Victorious British pair claim valuable world ranking points
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A jubilant Team GB has enjoyed its best ever performance at a modern pentathlon world cup. British athletes Heather Fell and Sam Weale were among the medals at the event held in Somerset on 27-30 March. Heather took gold in the women's event after qualifying as one of five British women to make the final. The 2007 European Championship silver medalist lay in a mid-table position after the swim but then became the first of only two competitors to gain maximum points in the ride. |
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Her clear round in the ride pushed her to top spot on the leaderboard as her fellow competitors failed to get to grips with a technically difficult course.
Her 40-point lead after four events gave her a 10 second start over the second-placed athlete, Egypt's Aya Medany. Heather never looked like giving up her advantage and finished 14 seconds ahead of the Egyptian.
Heather's gold medal gave her Beijing qualification hopes a massive boost. She is one of several British female athletes, including Kent's Georgina Harland, vying for selection with only two world cup events and a world championship to go before the selections are known.
In his native Somerset, Sam Weale impressed in the run and clawed his way into the medal positions. He posted the second best time in the run and would have taken silver if it were not for the Italian athlete Nicola Benedetti pipping him at the finish line.
The third place finish is Sam's highest ever finish in a world cup event. It takes him to 26th place in the current world ranking list and increases his chances of qualifying for Beijing in the summer.
Other highlights were:
Olympic bronze medalist Georgina Harland's seventh place finish on her continued return from injury;
an eighth place finish for Nick Woodbridge that lifts him to 25th in the world;
top 20 finishes for Mhairi Spence and Lindsey Weedon and
a final spot for Katy Livingston.
These athletes are among a crop of talented, up-and-coming British athletes who will be competing at the World Championships at Crystal Palace in 2009 before coming to Medway for the 2010 world cup, a vital stepping stone on the way to medal glory at London 2012.
Modern pentathletes compete in pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and cross country running in one gruelling day. The combination of five such vastly different disciplines makes it one of the most demanding and challenging sports and tests an athlete's all round physical resources and skills.
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