COMMUNITY NEWS
National Championships ----- Location: Bath ----- Date: 26th July ------ Position: 1st
Having missed the last two National Championships due to injury I was delighted to win my third Senior Men's British Modern Pentathlon title. Having just come back from two and half weeks in Font Romeu, I could already feel the benefit of training at altitude and felt comfortable throughout the competition, and am looking in good shape for the World championships.
World Cup 4 ----- Location: Rome ----- Date: 25 th May ------ Position: 12th
I continued my form from the last world cup, having a solid first three events, and starting the combined event in 4 th position. Within contention until the last shoot, I missed three shots on the target and dropped down to a disappointing 12 th position. Again as with the other world cups this year the new combined shoot/run has proven critical in deciding the overall positions, whether this continues to be so critical over the coming competitions only time will tell.
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World Cup 3 ----- Location: Budapest ----- Date: 10th May ------ Position: 4th
Traditionally the strongest world cup of the year, a strong competition from myself ended in disappointment just missing out on the podium finishing in 4th position. My strongest world cup finish starting the combined in 5th I picked up one place on the shoot/run but this wasn't enough to catch the top three who all produced strong shooting performances to keep the distance between the podium and myself out of reach.
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World Cup 2 ----- Location: Cario ----- Date: 15th April ------ Position: 18th
This is always a slightly stronger competition than the first world cup with almost all of the major names in Mens pentathlon competing. Qualification went well for the final, after a solid enough start to the day in the final, a below par series of shooting in the combined event dropped me down the field, finishing in 18 th position overall.
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Bath International challenge Cup – 1st Place
After flying home from Mexico, we had two days rest then an internationals competition on home turf. The field was made up of a number of top class athletes, a few younger less experienced athletes and a number of British athletes. Strong events throughout the day saw myself and Andree Polivka battle it out on the last shooting series and final 1000m run for the first two positions, with myself coming out on top and winning my first international competition of the year!
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World Cup 1 – Mexico City , Mexico
The first major test of the new format for everyone concerned, I started with a poor fence and struggled to pick up ground throughout the day finishing in a disappointing 22 nd position, but coming away with valuable experience in the new combined format.
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Budapest indoor – First international competition 4 th Position
An interesting competition for everyone involved, as this was the first international competition in the new format. There was a strong field made up of a large number of Hungarian athletes. I produced some solid enough events for the first competition of the season, and finished just outside the medals in 4th position, with room for improvement in most of the disciplines.
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Selection competitions – Ranked British number 1
The annual selection competitions went by without any problems, winning the first competition and coming second in the second competition, finishing being ranked number one overall on the British Rankings.
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Winter training (Nov - Feb 2009)
The winter period went by with few complications. Our training has had to be modified slightly due to the change in competition format and we have been working on the best strategies to adapt to the change. I spent some of the winter training in Australia , and as a squad we had a winter training camp in St Morritz at approximately 1800m above sea level, the rest of the winter was spent primarily in Bath , UK .
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Change in the Pentathlon format (Nov 08)
The pentathlon community was split over the decision at congress in November in Guatemala City to change the format of Modern pentathlon with immediate effect. The new format combines the shooting and running events, incorporating three 1000m loops with shooting in between each lap. Five targets have to be shot down before the athlete can continue running. A new format, a new challenge, we will have to wait and see how the athletes adapt to it!
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London Parade and invite to Buckingham Palace (Oct 08)
Being part of the successful Great Britain Olympic team has meant quite a few functions, we had a reception at Lancaster House with the Prime Minster earlier in the month and last Thursday was the fantastic parade through London and an evening reception at Buckingham place. It was an absolute honour to meet Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla Parker-Bowls who were both extremely knowledgeable about Pentathlon and the Olympic games.
Surgery to knee (Oct 08)
Some might not know I was carrying an injury into the Olympic Games, as a result of a pretty nasty fall in the pre Beijing training camp in Font Romeu. The rest period after the games wasn't enough to solve the ongoing issue, so after consultation with the EIS doctors and Jonathon Webb I went under the knife to remove a bursar under the iliotibial band on Monday 06 October. I am recovering well!
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Video and Gallery Up (Oct 08)
The video and gallery are now fully working, I will be updating the gallery as time goes on so keep coming back to check for new pictures.
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Website Launches! (Sept 2008)
Finally I have got my website up and running with the help of web design company Catch22 Marketing. The site is now fully operational and i'll be adding new bits over the next few weeks, please have a look around and I would love any feedback on what you think of my site...
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Thankyou! (Sept 2008)
I would like to thank for their individual financial donations, Pete and Anne Boucher, Mr and Mrs Hellieur, and Helen and Norman from next door, all from the wonderful village of East Coker. I would also like to thank Pegasus Modern Pentathlon for there extremely kind donation towards my preparation, which was greatly appreciated.
Also I have to thank everyone for there vocal support, either in Beijing or back at home shouting at the TV! It really was quite moving the amount of encouragement there was, and thank you all for your messages of support and congratulations, sorry I didn't bring back a medal for you all, but hey I will try again in four years! I would also like to thank the EIS guys back in Bath, for their help and extreme professionalism, over the last few years. Also I have to thank all the coaches I have worked with either present or in the past.
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Video Coming Soon! (Sept 2008)
I am having a short video for the site being made and should be launching very soon! Either check back in the next couple of days or email me
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My Olympic Experience (Sept 2008)
From day one you felt this was going to be something special, so I wanted to share with you my Olympic experience, I will take you on a journey through the whole Olympic games, from the day of arrival to the closing ceremony. ...read more
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Press articles
Daily Telegraph: Olympic coverage
Western Daily Press: Pre Beijing article
Western Daily Press: In the whot seat 2008
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Pentathlon Videos
