bath/Cheltenham)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
 
World Cup 4 – 19-22 April, Rostov, Russia
GB team
Women
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Samantha Murray  (Bath/Clitheroe, Lancashire)
Katy Burke (Bath/ Cleveleys, near Blackpool)
Katy Livingston (Bath/Guisborough, Cleveland)
 
Men
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale  (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Jamie Cooke  (Bath/Cheltenham)
 
Current GB places in World Rankings

Women
5: Mhairi Spence
9: Heather Fell
18: Freyja Prentice
24: Katy Burke
25: Samantha Murray
35: Katy Livingston
 
Men
9: Nick Woodbridge
16: Jamie Cooke
23: Sam Weale
 
 
For further information please contact the Pentathlon GB press office at Matchtight Ltd on 01225 383518 or 07765 071683. You can also check the Pentathlon GB website at www.pentathlongb.org
 

Photos: www.pentathlon.org
 

The team selections for the forthcoming youth International at Sant Boi International, Barcelona on 28/29 April 2012 have now been published and can be found on the Team Selections page. Congratulations to all those selected to represent GBR.

The team selections for the forthcoming youth International at World Cups #2 & #3 in April have now been published and can be found on the Team Selections page.

Britain’s Beijing 2008 Olympians Nick Woodbridge and Sam Weale both achieved top-10 finishes at the second Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year in Brazil today (Sunday).
 
Woodbridge finished sixth in Rio de Janeiro – a repeat of his sixth place finish at the opening World Cup of the year in the USA a week ago.
 
Weale finished just behind him in seventh. Weale had gone into this World Cup ranked 47th in the world and his performance was a marked improvement on the opening World Cup of the year, when he didn’t qualify for the final.
 
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director, said: “It’s been a good day for the British men. They really confirmed their improved standard of performance, but theyboth still have room for improvement in individual elements.”
 
Weale started the better of the Brits, winning 19 of his 35 fencing bouts for joint ninth place. Woodbridge’s 16 victories saw put him in joint 21st place.
 
Woodbridge leapt up the table to eighth place overall with a strong swim. His time of 1:58.51 was the second quickest in the 36-strong field – it was only bettered by Poland’s Remigiusz Golis.
 
Weale’s 2:05.80 was the 17th fastest time of the day and saw him go to the third discipline, the ride, in 10th place.
 
Both Woodbridge and Weale rode well. They had just one fence down each to drop 20 points from the maximum 1200 in the riding arena, adding 1180 to their scores, on a day when four riders went clear in the allowed time.
 
That meant Woodbridge went into the run/shoot in fifth place, just 116 points or 29 seconds behind leader Aleksander Lesun of Russia. Weale went into the run/shoot in seventh, just four seconds behind Woodbridge.
 
The run/shoot promised to be a terrific battle, with the top-23 athletes going into it separated by just a minute. World number one Lesun comfortably won gold, with compatriot Serguei Karyakin taking silver and Italy’s Riccardo De Luca climbing from 18th in the run/shoot to take bronze.
 
Woodbridge climbed up to the third after the second shoot, but dropped back down the field, crossing the finish line in sixth, while Weale came home just behind him to finish seventh.
 
The World Cup Series returns to Europe next, with World Cup three in Hungary and World Cup four in Russia, both in April.
 
This year’s World Cups are an opportunity for athletes to try to secure places on the team to compete at the World Championships in Rome in May, which is the next chance for athletes to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard. They can also score valuable ranking points at World Cups that could ultimately help athlete qualify for 2012.
 
A maximum of two British men and two women can represent Great Britain in the pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the qualifying standard, but neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 
World Cup 2 – 12-15 March, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Men’s final results
Gold: Aleksander Lesun (RUS) - 5928 pts
Silver: Serguei Karyakin (RUS) - 5876 pts
Bronze: Riccardo De Luca (ITA) - 5864 pts
6th: Nick Woodbridge (GBR) - 5812 pts
7th: Sam Weale (GBR) - 5800 pts

GB team
Women
Freyja Prentice (Bath/Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Katy Livingston (Bath/Guisborough, Cleveland)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke (Bath/Cheltenham)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
 

Britain’s women finished out of the medals at the second Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year in Brazil today (Saturday).
 
Beijing 2008 silver medallist Heather Fell was the highest finisher of the quartet of Brits in the women’s final in in Rio de Janeiro, coming 13th.
 
Freyja Prentice came home 15th with Katy Livingston 16th andMhairi Spence, who took silver at the opening World Cup in the USA a week ago, came 25th.
 
France’s Elodie Clouvel won her first World Cup gold with Russia’s Ekaterina Khuraskina climbing from 16th place in the run/shoot to take silver, with Australia’s Chloe Esposito taking bronze.
 
The British team were one of only two to qualify four women for the final – an achievement they shared with the Russians.
 
Prentice made the best start of the Brits, winning 19 fencing contests for joint 11th place. Fell wasn’t far behind with 18 wins for joint 13th. Livingston won 17 bouts for equal 19th with Spence’s 14 wins putting her joint 25th.
 
Fell was the best of the Brits in the pool, clocking a time of 2:15.98 – the seventh fastest 200m freestyle time of the day – to climb to ninth overall. Livingston’s 2:16.05 was eighth fastest and saw him climb to 15th.
 
Prentice dropped to 19th with 2:23.30 while Spence’s 2:17.82 saw her climb to 22nd.
 
Only two athletes – Germany’s Annika Schleu and France’s Elodie Clouvel – went clear in the allowed time to net the maximum 1200 points from the ride. Clouvel’s performance was enough to see her take the lead.
 
Fell’s 1140 points saw her drop to 12th overall, while Prentice’s 1160 saw her climb a couple of places to 17th. Spence went into the run/shoot in 25th after taking 1160 points from the ride, while Livingston’s 1060 put her just behind Spence in 26th.
 
Livingston produced the ninth fastest run/shoot of the day – a time of 11:45.50 - to climb 10 places and end the day in 16th, just behind Prentice, who climbed to 15th in the run/shoot. Fell’s 11:55.10 for the run/shoot saw her emerge as the highest placed of the Brits in 13th, with Spence ending the day in 25th.
 
Tomorrow (Sunday) Beijing 2008 Olympians Sam Weale and Nick Woodbridge contest the men’s final for Great Britain.
 
This year’s World Cups are an opportunity for athletes to try to secure places on the team to compete at the World Championships in Rome in May, which is the next chance for athletes to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard. They can also score valuable ranking points at World Cups that could ultimately help athlete qualify for 2012.
 
A maximum of two British men and two women can represent Great Britain in the pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the qualifying standard, but neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 
World Cup 2 – 12-15 March, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Women’s final results
Gold: Elodie Clouvel (FRA) - 5512
Silver: Ekaterina Khuraskina (RUS) - 5428
Bronze: Chloe Esposito (AUS) - 5420
13th: Heather Fell (GBR) – 5308
15th: Freyja Prentice (GBR) – 5252
16th: Katy Livingston (GBR) – 5240
25th: Mhairi Spence (GBR) -  5092
 
 
Schedule
(Rio times are three hours behind GMT)
Thursday 15 March: women’s qualification
Friday 16 March: men’s qualification
Saturday 17 March: women’s final
Sunday 18 March: men’s final
 
GB team
Women
Freyja Prentice (Bath/Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Katy Livingston (Bath/Guisborough, Cleveland)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke (Bath/Cheltenham)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
 

Beijing 2008 Olympians Nick Woodbridge and Sam Weale will represent Great Britain in Sunday’s final at the second Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
 
Woodbridge continued the form that saw him finish sixth at last week’s opening World Cup of the year to comfortably qualify for the final. His performances included the second best time in the pool and the joint third best result on the fencing piste. He finished joint third overall in the semi A.
 
