A dramatic final day of the 2019 European Championships saw eight women earn the right to become Olympians in Tokyo in 2020.
Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania was crowned European champion after a typically strong Laser Run finish, but she had already qualified for the Olympics by winning the UIPM 2019 Pentathlon World Cup Final in June.
Behind her, Kate French of Great Britain and Iryna Prasiantsova of Belarus led the way to Tokyo, securing silver and bronze respectively and booking their Olympic berths.
They can now start making plans to compete on the ultimate stage next August, as can five other athletes who finished in the top 13 in Bath: Annika Schleu of Germany, Natalya Coyle of Ireland, Marie Oteiza of France, Adelina Ibatullina of Russia and Sarolta Kovacs of Hungary.
It was a thrilling finish to six days of top-quality pentathlon, and the calibre of the women’s field was underlined by the identity of those who fell short of Olympic qualification, including 2018 world champion Anastasiya Prokopenko (BLR) and Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Elodie Clouvel(FRA), who was leading until she was eliminated in Riding.
The Rio 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, Oktawia Nowacka of Poland, finished 14th, one place away from Tokyo qualification.
Fifteen of the 36 participants in the women’s pentathlon in Tokyo have now been confirmed, with 21 opportunities remaining. The next opportunity to qualify will be the UIPM 2019 Pentathlon World Championships in September in Budapest, where three more places will be at stake.