Spence bids to defend title as British team prepare to take on the world

Britain’s Mhairi Spence gets the opportunity to defend her World Championship crown when she competes at the most important modern pentathlon competition since the London 2012 Olympics next month.

Spence won the title in Rome in May of last year and is today named in the GB team to contest the 2013 World Championships in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei, from 21 to 27 August.

The 2012 championships were held earlier in the year than usual because of the Olympics, so Spence has had the privilege of reigning as world champion for just over 15 months.

“I was really proud to win the World Championships last year,” she said. “I finally achieved what I knew I could do. It’s nice when you know you’re the best in the world at something, not everyone gets to be a world champion.

“The World Championships have a big meaning for me, because it was also my first individual gold medal,” she added. “I don't think it puts any more pressure on me this time around though. I always go to competitions wanting to do the best I can and wanting to get on the podium.”

Spence, now ranked 10th in the world, is joined in the British team Kaohsiung by another 2012 World Championships individual medallist, Samantha Murray, currently ranked nine in the world.

Murray’s bronze last year was enough to secure her a place on the British team for the London 2012 Olympics, where she won the silver medal, Britain’s last medal of the Games.

Kate French and Freyja Prentice also feature in the GB women’s team for Kaohsiung. Prentice was the highest placed GB woman at this month’s European Championships finishing fourth at her first major competition back from a lengthy spell on the sidelines through injury.

French finished 10th in the individual competition at the Europeans and partnered Spence and Murray to gold in the team event. She won another gold in the women’s relay with Murray and Katy Burke. Burke is non-travelling reserve for the women’s team for the World Championships.

Jamie Cooke, Britain’s 2011 world junior champion who won his first World Cup gold medal in Hungary in May, is confirmed for the men’s team along with double Olympian Sam Weale.

Joe Evans, the 19-year-old who won bronze at his first World Cup in the USA in February, has qualified for the team through the Pentathlon GB ranking list.  He will make his senior World Championships debut if he is fit and healthy after next week’s World Junior Championships in Szekesfehervar, Hungary.

Double Olympian Woodbridge will be assessed midway through the forthcoming two-week training camp at altitude at Font Romeu in the French Pyrenees to see if he has sufficiently recovered from injury to contest the championships.

Nineteen-year-old Sam Curry is non-travelling reserve.

The Britain train at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre at the University of Bath. The University today announced a strengthened partnership with Pentathlon GB. A separate release has been issued on this entitled Unique partnership strengthens University’s sporting reputation

GB athletes competing at the World Championships(Name – date of birth, from – lives)

Women

Kate French  - 11.02.91, Meopham, Gravesend - Bath
Samantha Murray – 25.09.90, Clitheroe, Lancashire - Bath
Freyja Prentice -  20.05.90 – Inverurie near Aberdeen - Bath
Mhairi Spence – 31.08.85, Farr, near Inverness - Bath

Non-travelling reserve
Katy Burke – 01.06,89, Cleveleys, near Blackpool - Bath

Men
Selected
Jamie Cooke  - 03.03.91, Cheltenham – Bath
Joe Evans *  - 05.09.93,  Whitchurch, Shropshire – Bath
Sam Weale – 09.02.82, East Coker near Yeovil, Somerset

*subject to being fit & healthy after World Junior Championships

Fitness to be assessed at Font Romeu
Nick Woodbridge – 01.07.86, Telford, Shropshire - Bath

Non-travelling reserve
Sam Curry – 03.09.93, Redhill - Bath

Women

Kate French  - 11.02.91, Meopham, Gravesend - Bath
Samantha Murray – 25.09.90, Clitheroe, Lancashire - Bath
Freyja Prentice -  20.05.90 – Inverurie near Aberdeen - Bath
Mhairi Spence – 31.08.85, Farr, near Inverness - Bath

Non-travelling reserve
Katy Burke – 01.06,89, Cleveleys, near Blackpool - Bath

Senior British medals in 2013World Cup 1: bronze – Joe Evans, Palm Springs, USA, February

World Cup 4: gold – Jamie Cooke, Budapest, Hungary, May
            bronze – Mhairi Spence, Budapest, Hungary, May

European Championships: gold – women’s team relay (Katy Burke, Kate French    & Samantha Murray) Drzonkow, Poland, July
            gold – women’s team (Kate French, Samantha Murray & Mhairi Spence) Drzonkow, Poland, July
                                                bronze – men’s team relay (Jamie Cooke, Sam Curry & Joe Evans) Drzonkow, Poland, July

2013 World Championships schedule
Wednesday 21 August: Women’s individual qualification
Thursday 22 August: Men’s individual qualification
Friday 23 August: Women’s individual & team final
Saturday 24 August: Women’s individual & team final
Sunday 25 August: Mixed relay
Monday 26 August: Women’s relay
Tuesday 27 August: Men’s relay

Pentathlon GB is the National Governing Body for the Olympic Sport of Modern Pentathlon. For further information please see www.pentathlongb.org <http://www.pentathlongb.org/> 
You can also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PentathlonGB <http://www.facebook.com/PentathlonGB> and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PentathlonGB <http://www.twitter.com/PentathlonGB> 
The modern pentathlon sees athletes tackle fencing, swimming, show jumping and a run/shoot all in one day.