But there was disappointment today (Friday) for Jamie Cooke, who missed out on a place in the final. A top-12 finish in each semi was needed to progress. Despite clocking the fastest swimming time of semi-final A, he went into the run/shoot in 14th places and ended the day in 18th.
 
Sam Weale and Steven Mason represented Great Britain in semi C. Weale put the disappointment of missing out on the final at Charlotte in the USA a week ago behind him by crossing the finish line in joint second place, just a second behind Egypt’s Omar El Geziry. But Mason finished 22nd overall and so misses out on the final. 
 
The British team will have four women in tomorrow’s (Saturday) final – Heather Fell, Katy Livingston, Freyja Prentice and Mhairi Spence – who all qualified from Thursday’s semis.
 
Only Great Britain and Russia have qualified four women for the final.
 
This year’s World Cups are an opportunity for athletes to try to secure places on the team to compete at the World Championships in Rome in May, which is the next chance for athletes to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard. They can also score valuable ranking points at World Cups that could ultimately help athlete qualify for 2012.
 
A maximum of two British men and two women can represent Great Britain in the pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the qualifying standard, but neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 

World Cup 2 – 12-15 March, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Schedule
(Rio times are three hours behind GMT)
Thursday 15 March: women’s qualification
Friday 16 March: men’s qualification
Saturday 17 March: women’s final
Sunday 18 March: men’s final
 
GB team
Women
Freyja Prentice (Bath/Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Katy Livingston (Bath/Guisborough, Cleveland)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke (Bath/Cheltenham)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
 

NEWS ITEM from 26th February 2012 - please note the deadline is by today 16th March 2012.

A REMINDER that National Youth Selection Compeion NYSC#2 will be conducted using laser technology as that is the format likely to be used at European Youth and World Youth compeions in 2012.

We understand that lack of access to laser equipment could prevent you from competing, so Pentathlon GB will try to provide the laser equipment appropriate for your own pistol at no cost to yourself however you need to let the WC Pathway Manager (stuart.mason@pentathlongb.org) know by  16th March 2012 (which is earlier than the closing date) notifying us of the precise make and model of your pistol – without this information we are unable to confirm the availability of laser equipment. It must be noted that if your pistol is not one that is compatible with current supplies of laser barrels you will have to use a different complete pistol that will be provided for you. See http://www.iq-sport.tv/en/FAQ/pistols for more information. Equipment will be fitted on either the evening of 4th May or morning of 5th May 2012 following which you will be given basic instruction and the opportunity to practice. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact either Bernie Moss (Bernie.moss@pentathlongb.org ) or Istvan Gallai (istvan.gallai@freemail.hu)   

All four British women competing at the second Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year have qualified safely for Saturday’s final.
 
Beijing 2008 Olympians Heather Fell and Katy Livingston both qualified from today’s semis at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, as did Mhairi Spence, ranked number four in the world, and Freyja Prentice, the only British woman pentathlete to have so far achieved the London 2012 qualifying standard.
 
With a top-12 place needed in each of the three semis to progress to the final, 21-year-old Prentice was the first of the Brits to go through, crossing the finishing line in joint seventh in semi-final B. Her performances included a joint third in the fencing.
 
Fell, the Beijing 2008 silver medallist, clocked the third fastest time in the pool in semi-final A en route to comfortably securing a berth in the final by finishing joint eighth.
 
Spence followed up her silver medal in the opening World Cup of the year in Charlotte, the USA, on Saturday, by comfortably progressing to the final in Rio crossing the finish line in joint first.
 
Livingston lined up alongside Spence in semi-final C and had to demonstrate poise and determination to reach the final using Fell’s pistol for the run/shoot after the laser barrel in her own pistol failed at the start of the warm-up. She finished 10th overall to secure the top-12 position needed to reach the final.
 
Performance Director Jan Bartu said: “Katy did remarkably well to get through. A pistol is like an extension of your hand, so it’s amazing that she qualified using a strange pistol and successfully defended her position.
 
“Other than that, they all had a reasonable day and it will be interesting to see how they do in the final.”
 
Tomorrow (Friday) Jamie Cooke, Steven Mason, Sam Weale and Nick Woodbridge represent Great Britain in the men’s semis.
 
This year’s World Cups are an opportunity for athletes to try to secure places on the team to compete at the World Championships in Rome in May, which is the next chance for athletes to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard. They can also score valuable ranking points at World Cups that could ultimately help athlete qualify for 2012.
 
A maximum of two British men and two women can represent Great Britain in the pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the qualifying standard, but neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.

 
World Cup 2 – 12-15 March, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Schedule
(Rio times are three hours behind GMT)
Thursday 15 March: women’s qualification
Friday 16 March: men’s qualification
Saturday 17 March: women’s final
Sunday 18 March: men’s final
 
GB team
Women
Freyja Prentice (Bath/Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Katy Livingston (Bath/Guisborough, Cleveland)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke (Bath/Cheltenham)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)

 

Pentathlon GB has signed up to the Government's Charter to Tackle Homophobia and Transphobia in Sport. 

To date the Charter enjoys the support of over 3000 signatories, including 35 of the NGBs funded by Sport England.

The Charter can be downloaded here.

Britain’s Nick Woodbridge produced a strong performance but just missed out on the medals at the first Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year, finishing sixth.
 
The Beijing 2008 Olympian, who went into the competition ranked 17th in the world, led the field with a six second advantage over Russia’s Ilia Frolov going into the run/shoot. But it was the Russian who came home first to take gold.
 
There was disappointment for 21-year-old Jamie Cooke at the competition in Charlotte, North Carolina. Despite once again setting the fastest swimming time of the day, he finished 36th.
 
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director, said: “Nick had solid competition without apparent weaknesses, but still with room for improvement.
 
“Finishing sixth is a great result and strong indicator of what could be achieved in the visible future.
 
“It was a very frustrating day for Jamie,” he added. “Jamie struggled from the start feeling a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He finished at the bottom of the fencing sheet and an unlucky draw in the riding did not help.”
 
Woodbridge, 25, started the day with 19 wins from 35 fencing bouts for ninth place. Cooke only won nine of his contests, putting him 36th overall and leaving himself with a mountain to climb for the rest of the day.
 
Cooke once again excelled in the pool. His 200m freestyle time of 1:54.90 was the fastest of the day, promoting him to 26th. Woodbridge also swam well. His 1:57.09 was second fastest and saw him climb to second overall.
 
Only one athlete, Russia’s Aleksander Lesun, went clear within the allowed time in the riding arena to take the maximum 1200 points. Woodbridge dropped just 20 points from the maximum to climb to top spot going into the run/shoot.
 
