Another top-ten finish for Kate French as Pentathlon GB battle illness at European Champs
In-form Kate French was the highest-placed Pentathlon GB finisher during an eventful European Championships in Belarus that saw the British squad hit by food poisoning.
Rio 2016 Olympian French, a University of Bath Sports Performance graduate, performed consistently well throughout the women’s final on Saturday – including a flawless clear round in the riding arena – to record her sixth successive top-ten result.
Former World Champion Samantha Murray was 14th, her best result of the international season, and Jo Muir 17th as the British trio finished just nine points shy of the podium in the team competition.
Food poisoning overnight meant the men’s trio of Joe Choong, Jamie Cooke and Tom Toolis felt unwell throughout the men’s final on Sunday.
Despite that setback, Mathematics student Choong – an ambassador for Team Bath partners MJ Church and supported by an Ivor Powell Scholarship – was able to finish a fine 13th overall, dropping just one place in the run-shoot.
Cooke and Toolis, a Sport & Exercise Science student, battled gamely but had to settle for finishing 27th and 28th respectively.
To read full reports from the weekend on the Pentathlon GB website, click here for the women’s final and here for the men’s final.
The 2019 Modern Pentathlon European Championships will once again be staged at the University of Bath Sports Training Village following the success of the 2015 edition. Click here for more information.
