Freyja Prentice completes Pentathlon GB team for home European Championships
Freyja Prentice has been confirmed as the final member of the Pentathlon GB women’s team for next week’s Modern Pentathlon European Championships at the University of Bath.
The 25-year-old has recovered from severe bone stress to her tibia to edge out former World Champion Mhairi Spence and join Samantha Murray, Kate French and Francesca Summers in the women’s individual competition.
“The thought of competing at the Europeans is what has kept me going,” said Prentice, a University of Bath Biology graduate. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to get back in time.
“My expectations for the competition have definitely changed, as I am not as confident in my physical ability as I would normally be. I am going to take it one event at a time and one day at a time with my main goal being to make it through to the final.
“I would usually aim for the top eight or top ten but I don’t know how my body is going to respond to two days of competition. Recovery after the qualification round will be crucial.”
If Prentice, French or Summers do make it to the top eight, they will join Murray in setting the qualification standard for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Eight qualifying places are available in both the men’s and women’s competitions at the European Championships, which are taking place at the Sports Training Village – home of Pentathlon GB – from August 18-23.
French and Joe Evans will contest the mixed relay on the opening day, while Wednesday sees Murray and Spence combine in the women’s relay while Business Administration graduate James Myatt and Sam Curry, a Politics and International Relations student, compete in the men’s relay.
The men’s qualifying competition – featuring Joe Choong, Jamie Cooke, Tom Toolis and Nick Woodbridge – is on Thursday, with the final on Saturday. The women’s individual competition sees qualifying on Friday and the final on Sunday.
“This is our first Olympic qualifier and hopefully having our friends and family behind us will give us that extra edge to perform to our best,” Prentice added.
“I am really looking forward to next week and feel very lucky to be getting the opportunity to compete in our home city.”
Tickets for the European Championships are priced at £1 for under-18s and from £6 for adults. To purchase or for more information, visit pentathlongb.org/euros2015.