But Cooke had an unlucky draw in the random selection of horses, effectively ending his attempt to claw his way back up the field. He could only take 744 points from the ride to put him 36th overall.
 
Woodbridge clocked a time of 11:05.26 for the run/shoot, with Cooke completing the run/shoot in 11.03.88.

The British team, including Mhairi Spence, who won silver in Charlotte on Saturday, now move on to Rio for the second World Cup of the year, which gets underway on Thursday.
 
A maximum of two British men and two women can represent Great Britain in the pentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the qualifying standard, but neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 
World Cup 1 – 8 to 11 March, Charlotte USA
 
Results
Gold: Ilia Frolov (RUS) – 5884
Silver: Pavlo Tymoshchenko (UKR) - 5860
Bronze: Aleksander Lesun (RUS) – 5832
6th: Nick Woodbridge (GBR) - 5772
36th: Jamie Cooke (GBR) - 5132

GB team
Women
Freyja Prentice (lives: Bath/ home: Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Samantha Murray  (Bath/Clitheroe, Lancashire)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke  (Bath/Cheltenham)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale  (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
 
World Cup 2 – 12-15 March, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Schedule
(Rio times are three hours behind GMT)
Thursday 15 March: women’s qualification
Friday 16 March: men’s qualification
Saturday 17 March: women’s final
Sunday 18 March: men’s final
 
GB team
Women
Freyja Prentice (Bath/Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Katy Livingston (Bath/Guisborough, Cleveland)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke (Bath/Cheltenham)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)

 

The GB Youth International for Youth A athletes got underway this morning at the GB Modern Pentathlon Academy at Hartpury, Gloucester. Athletes representing GBR, HUN, POR, GER, ESP and JPN are competing.

Results for the event will appear in this news item during the course of the day, so keep checking for updates as the competition unfolds.

Boys Swim

Boys Fence

Boys CE

Boys Final

Girls Swim

Girls Fence

Girls CE

Girls Final

Britain’s world junior champion Jamie Cooke took another chunk off his modern pentathlon 200m freestyle world record en route to qualifying for the final of the opening World Cup of the year.
 
Cooke clocked a time of 1:54.25 in his semi-final at Charlotte in North Carolina, USA, taking a big slice off the world record of 1:54.60 he set at the World Cup Final in London in July last year.
 
Cooke, who has just turned 21, was one of four members of the leading pack to cross the finishing line at the same time at the end of the run/shoot in semi-final C to safely qualify for Sunday’s final.
 
Team-mate Nick Woodbridge posted the second fastest time of the day in the pool – 1:56.82 – and finished alongside Cooke at the end of the run/shoot in the same semi to ensure he too progressed to the final.
 
But Sam Weale and Steven Mason both missed out on the final. With a top-12 finish needed to progress from each of the three semis, Weale came 18th in semi-final B and Mason came 23rd in semi A.
 
Cooke said: “It was tough with only 12 qualifying, we all had to run quite hard, but it’s nice to have qualified for the final.
 
“I didn’t think I’d swim that fast. It was really tough in the last length and I think Nick was coming back at me,” he said. “The last 25m was pretty painful,  but it was good to get a good swim out of a lot of winter’s work. We’ve been training pretty hard recently."
 
Woodbridge said:  “Today was good. I had a solid swim. There are little things I can work on for the final, but I came in in a comfortable qualifying position and that’s what it’s about today.”
 
Later today Britain’s Heather Fell, Samantha Murray and Mhairi Spence contest the women’s final.  Times in Charlotte are five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 

Three of Britain’s women have qualified for Saturday’s final of the opening Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year.
 
Samantha Murray qualified comfortably from semi-final A, crossing the finish line at the head of the field alongside Lena Schoneborn, Germany’s Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medallist, and Michelle Kelly of the USA.
 
Murray’s performances included setting the fastest time of the group in the pool, clocking 2:09.69 for the 200m freestyle.
 
GB team-mates Mhairi Spence and Heather Fell progressed comfortably from semi-final C, with Spence finishing third and Fell seventh.
 
But there was disappointment in group A for Freyja Prentice. With a large field of 76 competitors at World Cup 1 in Charlotte, North Carolina, a top-12 finish was required in each of the three semis to progress to the final.
 
The 21-year-old finished in 13th place in semi-final A, just eight seconds off the 12th place that would have seen her progress.
 
Samantha Murray said: “I’m really happy to have qualified. I had a bit of a shaky start in the fence, but I pulled back up the field with my strong swim and my combined was really good. I’m really pleased and I’m looking forward to Saturday’s final.”
 
Mhairi Spence said: “It was quite strange having three semi-finals, we’ve only done it once before.
 
“It meant everyone raised their game for the semi-final. It was good to have a really good run out at the first World Cup of the year. I’m feeling good and I’m excited to be here.”
 
The men contest their qualifiers later today – times in Charlotte are five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time.

The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 
World Cup 1 – 8 to 11 March, Charlotte USA
 
Schedule
(Charlotte times are five hours behind GMT)
Thursday 8 March: women’s qualification
Friday 9 March: men’s qualification
Saturday 10 March: women’s final
Sunday 11 March: men’s final
 
GB team
Women
Freyja Prentice (lives: Bath/ home: Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Samantha Murray  (Bath/Clitheroe, Lancashire)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke  (Bath/Cheltenham)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale  (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
 
 

The build-up to the 2012 Olympic Games intensifies for Britain’s modern pentathletes when they compete at the first World Cup of the year in the USA this week.
 
There are a maximum of two men’s and women’s pentathlon places up for grabs on the British team at the Games.
 
And British athletes know they need to perform well at this year’s World Cups to reach the World Championships in Rome in May, which is the next opportunity to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard.
 
Performances at each World Cup this season and the World Championships and World Cup Final in China in May, will also count towards the World ranking list, from which athletes could also ultimately achieve the Olympic qualifying standard.
 
The opening World Cup of 2012 gets underway in Charlotte in North Carolina, USA on Thursday (8 March) and concludes on Sunday.
 
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director, said: “Charlotte is the first World Cup of the year and will indicate where everyone is at this point.
 
“It’s important for individual athletes’ selection but it’s also important to see what other athletes and nations have done over the winter.”
 
So far 21 men and 20 women have achieved the London 2012 qualifying standard, including Britain’s Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice. However, neither are yet guaranteed places on the team.
 
With 36 men and women due to compete at the Games, around a dozen places for men and women are likely to be allocated through the ranking list.
 
The British team train at the Pentahtlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 
World Cup 1 – 8 to 11 March, Charlotte USA
 
Schedule
(Charlotte times are five hours behind GMT)
Thursday 8 March: women’s qualification
Friday 9 March: men’s qualification
Saturday 10 March: women’s final
Sunday 11 March: men’s final
 
GB team
Women
Freyja Prentice (lives: Bath/ home: Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Samantha Murray  (Bath/Clitheroe, Lancashire)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke  (Bath/Cheltenham)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale  (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
 
World Cup 2 – 12-15 March, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Schedule
(Rio times are three hours behind GMT)
Thursday 15 March: women’s qualification
Friday 16 March: men’s qualification
Saturday 17 March: women’s final
Sunday 18 March: men’s final
 
GB team
Women
Freyja Prentice (Bath/Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Katy Livingston (Bath/Guisborough, Cleveland)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke (Bath/Cheltenham)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
 

The 2012 World Cup Series gets underway this week with World Cup #1 being held in Charlotte, USA on 8-11 March.

