Double Delight

Saddleworth’s Olivia Green continued her fine 2019 form by helping Great Britain secure double bronze at the Junior Pentathlon World Championships.

Modern Pentathlon is an Olympic event consisting of five disciplines – fencing, swimming, equestrian showjumping, shooting and running – where athletes gain points which combine to give an overall total.

The 19-year-old returned to the Polish village of Drzonkow for her junior world championship debut a month after winning two medals there at the junior Europeans.

Olivia was drawn into qualifying Group B and began her campaign on July 9 with a 2:19.42 for the 200m Freestyle swim.

After completing the other disciplines she crossed the line in 14th place to qualify for the final with team-mates Kerenza Bryson and Georgia Hannam – who were in qualifying Group A.

Olivia was among 36 athletes in the final, which began on July 11, and opened with 16 victories in the fencing – one more than qualification.

A strong swim followed as she beat her time from qualifying by more than a second to post 2:18.17, the quickest of the Brits.

She secured 293 out of 300 points in the showjumping after felling just one pole – which was only bettered by two Russian athletes, one of them being the eventual champion.

In the final event, known as the laser run which combines four legs of laser pistol shooting followed by an 800m run for 3,200m in total, she improved on her qualifying time once again.

Her time of 13:19.35 was 25 seconds faster than qualifying and ensured she finished in 11th place with 1,264 points, just three points shy of the top ten.

The combined score of the British trio, 3,816, saw them claim the Women’s Team bronze medal behind Russia and Egypt.

This was a 63 point improvement from June’s junior European Championships and 28 ahead of Italy in fourth – winners of the silver last month.

On the final day of the Championship, July 13, Olivia secured her second bronze by finishing third in the mixed relay after teaming up with Myles Pillage.

The pair began in the pool and posted 1:56.38, more than two seconds quicker than the 17 other teams, to lead after the first discipline.

Next they won 19 fencing duels plus two in the bonus round before Olivia once again shone in the equestrian with just one felled pole and a few time faults.

This proved highly impressive when the five countries above them all struggled with the leaders South Korea being elimina-
ted meaning they gained zero points.

The pair completed the laser run in 12:02.6 to secure bronze behind the reigning Youth Olympic Champions from Egypt and Russia, finishing on 1,403 points – just three ahead of Poland in fourth. The results completed a successful championship as Britain finished with a medal
tally of four.

Olivia used to swim with Oldham Community Leisure’s Advanced Training Scheme and moved to Bath University in September where she now combines studying with training at Pentathlon’s GB National Training Centre.

Her successful season has also included bronze in just her second international pentathlon back in March as well as relay silver and team bronze at the 2019 Junior European Modern Pentathlon Championships.

By Matthew Lees