Paris-bound Kerenza Bryson’s individual title among haul of two gold medals, one silver and one bronze for Pentathlon GB at Euro Champs
University of Bath-based Kerenza Bryson warmed up for her Olympics debut in fine style as she struck gold for Pentathlon GB at the 2024 European Senior Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
She also won women’s team silver with individual bronze-medalist Emma Whitaker and Politics & International Relations student Alex Bousfield, who had joined forces earlier in the week to win a brilliant gold in the women’s relay.
Bryson, one of four Bath-based modern pentathletes selected to represent Team GB at Paris 2024, produced a stunning performance to top the fencing ranking round with 29 victories, three better than her nearest challenger.
That put her in a strong position to win her semi-final and carry a healthy advantage into the final, where Bryson performed solidly across the riding, swimming and laser-run to finish 18 seconds clear of the field.
Sports Performance graduate Whitaker started the final in 11th place following her fencing ranking round result but stormed up the leaderboard with a perfect ride and a top-five placing in the swimming. She then held off a fierce challenge from Mariya Gnedtchik to secure bronze by one second.
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Whitaker and Bousfield had dominated the women’s relay competition on the opening day in Budapest, achieving top-three rankings across all the disciplines to finish seven seconds clear of Germany.
Sports Performance student Ross Charlton was the sole Brit in the men’s competition and produced an outstanding laser-run in the semi-finals to reach the final, where he placed 18th overall.
Focus now turns to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games where Bryson and fellow debutant Myles Pillage will compete alongside defending champions Joe Choong and Kate French. The modern pentathlon competition begins on Thursday 8th August, with the men’s final on Saturday 10th and women’s final on Sunday 11th.
The GB quartet all train at the Team Bath Sports Training Village, which has been home to Pentathlon GB’s National Training Centre since 1998. Visit teambath.com/modern-pentathlon to find out more.
Picture credit: Nic Delves-Broughton.