UIPM will again be offering all the Pentathlon fans across the globe, a free of charge live webcast of all the finals action. The women's Final is on Saturday 10 March & men's Final on Sunday 11 March. Please note all times are local time -5 GMT.

• Fencing LIVE- 8:30-11:30
• Fence & Swim Highlights – 14:30-15:20
• Riding LIVE – 15:20-16:35
• Fence & Swim Highlights – 16:35-17:40
• Combined Event LIVE – 17:40-18:00
• Interviews LIVE – 18:00-18:10
• Awards Ceremony LIVE – 18:10-18:30

On the 25 January 2012 a message was posted regarding the use of laser and the wish by the Pentathlon GB Board to provide some clarity to our membership.  Unfortunately, the Board meeting planned for February was postponed and, as a result, approval for any guidance has yet to be confirmed. 

The Board meeting has now been rescheduled for the 27 March 2012 with the intention to provide guidance by the 1 April 2012.  The Board would like to apologise for this delay and request your understanding whilst this matter is carefully considered.

Britain’s Mhairi Spence achieved the London 2012 Olympic qualifying standard in style by winning gold at the Modern Pentathlon World Championships in Rome today (Saturday).
 
And there was further success for the British team with Samantha Murray producing a terrific finish to take bronze and also achieve the Olympic qualifying standard.
 
It means three British women have achieved the 2012 Olympic standard to date – Freyja Prentice achieved the feat at last year’s European Championships. Further GB athletes could achieve the standard through the Olympic ranking list – but only two athletes per gender per nation can compete in the pentathlon at the Games.
 
Spence, who went to the World Championships ranked fifth in the world, becomes the first British woman to win the individual gold at a Modern Pentathlon World Championships since Steph Cook in 2001.
 
And there was further success for Spence and Murray, who joined forces with Heather Fell to win team gold to take the team’s medal tally at the championships so far to four following the team relay bronze won by Katy Burke, Kate French and Katy Livingston on the opening day of the championships.
 
Spence produced a tremendous run/shoot to climb from third place to first, overtaking France’s three-times world champion on the final 1k run.
 
The Scot had started the run/shoot in third, 37 seconds behind Caze. But she shot well and left the shooting range the final time just two seconds behind the Frenchwoman. She took her on early on in the final 1k run and then went away from her towards the end.
 
“People were cheering me on coming down the home straight at the end and I found some extra energy somewhere,” she said. “I just kept fighting and fighting all the way.
 
“I worked so hard all day to keep it  together. When I got to the shooting range I found the flow that we’re always looking for in sport
 
“It’s unbelievable, I’m just so happy.” She added. “I’ve got a great team behind me. Everyone has worked so hard to get me here. We’ve worked really hard for this.”
 
Murray had worked her way up into third place by the final run, but was overtaken by China’s 2009 World Champion, Qian Chen towards the end. But she too overhauled Caze with a sprint finish to come home in third and take bronze.
 
The University of Bath French and Politics student said she was delighted to win the individual bronze and achieve the Olympic qualifying standard. She said: “I can’t believe it, I had to work really hard for it on the home straight. I’m so pleased and proud.”
 
Spence finished six seconds clear of the Chinese athlete, with Murray just two seconds further back and just one second ahead of Caze.
 
Heather Fell produced a battling run/shoot to climb from 20th to end the day in 15th while Prentice finished in 16th.
 
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director, said: “It’s been a terrific day for the British team. As far as the British ladies’ team is concerned, it’s our best World Championships since 2001.
 
“It was a heroic performance by Mhairi. She was really running on empty in the last 200m. It was amazing to see Samantha overtaking Caze at the end.
 
“It’s been an emotionally charged day and we’re m[censored]ively proud,” he added.” It’s fantastic reward for the whole team and coaching staff, but also for the support staff back in Bath and for UK Sport who have provided funding. We are proud that we have proved again that we are good value for money.
 
“We now have one or two days to come back to mother earth, regroup, refocus and continueworking hard towards London.”
 
It was a terrific day for Spence, who was never out of the top-five from the end of the fencing.
 
She made the best of the starts among the four Brits, winning 23 of her 35 fencing bouts for third place and 952 pentathlon points.
 
Prentice won 19 contests for equal eighth place with 856 pentathlon points.  Murray’s 18 wins put her equal 14th with 832 points while Fell started her campaign in the final with 14 wins for 736 points and joint 27th.
 
France’s triple world champion, Amelie Caze, led the way with 29 wins, three clear of Hungary’s Adrienn Toth in second.
 
Spence continued to lead the British challenge after the swim, but was joined in the top-five by Murray. Murray’s 200m freestyle time of 2:08.05 cut almost three-quarters of a second off her personal best from the semis. It was only bettered today by France’s Elodie Clouvel, who posted one of the fastest swim times in pentathlon history.
 
Murray’s performance in the pool earned her 1264 points and saw her climb to fifth overall.
 
Spence’s 2:16.84 was the 12th fastest time in the pool and gave her 1160 points – enough to put her fourth going into the ride.
 
Prentice clocked a time of 2:24.39, adding 1068 points to her total and putting her 16th overall, while Fell’s 2:18.17 earned 1144 points, pushing her up a couple of places to 25th.
 
Caze continued to lead the field, now from compatriot Clouvel, second with Toth third.
 
Spence kept her challenge for a medal with a clear round in the allowed time in the riding arena – one of only four athletes to achieve the feat on the day.
That gave her the maximum 1200 points - enough to promote her to third going into the run/shoot.
 
Murray almost went clear too but had fence 11 down and then the middle fence of the triple down to add 1160 to her total and put her fourth overall.
 
Prentice dropped 100 points in the ride to take 1100 points, putting her 17th overall, while Fell dropped 80 points from the maximum to make her 20th overall.
 
Caze, who had two fences down in the ride, had a 31-second lead over Toth in second goinginto the run/shoot. Clouvel had a disaster in the riding arena, relegating her to 34th.
 
Spence started the run/shoot in third place 37 seconds behind Caze with Murray starting a further 14 seconds back in fourth.
 
Prentice started the run/shoot in 17th, a minute and 49 seconds behind the leader, while Fell started a minute and 55 seconds off the lead in 20th.
 
Tomorrow (Sunday) Jamie Cooke and Nick Woodbridge represent Great Britain in the men’s final.
 
The World Championships are the final qualification event for the London 2012 OlympicGames. British athletes must medal in the individual compeions to achieve the qualifying standard.
 
Thereafter the only other opportunity to qualify for the Games is through the Olympic ranking list.

