Georgina Harland
Sport/Event >
Modern Pentathlon
Date and Place of Birth >
1978, Canterbury, Kent
Occupation >
Full-time athlete
Biography >
Georgina Harland produced a typically gutsy performance to win the modern pentathlon bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
The modern pentathlon is one of the most gruelling challenges in modern sport, with athletes competing in five very different sporting disciplines – air pistol shooting, fencing, a 200m swim, show jumping and a 3k cross-country run – all in one day. Georgina started badly in Athens – she was 30th out of a field of 32 athletes after the shooting.
She climbed to 26th after the fencing and then finished second in the swimming to rise to 19th overall. She rose to 14th overall after the show jumping – but she still had a mountain to climb as she went into the run 49 seconds off third place. But Georgina produced a terrific performance to run past all but the top two athletes and grab bronze. It was a terrific performance by the Bath-based modern pentathlete and one of the Great Britain’s most memorable highlights of the Games.
Georgina took up the modern pentathlon in 1996. She says it appealed to her as the ultimate sporting challenge – demanding both mental and physical toughness.
Georgina already had a string of impressive international performances behind her when she travelled to Athens, including bronze medals at the 2001 and 2002 World Championships and gold at the 2003 European Championships.
She was Great Britain’s travelling reserve at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, where she saw team-mates Steph Cook win gold and Kate Allenby take bronze. She finished 10th overall in the individual competition at the 2006 European Championships – helping Great Britain secure team gold.
She rounded off her 2006 season with seventh place at the World Championships in Guatemala City, when she also helped Great Britain to win silvers in both the team event and the team relay.
She returned to World Cup action in style in Millfield in April 2007 by striking gold that day after celebrating her 29th birthday, and followed that up with silver in Hungary in May.
Georgina, who has a Geography degree from Loughborough University, trains at the Modern Pentathlon Association of Great Britain’s high performance centre at the University of Bath’s Sports Training Village.
Competitive Record >
World Cup: gold – Mexico, March 2001 World Cup: gold – Szekesfehervar, Hungary, April 2001
World Championships: bronze individual – Millfield, Somerset, UK – July 2001
World Championships: gold team- Millfield, Somerset, UK – July 2001
World Cup: gold – Madrid, Spain, April 2002
World Championships: bronze – San Francisco, USA, July 2002
World Championships: individual 4th – Pesaro, Italy, July 2003
World Championships: team gold – Pesaro, Italy, July 2003
European Championships: gold – Usti Nad Labem, Czech Republic, August 2003
World Cup Final: gold – Athens, Greece, December, 2003
World Cup: bronze – Queretaro, Mexico, March 2004
World Cup: gold – Rio de Janiero, Brazil, March 2004
World Championships: 5th individual – Moscow, Russia, May 2004
World Championships: gold team – Moscow, Russia, May 2004
Olympic Games: bronze – Athens, Greece, August 2004
World Cup Final: 8th – Darmstadt, September 2004
World Cup round 1: silver – Acapulco, Mexico – March 2006
World Cup round 2: bronze – Millfield, Somerset, UK – April 2006
World Cup round 4: bronze – Szekesfehervar, Hungary, June 2006
European Championships: 10th individual, gold team – Budapest, July 2006
World Championships: seventh – individual, silvers – team & team relay, Guatemala City, November 2006
World Cup round 3: gold, Millfield, GB, April 2007
World Cup round 5: silver, Szehesfehervar, Hungary, May 2007
