A host of Olympic, Paralympic and world-class sports people gathered at the University of Bath on Wednesday to take part in the British Athletes Commission’s first Athletes Day. Up-and-coming stars across a wide range of sports – from football to fencing, swimming to sailing, dressage to diving – also attended the event which focused on dealing with sponsors, agents and the media. The day was run by Anna Watkins, the rower who famously won double...
The Modern Pentathlon European Championships could not have been such a success without the support of 180-strong army of volunteers. Kieran Buggs was one of those, travelling from Kent to play his part in a memorable week at the University of Bath. He spoke to other volunteers, plus spectators and athletes, about why they had got involved and what they had taken from the experience... Following the success of the Games Makers at the London...
Kate French earned a Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification place and there was team gold for Pentathlon GB as a world-class Modern Pentathlon European Championships concluded in fitting style at the University of Bath. Sports Performance graduate French went into the combined event 15th overall but produced a fantastic performance, missing just one shot, to secure the top-eight finish she needed. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet but I am so pleased,” she...
University of Bath student Joe Choong produced the performance of his career in front of a sell-out home crowd at the Modern Pentathlon European Championships to secure a coveted Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification place. The Mathematics student, supported by an Ivor Powell Scholarship, was roared down the home straight at a packed Sports Training Village to finish seventh in the men’s final on Saturday. That secured one of the eight Olympic qualification places up...
Fellow athletes, family, friends and University of Bath staff turned out in force to cheer a full complement of Pentathlon GB athletes into the women’s final of the Modern Pentathlon European Championships. Graduates Samantha Murray, Kate French and Freyja Prentice all successfully came through their qualifying rounds on Friday, as did newly-crowned World Junior Champion Francesca Summers. They were roared on all the way by another good crowd at the Sports Training Village and can...
University of Bath students Tom Toolis and Joe Choong will have a shot at Rio 2016 qualification on Saturday after booking their places in the men’s final at the Modern Pentathlon European Championships. They joined fellow Pentathlon GB athlete Jamie Cooke, pictured, in progressing through Thursday’s qualification round and giving the home fans at the Sports Training Village plenty to cheer. Toolis, a Sport & Exercise Science student, performed consistently well and finished sixth overall...
Germany and Ukraine struck team relay gold at the Modern Pentathlon European Championships on Wednesday – and the University of Bath was also placed on top of the podium. Athletes from across the continent have been full of praise for both the facilities at the £30million Sports Training Village and the spectators who have turned out in all weathers to provide vocal support. After glorious sunshine for Tuesday’s mixed team relay, won by Italy, the...
There was a good turnout of spectators at the University of Bath on Tuesday to see Italy win the first gold medal of the 2015 Modern Pentathlon European Championships. Eighteen athletes from nine countries took part in the opening event, the mixed team relay, and received vocal backing throughout the five disciplines of swimming, fencing, riding, running and shooting – all of which took place at the Sports Training Village. There was a loud cheer...
The University of Bath’s Sports Training Village has undergone a dramatic transformation as the final preparations are put in place for this week’s Modern Pentathlon European Championships. Most eye-catching of all is the installation of a show-jumping arena in the in-field of the athletics track, complete with temporary stables, ready to host the iconic and challenging ride section of the five-discipline sport. A laser-shooting range has also been fitted on the athletics field, while the...
On the eve of the Modern Pentathlon European Championships at the University of Bath, Pentathlon GB’s long-serving National Performance Director Jan Bartu has been inducted into the Team Bath Hall of Fame for Sport. Bartu established the National Training Centre at the University of Bath in 1998, implementing the Performance Pathway System which has seen modern pentathlon become one of Britain’s most successful Olympic sports. Under his guidance, medals have been won at each of...