The British modern pentathlon team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 
World Championships results
Women’s individual
Gold: Mhairi Spence (GBR) – 5484 pts
Silver: Qian Chen (CHN) – 5460 pts
Bronze: Samantha Murray (GBR) – 5452
15th: Heather Fell (GBR) – 5200 pts
16th: Freyja Prentice (GBR) – 5180 pts
 
 
Women’s team
Gold: Great Britain - Heather Fell, Samantha Murray, Mhairi Spence
Silver: Hungary
Bronze: China

 
GB World Championships Team
 
Women’s individual
(home/lives)
Heather Fell (Tavistock, Devon/Tavistock & Bath)
Samantha Murray ([censored]heroe, Lancs/Bath)
Freyja Prentice (Inverurie near Aberdeen/Bath)
Mhairi Spence (Farr, Inverness/Bath)
 
Men’s individual
Jamie Cooke (Cheltenham/Bath)
Sam Weale (East Coker near Yeovil/Bath)
Nick Woodbridge (Telford/Bath)
 
Women’s team relay
Katy Burke (Cleveleys, Lancs/Bath)
Kate French (Gravesend/Bath)
Katy Livingston (Redcar/Bath)

Some of Britain’s finest modern pentathletes, past, present and hopefully future, have been chosen to carry the Olympic Torch as it makes its way across the UK to the Olympic Stadium.

The Olympic Torch Relay will visit 1000 cities, towns and villages on its 70-day 8000-mile tour of the UK starting on 18 May.

Thousands of truly inspirational torchbearers have been selected to carry the Olympic Flame, which stands for peace, unity and friendship.

The distinguished list of British modern pentathletes among the 8000 torchbearers includes Olympic medallists and a current world junior champion.

Kate Allenby, who won bronze when the sport for women made its Olympic debut at Sydney 2000, will be the first British pentathlete to have the honour of being a Torchbearer on its journey around the UK.

Kate, the only British woman pentathlete to date to have competed at two Olympic Games, is scheduled to run with the Torch on 22 May, day four of the relay.

"I'm really honoured to be carrying the Torch, especially to be doing so in Bath, the city in which I trained and which is very close to my heart. I'm also excited to be carrying it as I'm now a teacher. A lot of children in Bath know me and I hope seeing my carrying the Torch will make the whole a lot more real for them."

The Torch will be carried from Taunton to Bristol that day, including a stop off at the University of Bath, home to Pentathlon GB’s High Performance Centre.

The following day one of Britain’s top young modern pentathletes will have the honour of carrying the Flame. Freyja Prentice is set to carry the Flame near the Wiltshire town of Marlborough, during its journey from Bristol to Swindon.

Freyja achieved the London 2012 Olympic qualifying standard by finishing eighth at last year’s European Championships and also won individual silver at the 2010 World Junior Championships and bronze in 2011.

On Monday 11th June Rebecca Wain will be carrying the torch in Aberdeen. Rebecca, who is studying Geology at Aberdeen University, was nominated and supported by the Bank of Scotland Local Heores Programme.

On 17 June English Talent Pool athlete Lauren Richardson will be one of the runners carrying the Flame in Hartlepool. Lauren, from Bishop Auckland, said she’s looking forward to the honour.

“I’m very proud and very excited,” she said. “All my family and friends are coming to see me. It’s the chance of a lifetime and a wonderful thing to do.”

Another young pentathlete, 16-year-old Rebecca Dunning, is due to carry the Olympic Flame at Bracebridge Heath in Lincolnshire on 27 June.

Rebecca is also an English Talent Pool athlete whotrains at Bishop Burton. She carries the Torch just over three years after she was injured by a horse while participating in a junior regional tetrathlon, breaking her pelvis in five places and suffering a collapsed lung. She was hospitalised for almost three months.

Olympic bronze medallist Georgina Harland will be handed the Torch in Warwick on 1 July.

Georgina won her bronze medal at the 2004 Games as the Olympics returned to their ‘home’ in Athens. She now works as a Sports Engagement Manager with the British Olympic Association.

And later that month Olympic gold medallist Jim Fox will carry the Olympic Torch. He takes over the mantle near Reading on 11 July.

Jim represented Great Britain at four successive Olympic Games, in Tokyo in 1964, Mexico City in 1968, Munich in 1972 and Montreal in 1976. He partnered Adrian Parker and Danny Nightingale to team gold in Montreal and finished just outside the individual medals in fourth in 1972.

Richard Phelps, another four-time Olympian, is also set to carry the Torch near Reading.

Richard was the last British man to win an individual World Championships title – he took gold at Darmstadt in Germany in 1993. Richard was also a member of the bronze medal-winning GB team at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, along with Graham Brookhouse and Dominic Mahony.

As well as medalling in Seoul, Richard also competed in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, finishing fourth in the individual event, as well as competing in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996.

And turning to the future, it’s fitting that Britain’s reigning World Junior Champion, Jamie Cooke, is due to be the final Britishpentathlete to carry the Olympic Torch en route to the Olympic Stadium.

Jamie, who captured the world junior crown in Argentina last year and also achieved the Olympic qualifying standard by finishing fourth at the 2011 European Championships, is scheduled to carry the Flame during its visit to the Dorset town of Dorchester on 12 July.

The 21-year-old said he’s honoured and excited to be asked to carry the Torch.

"I'm really honoured to be carrying the torch on its journey round Britain,” he said. “It's a fantastic experience and one I'll never forget!"

Alex Fraser is going to be a torch bearer on Monday July 16th in Lancing as the torch relay heads from Portsmouth to Brighton. Alex is a TASS athlete and went to the Youth A Europeans last year. He is also one of the few athletes who has also volunteered as a Games Maker at London 2012.

The Olympic Torch is lit ahead of every Games from the sun’s rays at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, in a traditional ceremony at the ruins of the Ancient Olympics. This takes place ahead of the London 2012 Games on 10 May. After a short relay around Greece, the Flame is handed over to the London 2012 delegation on 17 May at another ceremony in the Panathenaiko stadium in Athens – the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

The Flame arrives in the UK on 18 May and then begins its epic tour around the country, when it will come with 10 miles of 95 per cent of the population on its way to the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Ceremony on 27 July.

For information about the Torch Relay, including dates and routes, please go to http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/

This list is not exhaustive. We would love to hear from anyone with a Modern Pentathlon connection who has been appointed as a Torch Bearer. Please email your name and when and where you will be carrying the torch to admin@pentathlongb.org.

Britain’s modern pentathletes will get the opportunity to stake their claim for places on the GB team for the London 2012 Olympic Games when they compete at the World Championships in Rome next week (7-13 May).
 
Pentathlon GB today (Tuesday) announced a 10-strong team for the World Championships, including seven athletes for the individual competitions.
 
Any British athlete winning an individual medal at the World Championships will achieve the London 2012 Olympic qualifying standard – thereafter athletes can only qualify through the Olympic pentathlon world ranking list.
 
With all seven British athletes featuring in the top-25 in the world, the competition at the World Championships is expected to be intense.
 
“I think they will be under tremendous pressure at the World Championships,” said Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director. “It looks like it will go down to the wire, but this is the ultimate test for the Olympic Games.
 
“They need to keep it all together in Rome when they will be competing against other very determined athletes who will also feel the World Championships are their last chance to qualify for the Games.”
 
All four GB women selected for Rome feature in the top-20 in the Olympic pentathlon world ranking list.
 
Mhairi Spence, who won silver at the opening World Cup of the year in the USA, is the highest ranked Brit in the Olympic pentathlon world ranking list in fifth.
 
