Two silver medals and best-ever finishes provide plenty of Pentathlon GB cheer at Sofia World Cup
Joe Choong’s superb individual silver medal was matched in the mixed relay competition by Jamie Cooke and Francesca Summers as Pentathlon GB enjoyed a hugely-impressive weekend at the Modern Pentathlon World Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria.
It was a first World Cup medal of his career for MJ Church Ambassador Choong, who followed up a rapid time of 2:00.08 in the swimming pool with 21 victories from 34 bouts in the fencing hall.
He rolled two poles during a ride contested in difficult conditions following torrential rain, meaning Choong went into the run-shoot in sixth position, but he timed his charge to perfection as he left the final range in third before a blistering last 150m took him up to second place.
Fellow University of Bath graduate Tom Toolis was also in medal contention throughout the day as he produced his best performance on the World Cup stage, finishing sixth overall, while World Champion Cooke – who had been in the top ten all day – had to settle for 16th after some struggles on the shooting range.
Cooke returned to action the following day as he teamed up in the mixed relay with former Junior World Champion Summers, who had finished a World Cup career-best fourth in the women’s final on Friday.
They sat fourth after both the swimming and fencing before a controlled display in the ride moved them up to second, a position they maintained despite coming under pressure in the run-shoot.
The women’s individual final had also seen Jo Muir finish ninth to record her best World Cup result so far, while Rio 2016 Olympian Kate French was 11th on her first international outing in six months.
This year’s international calendar includes a visit to the University of Bath Sports Training Village, home of Pentathlon GB, for the 2019 Modern Pentathlon European Championships – a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. It is taking place from August 6-11 and tickets are on sale now – click here for full details.
Picture credits: UIPM.
