Britain will have four women in the final of the Modern Pentathlon World Championships on Sunday as Heather Fell, Katy Livingstone, Freyja Prentice and Mhairi Spence all qualified in Friday’s Semi finals.
Fell and Livingstone were first to qualify in semi-final A, finishing 11th and 12th respectively.
The Women’s Competition got underway with the Fencing where the two Brits faced each other in the first round, Fell coming out on top.
Going into the swimming both ladies were in good form, Fell had recorded the fastest entry time of 2.10.96 but failed to perform anywhere near that standard in her heat with a recorded time of 2.18.82.
She said she was “very disappointed” with her swim but added, “I’ve got one of them new all-in-one suits for Sunday’s swim, hopefully that will bring me better luck!”
Livingstone put in a superb performance in the same heat, coming 2nd and going into the combined run and shoot event in 3rd position overall.
This year’s world championships are the first to use the modern pentathlon’s new format which included the combined run and shoot; athletes must shoot 5 targets in 70 seconds, run 1km, shoot another 5 targets in 70 seconds, run 1 km, shoot once again and run 1 final km before crossing the finish line.
Both Brits eased into Sundays final crossing the finish line together, but it wasn’t without a few hiccups along the way.
Livingstone struggled with her shooting, taking the full 70 seconds to hit just 3 targets in her third shoot. She said after the race, “The combined [run and shoot] was dreadful. I shot 3 out of 5 targets in the third shoot, I’m lucky it was only the semi-final. My family have travelled over five hours to watch me perform and I didn’t want to disappoint them.”
Semi-final B, meanwhile, took a drastic turn in the combined event for the Brits. Spence finished first overall putting in a near perfect performance in the combined, hitting five from five in her second and third shoots.
Prentice was ecstatic as she made it into Sundays final after a slow start to the competition in the fencing. She lost the first 12 rounds but managed to bounce back a little towards the end. Her swim made the difference as she sped to second in her heat going into the combined in 21st place. It was certainly going to be challenge to make the top 18 for the final but Prentice excelled to finish 12th.
With all four Brits safely through and in impressive form Sunday is sure to be an electrifying final.
