Modern Pentathlon: Young Brits impress at Cairo World Cup

• Tweet
• Pin It

Young British pentathletes Freyja Prentice and Katy Burke today (Saturday) produced the best results of their careers to date by finishing fifth and sixth at the Cairo World Cup.

Nineteen-year-old Prentice finished fifth at only her third World Cup, while Burke, who is 20, came sixth, comfortably better than her previous best World Cup finish of 21st in Mexico a year ago. Team-mates Mhairi Spence and Katy Livingston were 26th and 29th respectively in today’s final.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Related Stories:

Modern Pentathlon: Katy Livingstone returns to action in Cairo

Modern Pentathlon: Livingston takes senior title ahead of the World Championships

Getting started – Modern Pentathlon

……………………………………………………………………………………………

It means Prentice has continued her record of securing top-10 finishes in all of her World Cups, following her 10th place on her World Cup debut in Mexico a year ago and her ninth in Rome in May last year.

Burke, originally from Blackpool but now training in Bath, had a six-second lead over Egypt’s Aya Medany at the head of the field going into the final event of the pentathlon, the combined run-shoot, after completing a terrific clear round on a tricky horse in the riding arena.

Prentice, who has only recently returned to training following injury, went into the run/shoot in sixth place. But it was Prentice, originally from Aberdeen and now training at Pentathlon GB’s high performance centre at the University of Bath, who emerged as the best of the Brits.

Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB Performance Director, praised the young pair’s achievements.

“It was a really good day for the younger members of the team. Katy Burke and Freyja both handled the final like pros,” he said.

“We have a second generation of athletes coming through now and that’s really encouraging. It’s fantastic.”

The quartet of British women each made a strong start to the competition, with Spence fourth after the fencing, winning 21 of her 35 contests for 928 pentathlon points.

Burke and Prentice weren’t far behind. They each won 20 bouts for 904 points and joint fifth place. Burke’s performance was a personal best for the fence. Livingston won 17 of her contests for 832 points and 13th place.

Burke produced the third fastest swim with a time of 2:15.53 for 1176 pentathlon points, enough to push her up to fourth after the second discipline. It was her best time of the season.

Spence’s 2:21.30 was the 14th fastest time, earning her 1108 points for sixth overall. Prentice clocked a time of 2:22.35, a personal best, for 1092 points and eighth overall.

And Livingston’s 2:17.83 was the sixth fastest time, earning her 1148 points and pushing her up three places to 10th. That meant after two disciplines all four Brits were in the top-10.

Burke was one of six athletes to score the perfect 1200 in the riding arena to go into the run/shoot in the lead. It was an outstanding performance for Burke, whose mount had presented problems for its earlier rider, who had failed to complete the round.

Her run/shoot time of 13:33.15 was 22nd fastest earning 1748 points for sixth overall on 5028.

Prentice was sixth going into the run shoot after dropping 20 points in the show jumping arena. Her time of 12:56.63 was sixth fastest for 1896 points and a total of 5072.

Spence and Livingston both suffered with disappointing horse draws.

Spence could only muster 744 points from a maximum possible 1200. Her time of 13:15.76 was 14th fastest giving her 1820 points and a total of 4600.

Livingston collected 820 points in the riding arena. Her time of 14:23.40 for the run/shoot earned 1548 points for a total of 4348.

Tomorrow (Sunday) sees Britain’s David Atkinson contest the men’s final.

Final results to World Cup 2 in Cairo

Gold: Evdokia Gretchnikova (RUS) – 5204 points

Silver: Donata Rimsaite (LTU) – 5188 points

Bronze: Aya Medany (EGY) – 5172 points

5th: Freyja Prentice (GBR) – 5072 points

6th: Katy Burke (GBR) – 5028 points

26th: Mhairi Spence (GBR) – 4600 points

29th: Katy Livingston (GBR) – 4348 points

Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

• Tweet
• Pin It

You may like

• Modern Pentathlon: Mhairi Spence scores top ten placing in the World Championships
  Modern Pentathlon: Mhairi Spence scores top ten placing in the World Championships
• Modern Pentathlon: Olympic medallist Fell wins World Cup silver at Chengdu
  Modern Pentathlon: Olympic medallist Fell wins World Cup silver at Chengdu
• Modern Pentathlon: Spence wins second World Cup medal of season
  Modern Pentathlon: Spence wins second World Cup medal of season

One Comment

1. Pingback: Athletics: Team announced for Medway Pentathlon World Cup, Sportsister, The Woman’s Sports Magazine | Sportsister

You must be logged in to post a comment Login