Samantha Murray has stormed up the ranking list to 12th after winning her first World Cup medal, a bronze, in Russia just over a week ago to round off a World Cup campaign that saw her finish fourth and sixth in her other two competitions.
 
Heather Fell, Beijing 2008 silver medallist and former world number one, is 13th with Freyja Prentice, the only British woman to have achieved the Olympic qualifying standard to date 19th.
 
Three Brits will contest the men’s competition in Rome. Nick Woodbridge is ninth in the men’s Olympic pentathlon world ranking list. He won bronze at last year’s World Cup Final and has two sixth places finishes in World Cups to his credit this season.
 
Jamie Cooke, Britain’s World Junior Champion who achieved the Olympic qualifying standard by finishing fourth at last year’s European Championships, is ranking 17th, and Beijing 2008 Olympian Sam Weale, silver medallist at the 2010 European Championships, is 21st in the Olympic pentathlon world ranking.
 
Rome also provides athletes with an opportunity to score ranking points for the Olympic pentathlon world ranking list. The final opportunity will be at the World Cup Final in Chengdu on 26 and 27 May. The UIPM is due to publish the final Olympic pentathlon world ranking list on 1 June, with the GB pentathlon team announced later that month.
 
A maximum of two athletes per gender per nation can compete in the pentathlon at the Olympic Games.
 
So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the London 2012 Olympic qualifying standard by virtue of their performances at last year’s European Championships, but neither are guaranteed places on the team for the Games.
 
Three British athletes – Katy Burke, Kate French and Katy Livingston – have been selected to contest the women’s team relay at the championships.

GB World Championships Team
 
Women’s individual
(home/lives)
Heather Fell (Tavistock, Devon/Tavistock & Bath)
Samantha Murray (Clitheroe, Lancs/Bath)
Freyja Prentice (Inverurie near Aberdeen/Bath)
Mhairi Spence (Farr, Inverness/Bath)
 
Men’s individual
Jamie Cooke (Cheltenham/Bath)
Sam Weale (East Coker near Yeovil/Bath)
Nick Woodbridge (Telford/Bath)
 
Women’s team relay
Katy Burke (Cleveleys, Lancs/Bath)
Kate French (Gravesend/Bath)
Katy Livingston (Redcar/Bath)
 
World Championships Schedule
Monday 7 May: women’s relay
Tuesday 8 May: men’s relay
Wednesday 9 May: mixed relay
Thursday 10 May: women’s semi-finals
Friday 11 May: men’s semi-finals
Saturday 12 May: women’s final
Sunday 13 May: men’s final
 

With just 100 days to go to the men’s Olympic Modern Pentathlon competition on the 11^th August, preparations are well advanced for a really successful event which will see the marking of 100 years since Baron Pierre de Coubertin introduced the Modern Pentathlon into the Olympic Games in 1912 in Stockholm.

The two Olympic Park venues (The Copperbox for fencing and the Aquatics Centre for the swimming) are ready and Greenwich Park is being transformed into a world class stadium – the image shows how the build is progressing with both east and west grandstands well underway and the riding platform between them being constructed. 

More pictures of the construction of the site can be found on the UIPM Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the fight for one of the 36 precious Olympic places enters its final stages of the year-long process. The World Championships in Rome on 7-13 May and the World Cup Final in Chengdu, China on 26-27 May represent the final opportunities for our athletes to either gain the qualifying standard or improve their ranking place.  With only 2 places available per gender, as it stands, it looks like GB will have more athletes qualify than can go to the Games. The UIPM is due to publish the final Olympic pentathlon world ranking list on 1 June, with the GB pentathlon team announced later that month.

The team to represent GB at the World Championships was announced yesterday. The lists of athletes who have qualified for the World Cup Final in Chengdu are available here.

Image courtesy of Pentathlon.org/Paul J Roberts/RobertsSports Photo

Modern Pentathlon. A Centenary History: 1912-2012 is a detailed account of the sport over its 100 year history. The book is a paperback with 468 pages and is 5” x 8” (12.8cm x 20.3cm) in size. It covers every Olympic Games and Senior World Championship and tells many a tale of heroic sporting lives, the struggle for survival in the Olympic world and includes a number of unexpected revelations.  

This website has been publishing excerpts from Andy's book for the last few months.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5
• Part 6
• Part 7

The book costs £10.00 + postage and packing (currently £3.00). Send your order by email to archibaldandy@gmail.com together with your name and address. He will send you an invoice to enable you to pay using Paypal or a credit /debit card.  Orders within the UK can also be made by cheque made out to ‘Andy Archibald’ and sent to ‘8 Ardmay Gardens, Surbiton, KT6 4SW’.

Hundreds of young athletes enjoyed a flavour of competing at a multi-sport event as the British Schools Modern Biathlon Championships reached their climax in London today (Sunday).
 
The competition was organised by Pentathlon GB, the national governing body for the Olympic sport of modern pentathlon, and took place at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. Some 900 young athletes tackled a swim and a run during the day.
 
Portsmouth Grammar School student Emily Jenkinson (pictured right) was one of the stars of the day, winning an incredible sixth successive title. She took gold in the Year 11 girls’ competition following victories at Year 6 to Year 10 in previous years.
 
She did it in style today winning both the 100m freestyle swim and the 1000m run in her year group.
 
“I’m always nervous every time I come back because I don’t know what everyone else is going to do,” said Emily, who plans to return next year to contest the Year 12/13 class.
 
Other highlights of the day included individual titles won by sisters Natasha and Sabrina Sinha (pictured below with their trophies).  Bromley High School pupil Sabrina was the family’s first winner of the day, taking gold in the Year 8 girls’ competition.
 
And sister Natasha, a student at James Allen Girls’ School at Dulwich, followed her on to the top spot of the podium by taking gold in the Year 10 girls’ event. She secured back-to-back victories after winning the Year 9 girls’ title last year.
 
Meanwhile Alexander Allen of Millfield School in Street collected his third individual title infour years, adding the Year 10 title to the Year 9 title in 2011 and the Year 7 in 2009.  A number of athletes also impressed by securing back-to-back titles.
 
Alex Wilmhurst of the Dane Court Grammar School in Broadstairs, Kent was the first champion of the day, winning the Year 8 boys’ title and helping his school take the Year 8 boys’ team title.
 
“I didn’t expect to come first,” said Wilmhurst, whose times put him fifth in the rankings going into the event. “I train for swimming and a I like running, so I thought if I could improve my run I would climb up a bit.”
 
Anthony Temple, Chairman of Pentathlon GB, said: “This has been a great event for the nine hundred young athletes, their supporters and friends whohave come to enjoy the facilities at Crystal Palace.
 
“There must be every expectation that several hundred of the competitors will continue their engagement with modern pentathlon either as biathletes or by progressing to the other disciplines and trying out a full modern pentathlon. Let’s hope so.”
 
Sue Hyde, Pentathlon GB’s National Competitions and Events Manager, said: “I’d like to thank all of the volunteers who gave up their valuable time to assist us in the running of the event. We really couldn’t do it without them.”

Young athletes at the British Schools Modern Biathlon Championships competed in 16 different classes, based on school year and gender. They range from year 5 through to year 12/13 – and there’s also a competition for teachers.
 