Great Britain's women have collected an impressive haul of five modern pentathlon medals from the last four Olympic Games, with Steph Cook winning gold at Sydney 2000 and Kate Allenby bronze, Georgina Harland taking bronze at Athens in 2004, Heather Fell winning silver at Beijing in 2008 and Samantha Murray taking silver at London last year.

Sportsnight

Last weekend was certainly a great one for our motorsport boys - as well as the McLaren result, we had a one-two in the Indycar 500, with Dario Francitti and Dan Wheldon. Sending best wishes for a speedy recovery to Mike Conway too, following his spectacular crash in the same race. (And to Valentino Rossi - I know, he's not British but we love him!)

Danny Greaves and Heather Cockroft both set new world records in their respective paralympic sports, Greaves in the Paralympic World Cup. In the same championships, Jason Smyth won 100m and 200m Gold, visually impaired sprinter Libby Clegg won 100m, Tracey Hinton the 200m and Stephen Miller won the club event. The GB football team secured a bronze - our basketball team won Gold! Poolside, Ellie Simmonds broke the World Record.

In the rowing World Cup, another one-two for GB, as paralympian Tom Aggar clinched Gold ahead of Andy Houghton in the men's single scull, with victory for the mixed adaptive coxed four of Kelsie Gibson, James Roe, Naomi Riches, Ryan Chamberlain and cox Rhiannon Jones. The rest of the squad aren't doing too badly either - nine golds, six silvers and a bronze!


World champion Alistair Brownlee picked up where he left off, storming to Triathlon victory in Madrid upon his return from injury. Helen Jenkins took third place in the World Championship in Madrid, while Chrissie Wellington hit the winning trail again.

Sailing - World Cup Gold for Ed Wright, European Silvers for him and Lucy MacGregor's crew. And World Cup Gold for Nic Asher and Elliot Willis, plus silvers for Nick Dempsey and another for Lucy MacGregor's crew, with bronzes for Bryony Shaw and Helena Lucas.

In fencing, Richard Kruse took World Cup Silver, as GB also took Bronze with Laurence Halstead in the Tokyo Grand Prix and Chrystall Nicol in the World Cup in Germany.

Modern Pentathlon European Junior Championships saw an individual silver for Katy Burke, contributing to overall team Gold for GB.

And at the Taekwondo European Championship, Aaron Cooke and Sarah Stevenson both won Gold.

Sportsnight

Mhairi Spence took a Bronze in the Modern Pentathlon, held here in little ol' Medway! Check out the Rochester People site for some pics too :)

Lee Westwood was runner up in the U.S. Masters at Augusta.

Mara Yamauchi won the New York Half Marathon.

The cyclists continue to bring home the medals, finishing top of the table for Olympic disciplines in the recent World Championships in Copenhagen, with more to come.

In the IBSA 6th World Judo Championships, Ben Quilter won Gold, with Silvers for brothers Sam and Joe Ingram and a Bronze for Lesley Reid.

Paralympian Danny Greaves set a new world best for the discus, swimmers Jonathan Fox and James Crisp also set new world records.

In sailing, Ed Wright won World Cup Gold in the Finn class.

Squash world number 2, Nick Matthew won his first ISS Canary Wharf tour title.

The triathletes are off and running (and swimming and cycling) as Stuart Hayes and Liz Blatchford take silver and bronze in the first world cup event of the year.

And at the Curling World Championships in Italy, Scotland's curlers win Bronze.

SportsDay

Archery: Gold for Terry ; Canoeing Bronze for Florence, Hounslow and Cawthorn
Bronze for womens kayakers.

Gymnastics – but not as we know it! Louis Smith, Olympic Bronze medallist, is taking part in this year’s X-Factor. He mentions Montel Jordan in this clip and I’m reliably informed by The Hobbit that he is 'legend', so I’m expecting great things from Louis! He’s setting himself up post 2012, good luck to him.

European success for Modern Pentathletes, along with one I missed on an earlier round-up *slaps wrist* Alistair Brownlee wins second ITU Triathlon on the bounce.

Athletics: Third for GB in European Team Championships. Weir, Woods and Bushell all record wins in Jona International, with Bushell adding to his recent world record.

Three Golds and a silver for adaptive rowers with Gold for Lightweight Womens Double Scull, three silvers and three bronzes also.

Goodison takes third sailing world cup victory; Windsurfer Bryony Shaw clinches a Bronze medal in European Champs (but the link isn’t there so not sure when it was!)