The first Modern Pentathlon qualifying event took place for both events (Men’s and Women’s), in the form of the 2023 UIPM World Cup Final.
Held in the Turkish capital of Ankara, Great Britain had high hopes, but only the champion would get a spot directly. On the Men’s side, three Brits entered. Charles Brown won a gold in the mixed team relay the Junior World Championships in Poland last year, and got a respectable eighth individually, but had middling results making the step up to the big leagues. This could not be said for Joseph Choong, who has Olympic, World, and European Gold. Finally, Myles Pillage is on the fringes in senior competition. The top nine would qualify from each semifinal, with Brown and Pillage in Semifinal A and Choong in Semifinal B.
After the Fencing, Pillage was 13th and Brown was 14th with 193 and 185 respective points, 29 and 37 respectively behind Czech Marek Grycz in ninth. The Riding did not help as Brown (on Meric) earned 28 penalties for obstacles to earn 272 points (14th) and Pillage (on Meliksah) racked up seventeen in addition to taking 79 seconds, earning another seventeen, one for each second over the limit, to earn 266 points, the least of anyone who finished. Pillage was the fastest swimmer with a 1:59.71, earning him 311 points, with Brown in 7th with 2:06.16 and 298. However, Pillage was still 12th (1:10 behind) and Brown 16th (1:25 behind) going into the laser run. This meant they had twenty and 35 respective seconds to make up on ninth-placed Alexandre Dallenbach of Switzerland. Alas, Brown’s 10:59 and Pillage’s 11:29 were not enough, landing them in 14th and 15th respectively with a total of 1396 and 1381. For Brown to get 9th-placed Woojin Park of the Republic of Korea, he would have had to snag 1452 points (56 more), or run 56 seconds faster; for Pillage this was 71 more points or one minute and eleven seconds faster.
In Semifinal B, Choong was third after the Fencing with 235 points, thirteen clear of South Korean Changwan Seo in tenth. While riding Ozturk, he got no penalties to get the full 300 points, riding home in 55.09 seconds. He swam third fastest with 2:06.85 to win 297 points. This meant he led the laser run, 44 seconds ahead of Japanese Taishu Sato in tenth, and he coasted home as one of the slowest in 11:34 for 1438 points in total, sixteen clear (sixteen seconds) of Sato in tenth.
This got Choong to the final. Here, he was fourth with 241 points in fenching, thirteen behind Egyptian Mohanad Shaban in the lead. Riding Kudret, he picked up fourteen penalties (for obstacles) and 286 points (the ninth best). However, he did swim second fastest (in 2:03.99) for 303 points. This put him in second for the laser run, ten seconds behind Shaban, but his 10:36 was not quite fast enough as his Egyptian rival ran 10:44. Therefore, Choong finished with 1494 points; two seconds, and two points, behind Shaban. Silver will not take him to Tokyo, but he (and his teammates) do have more chances.
The women’s side also had British interest. Kerenza Bryson placed well in World Cup events (with a win to her name) in the lead-up to the final. Olivia Green has good pedigree with fifth in last year’s World Championships, while Jessica Varley also has good results as of late.
Bryson was alone in Semifinal A, and won 220 points in Fencing, putting her in sixth and ten clear of Czech Veronika Novotna in tenth. Riding Fuat, she picked up just seven penalties for obstacles (the second best) for 293 points. However, she swam slowest in 2:34.07 for just 242 points. With seven way back due to poor riding performances, Bryson was ninth but thirteen seconds clear of Mariana Arceo of Mexico in tenth. A 12:21 got her the 1314 points she needed for eighth, 34 points/seconds clear of Andrea Medina Gonzalez of Spain.
In Semifinal B, Varley pulled out, making Green the only British contender. 210 points in Fencing was only enough for 11th, two points behind Mexican Catherine Mayran Oliver in ninth. However, riding Nisa, she picked up just seven obstacle penalties (with just two riders going perfect) for 293 points. This was followed by a sixth-best 2:20.18 in swimming for 270 points. Green was now sixth, 31 seconds clear of Lithuanian Gintare Venckausakite in tenth, and a 12:28 was enough for seventh with 1325 points, ten points/seconds clear of Hungarian Blanka Guzi in tenth.
Therefore, Bryson and Green were both in the final. Bryson was 7th with 222 points, Green 12th with 210 after Fencing, putting them 27/39 behind France’s Marie Oteiza in first. Green then rode perfectly on Funda in 58 seconds for 300 points, but Bryson picked up 21 penalties for 279 on Kayra. Swimming was not kind to the Brits, with Green 14th with a 2:22.85, and Bryson 17th with a 2:25.83. This left Green in eighth with a 47 second handicap to Oteiza and Bryson eleventh with a 1:02 deficit. Of course, this was far too great, with Bryson’s 11:47 putting her in sixth, with 1353 points (24 seconds/points behind Italian winner Elena Micheli) and Green tenth with 1334 points (43 seconds/points behind).
This means that GB’s athletes will get their next chance at the European Games (25 Jun-1 Jul, Kraków, POL), with the top eight athletes (one per NOC) that have not already got a spot getting a place. A big chance for GB to get their hands on a place in both genders.
GB Games 