Golden start to Olympic year for Bath student Charlie Brown as Pentathlon GB win full set of medals at Hungarian Indoor Open
University of Bath student Charlie Brown won gold and there were medals for Emma Whitaker and Kerenza Bryson too as Pentathlon GB athletes began Olympic year strongly at the 2024 Hungarian Indoor Open.
The annual competition in Budapest provides a good test for pentathletes ahead of the World Cup season and it was Sports Management and Coaching student Brown who took his chance to shine in the men’s final.
He was one of six athletes to record a perfect round in the horse riding, building on his impressive return of 25 victories from 38 bouts in the fencing. A rapid time of 1:58.01 in the pool, the second-fastest swim of the day, put Brown among the leading pack for the all-important laser-run and he performed superbly to pull away from the field, finishing 15 seconds clear of Egypt’s Eslam Hamad.
Team-mate Myles Pillage, a Biochemistry graduate of the University, placed 10th overall with his strongest performance coming in the pool – a stunning time of 1:56.01 for the 200m freestyle.
The strength and depth in the Pentathlon GB women’s training group was demonstrated as all six athletes reached the final, where Whitaker and Bryson both finished on the podium behind home favourite Michelle Gulyas.
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Sports Performance graduate Whitaker sat 10th after the fencing ranking round (21V 14D) but rose through the rankings to finish second after a clear round in the riding plus top-four performances in both the swimming (2:14.41) and laser-run (11:05.44).
Bryson crossed the line just two seconds behind her to take bronze and she also claimed team gold with Whitaker and Charlie Follett, who placed a strong seventh overall in her first international competition after injury.
The three other Brits – Olympic Champion Kate French, Olivia Green and Jess Varley – failed to record scores during a frustrating riding round which dropped them out of individual medal contention but they did have the consolation of winning team silver.
French was in fine form otherwise in her first competition for 18 months, placing in the top five in the other disciplines after topping her semi-final.
Next up for the Pentathlon GB athletes, who all train at the Team Bath Sports Training Village, is the first UIPM World Cup of the Olympic season in Cairo, Egypt from 5-10 March.
Click here to find out more about pentathlon at the University of Bath.
Picture credits: Pentathlon GB.
