British men miss out on World Champs final
1st September 2010Britain’s three male pentathletes missed out on places in the Modern Pentathlon World Championships final in Chengdu, China.
Sam Weale came agonisingly close to the top-12 position in semi-final C that would earn him a place in the men’s final on Friday, finishing 13th.
Nineteen-year-old Jamie Cooke produced comfortably the fastest swim of the day, clocking 1:57.18 for the 200m freestyle, and was leading semi-final B going into the combined run/shoot. But he struggled in the shooting phase and was unable to hold on to a qualification spot, dropping down to 14th.
Nick Woodbridge struggled to recover from a disappointing fence in semi-final A, where he won 10 and lost 17 of his contests. Despite the fastest swim in the semi, he ended the day 22nd.
Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB performance director said: “We were excited about Jamie today, but in the end he paid the price for being very young and inexperienced. We hope they can have another go in the team relay in a few days’ time. We’re now looking forward to seeing how the girls go tomorrow.”
The women’s team of Katy Burke, Heather Fell, Samantha Murray and Freyja Prentice contest the women’s semis for Britain tomorrow (Thursday) with places in Saturday’s final at stake.