Eight-strong GB team prepares for Pentathlon World Cup 2
Eight-strong GB team prepares for World Cup 2
An eight-strong British modern pentathlon team will contest the second World Cup of the year in Italy next week.
Mhairi Spence leads the British challenge fresh from her silver medal at World Cup 1 in Palm Springs in February her best World Cup performance yet.
She is joined by Samantha Murray, who came seventh in Palm Springs and is currently ranked 17 in the world, and by Freyja Prentice and Katy Livingston.
Prentice travels to Sassari in Sardinia ranked 10th in the world, making her the highest placed Briton in the rankings. Like Beijing 2008 Olympian Katy Livingston, Italy, will be her first World Cup of the year.
Heather Fell and Katy Burke miss World Cup 2 only a maximum of four athletes per gender per nation can compete at each World Cup. The pair both competed at the opening World Cup of the year at Palm Springs in February and are scheduled to return to World Cup action in Budapest in May.
World number 20 Nick Woodbridge heads the men¹s challenge in Sassari and aims to build on his seventh place finish in Palm Springs.
He is joined in the British team by fellow Beijing 2008 Olympian Sam Weale. The 2010 European Championship silver medallist is competing at his first World Cup of the year. Jamie Cooke and Nick Zissler complete the British team.
2011 is a particularly important year for Britain¹s pentathletes with the first quota places for the London 2012 Olympic Games up for grabs.
They will be contested at the World Cup Final in London and the European Championships at Medway in Kent, both of which take place in July. The World Cup Final winner achieves a qualifying place for London 2012 as do the top eight finishers at the European Championships.
However, only a maximum of two athletes per gender per nation can compete in the pentathlon at the Olympics something that¹s particularly tough for Britain¹s women, six of whom currently feature in the top-40 in the world.
2011 is also the first season in which pentathletes are using laser pistols instead of the traditional air pistols with pellets.
The Sassari World Cup running order is as follows: Thursday 14 April: women¹s semi-finals Friday 15 April: men¹s semi-finals Saturday 16 April: women¹s final Sunday 17 April: men¹s final Monday 18 April: mixed relay
Other major events this season are: World Cup 3 Budapest, Hungary, 5-8 May World Cup 4 Chengdu, China, 26-30 May * World Cup Final London, 9-11 July * European Championships Medway, Kent, 28 July-1 August * World Championships - Moscow, Russia, 8-14 September