Some of Britain’s brightest young multi-sport prospects have competed in the British Schools’ Biathlon Championships in the past. Jamie Cooke, for instance, came fifth in the year 12/13 boys' final in 2008 – he went on to win the Modern Pentathlon World Junior Championships in Argentina in November. 
 
All of the competitors took part in a run and a swim, with a gap between them, like in the modern pentathlon, rather than in sequence, as in the triathlon.  The athletes tackle a 50m swim and a 500m run or a 100m swim and 1000m run, depending on their age group.
 
There were also opportunities to take part in fencing and shooting taster sessions.
 
You can find a full set of results at: https://www.pentathlongb.org/schools/index.php?tab=5
 
And regional round-ups will be posted shortly at https://www.pentathlongb.org/pentathlongb/ukstructure.php

A video of the event will be posted on the Pentathlon GB  YouTube channel www.youtube.com/pentathlongb
 
 
For further information please contact the Pentathlon GB press office at Matchtight Ltd on 01225 383518 or 07765 071683. You can also check the Pentathlon GB website at www.pentathlongb.org
 
For further information members of the media can contact the Pentathlon GB press office at Matchtight Ltd on 01225 383518.
 

Hundreds of young athletes will converge on the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre at the weekend to battle it out for honours at the British Schools Biathlon Championships.
 
Around 900 athletes from around the country will take part in the championships finals on Sunday (25 March).
 
The annual competition is organised by Pentathlon GB, the national governing body for the Olympic sport of modern pentathlon, and one of its goals is to encourage more young people to participate in multi-sport competitions.
 
The championships are the climax of a series of semi-finals around the country. Young athletes compete in 16 different classes, based on school year and gender. They range from year five through to year 12/13 – and there’s also a competition for teachers.
 
Some of Britain’s brightest young multi-sport prospects have competed in the British Schools’ Biathlon Championships in the past. Jamie Cooke, for instance, came fifth in the year 12/13 boys' final in 2008 – he went on to win the Modern Pentathlon World Junior Championships in Argentina in November. 
 
All of the competitors will take part in a run and a swim, with a gap between them, like in the modern pentathlon, rather than in sequence, as in the triathlon.  The athletes tackle a 50m swim and a 500m run or a 100m swim and 1000m run, depending on their age group.
 
They will also have opportunities to have a go at fencing and shooting sessions.

Sue Hyde, Pentathlon GB’s National Competitions and Events Manager, said: “The Schools Biathlon Championships provide a fantastic opportunity for young people to participate in a multi-sports challenge

“In an Olympic year, it’s particularly important for modern pentathlon that we try to inspire young people and encourage them to take part in the sport,” she added.  “Britain has an impressive track record in modern pentathlon, and it’s possible some of the young people competing at Crystal Palace on Sunday will go on to represent Great Britain in the sport at a future Olympic Games.”

The action gets underway at 9.30am and the last of the finals should be completed by 5pm.

Reports of the championships will features on the Pentathlon GB website at www.pentathlongb.org
 
And you can also keep up to date during the day with the championships via Pentathlon GB’s new Facebook site at www.facebook.com/PentathlonGB and also via Twitter at www.twitter.com/PentathlonGB.  Shortly after the event we will be posting a video of the event on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/pentathlongb

For further information members of the media can contact the Pentathlon GB press office at Matchtight Ltd on 01225 383518.
 

The GB Youth International took place at Gloucester on Saturday 10^th March 2012. Individual disciplines were staged at GL1 Leisure Centre for the swim and at the PGB Academy, Hartpury College for the fence and combined event. Visiting teams from Hungary, Germany, Portugal, Spain and one athlete from Japan took part alongside the youth athletes from Great Britain.

Being a one day event for both boys and girls meant an early start for the swim, which would be the normal programme if competing overseas in a competition of this scale. So it was to the excellent GL1 Leisure Centre at 6am for a 6.40am start. Swimming in general has in modern pentathlon over recent years shown a marked improvement and GB athlete Jamie Cooke from the local team in Gloucester now training at the high performance centre at Bath holds the modern pentathlon world record for the swim at 1.54.2. (LC). However, it was the youth programme athletes in the water on Saturday and the GBR team produced the 2 fastest swims of the day with Kelcey Pillage for the girls in 2.09.73 and Joseph Choong for the boys in 1.57.85. Many personal bests were achieved in the swim by athletes from GBR and our visiting federation athletes.

After the swim it was immediate transfer by coach to Hartpury College for a well received breakfast before the fencing warm up. The fencing was one of the highlights of the day with some very good foreign athletes putting up some good battles and our GBR athletes gaining valuable experience. Jemma Westgate led the girls home in the fence with an outstanding score of 22v 3d and 1144pts closely followed in second place by Francesca Summers, still a Youth B athlete. with 19v 6d and 1036pts. In the boys we saw German athlete Tim Kojman and Spanish athlete Julian Gotzens Bersh tie with 22v 6d and 1064pts and GBR athlete John Allen in 3^rd with 21v 7d and 1032pts.

The combined event was as exciting as a sporting event can get with athletes setting off very close together at the start due to such a close competition in the swim and fence. For the girls it was Jemma Westgate leading the field from start to finish demonstrating skill with the laser pistol and strength on the run to finish in first place overall. Alexandra Bettinelli from Germany deserves due mention, she moved up from the 1^st detail to overall 3^rd place in 12.31 to win the combined event in the girls competition.

Hungarian boy Tamas Frohlich won the overall boys event on the day with GBR athlete John Allen taking a well deserved overall 2^nd place on the day. John put together a very consistent performance in all disciplines. Portuguese athlete Rui Cirne had the biggest smile of the day taking 3^rd place in the boys competition – he was delighted. Best boys' Combined was GBR athlete Xavier Vrigneau.

PGB Board member Martin Dawe made the presentations and thanked all our visiting federations for supporting the 2012 GB Youth International. Full results are available here.

Results:

Boys:

Girls:

Britain’s Mhairi Spence made a terrific start to her 2012 campaign by winning the silver medal at the opening Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year.

Spence produced a strong all round performance at Charlotte in North Carolina, USA to take silver behind Lena Schoneborn, Germany’s Olympic champion.
 
As the competition for places on the GB team for the 2012 Olympic Games intensifies, British team-mates Samantha Murray and Heather Fell also produced impressive performances, finishing sixth andseventh respectively.
 
Afterwards a delighted Spence said: “I’m really happy, a little overwhelmed in fact. It was a really good day and it was nice to finish well.
 
“I’ve worked really, really hard. I had a decent season last year and I’ve picked up on a couple of little things I needed to work on over the winter.
 
“I’m really happy I held it together all day,” she added. “There are a lot of people at home who really believe in me and today was the day to show them that they’re right.”
 
Spence (pictured right), who went to the USA ranked fourth in the world, said the competition for the maximum of two women’s places on the British Olympic team for 2012 is driving her and the other GB pentathletes on to further improve their performances.
 
“We’re all really competitive and being competitive makes you better,” she said. “We’re all pushing each other forward and over the winter we’ve raised our game. Whoever makes the Games is going to put on a very good performance.”
 
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director, said:  “All three Brits have made us proud showing physical improvements and solid skills. It was pleasure to watch Mhairi’s fencing, Heather’s riding and Samantha’s re-invented combined event performances.
 
“The ladies’ team can take now team days off before transit to Brazil for Rio de JaneiroWorld Cup.”
 
Spence, originally from Farr, near Inverness but now training at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath, was never out of the top-two overall all day.
 
She was second in the fencing to Schoneborn, winning 25 of her 35 bouts for 1000 pentathlon points. Fell won 17 contests for 16th place and Murray’s 13 wins put her in 31st.
 
Murray (pictured right) soared up to 15th with a time of 2:10.50 for the 200m freestyle – the second fastest time of the day. Fell’s 2:16.00 was seventh fastest and saw her climb to 11th place, while Spence’s 2:16.99 was the 11th quickest of the day and saw her stay second overall.
 
Spence climbed to top spot after the ride. She dropped only 40 points from the maximum 1200. Fell and Murray both continued their momentum. Fell went clear within the allowed time in the riding arena – one of only three athletes to do so. That promoted her to sixth place.
 
Murray also rode well, having just one fence down to add 1180 points to her total, taking her to 11th going into the run/shoot.
 
Spence had a slender two second advantage over Schoneborn going into the run/shoot. The German went on to take gold, with Spence finishing 10 seconds clear of Anastasya Prokopenko of Belarus to secure silver.
 
Murray recorded the fifth fastest run/shoot time of the day – her 11:34.10 saw her climb from 11th to sixth, the second highest World Cup finish of her career.  Fell, Britain’s Beijing 2008 Olympic silver medallist, clocked a time of  11:47.75 to see her end the day in seventh overall.
 
A maximum of two British men and two women can represent Great Britain in thepentathlon at the London 2012 Olympics. So far Jamie Cooke and Freyja Prentice have achieved the qualifying standard, but neither are guaranteed a place on the team.
 
Later today - times in Charlotte are five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time – Jamie Cooke and Nick Woodbridge represent Great Britain in the men’s final.
 
The British team train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath.
 
World Cup 1 – 8 to 11 March, Charlotte USA
 
Results
Gold: Lena Schoneborn (GER) – 5492
Silver: Mhairi Spence (GBR) – 5456
Bronze: Anastasya Prokopenko (BLR) – 5416
6th: Samantha Murray (GBR) – 5352
7th: Heather Fell (GBR) - 5348
 

GB team
Women
Freyja Prentice (lives: Bath/ home: Inverurie)
Mhairi Spence (Bath/Farr near Inverness)
Heather Fell (Bath/Tavistock, Devon)
Samantha Murray  (Bath/Clitheroe, Lancashire)
 
Men
Jamie Cooke  (Bath/Cheltenham)
Nick Woodbridge (Bath/Telford)
Sam Weale  (Bath/ East Coker near Yeovil)
Steven Mason (Bath/Thornton-Cleveleys near Blackpool)
 

As the Olympic event approaches, we have been featuring extracts (one each month) from Andy Archibald’s forthcoming book ‘A History of Modern Pentathlon 1912-2012’. In this ninth extract, he describes how Richard Phelps became Great Britain’s only Men’s World Champion in 1993.

This was the first World Championship to take place on a single day. For one athlete in particular, however, the greater the chaos the more he felt at home. Richard Phelps had begun the year with success in Australia but, at the European Championships ride, he had fallen badly and torn the ligaments in his shoulder. Though he was the only British qualifier of the 32 competing in Darmstadt, he spent six weeks without training in four of the five events and went on holiday to Majorca, keeping generally fit with a little triathlon. When he arrived in Darmstadt he was fully expecting to achieve nothing. True, of the 12 who had beaten him in Barcelona the year before, only Mizsér (HUN), Gostigian (USA) and Deleigne (FRA) were present in Darmstadt but Fábián (HUN), Toraldo (ITA) and Ruer (FRA) were all having good seasons.

A team relay prefaced the individual competition. Phelps, meanwhile, watched from the stands. Later he was to appreciate the low-key nature of his experience in Darmstadt. He had had the benefit of psychologists, masseurs, and a whole support team at the Olympics but such backing can also bring added expectation and therefore pressure. With only his uncle, Robbie Phelps as coach and Martin Dawe as manager with him in Darmstadt, he was able to relax more.

The first event was the shooting, an event that had often let him down in the past, and Phelps shot 193. Only Ismo Marjunen (FIN) shot better (194). Though Ruer and Toraldo swam better than Phelps, Richard’s 3:21.5 kept him in touch. Despite being six seconds down on his 1992 performance, his lack of expectation lent a far better sense of pacing to both his swim and his run in this competition. His 880 fencing score fell below his fine Olympic effort the previous year and Laszlo Fábián’s winning 1120 gave the Hungarian a 148 point lead over Phelps after three events. The running event was a pack start  and this played directly into the hands of a strong runner like Phelps. He finished 2^nd in 12:21, just one second behind Peter Steinmann (SWI) thus reducing Fabian’s overall lead to 40 points.

Concluding with the riding event is a concession to spectators but not to pentathletes. Richard drew a difficult horse which had not gone well in the first round. The advice he got from Uncle Rob proved to be excellent and he rode a clear round for 1100 points. There have been many family coaching relationships in Modern Pentathlon and family tensions can often prove detrimental to such a set-up. By 1993, Richard is the first to admit, it was a coaching relationship that really worked well and one for which he is grateful. Though 20 out of the 32 competitors scored over 1000 points in the ride, Lazslo Fábián wasn’t one of them. He scored 974 and slipped into the silver medal position, ahead of Sebastien Deleigne but behind Great Britain’s first and only male World Champion, Richard Phelps.

In an interview after Darmstadt with Andrew Longmore in The Times, Richard was quoted as saying ‘I just don’t rate full-time training’. Realising that driving all over the place in a hectic rush to gain experience was not for him he added, ‘Stuff it, I’m going to stay where I am, relax and train at the level I enjoy.’ For all those coaches who might throw up their hands in horror at such a concept, it should be noted that Richard Phelps’ career in Modern Pentathlon was a very long one. By the time he became World Champion in 1993, he had been competing for 21 years. He was to continue in the sport for a further seven years. Though the tale behind his becoming World Champion against all the odds is the stuff of boys’ comic books, when he climbed on to that podium in Darmstadt, he was carrying the experience of many years at the highest level, not the training of just the past few weeks. His position as a World Champion has been underrated in the history of British sport and that is as much to do with Richard’s self-effacing, good-humoured nature as it is with the appalling neglect of his achievements by the British press.

On Saturday 3^rd March new athletes invited onto the Pentathlon GB English Talent Pool attended a Welcome And Induction day at Pentathlon GB Regional Training Centre at Bishop Burton College, Beverley, East Yorkshire.

Twenty new athletes have accepted the invitation to be part of the English Talent Pool Program. They are from Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and County Durham. Unfortunately three of the new athletes were unable to attend the day, due to family or School commitments.

The athletes and their families were welcomed by Pentathlon GB Staff and coaches and were then given a presentation explaining the Sport England, English Talent Pool Program including forward planning for training and the monitoring of the athletes progress. Everyone then visited the Equine department at the College to watch some top class showjumping.

In the afternoon the athletes continued their day with training in shooting, fencing, running and combined event. A very successful day came to a close at 4-00pm.