Kate French: Former Olympic gold medal-winning modern pentathlete retires
French, who is from Kent and now lives in Wiltshire, has been involved in the sport since joining the UK Pathway program in 2007.
In 2010, she won the junior world championship with the team, and then won her first adult world gold medal in the team competition in Taiwan in 2013.
French made her Olympic debut in Rio in 2016, finishing fifth, before winning the title in Tokyo five years later.
She set a personal best in the 200-meter freestyle and led by more than 15 seconds in the laser run, setting a new Olympic record for the highest score in the event.
French took a break from the sport after winning gold in 2021, competed just twice the following year, and then retired from the sport again in 2023, as she did “don’t want to regret“I didn’t try out for the Paris Olympics last summer.
“Performantly, Kate has dominated the sport and from a personal perspective she continues to inspire in her own way,” said Jamie Cook, British Pentathlon Performance Director.
The sport of modern pentathlon is undergoing a major overhaul ahead of Los Angeles hosting the next Olympics in 2028. Show jumping removed from pentathlon Replaced by a ninja warrior style obstacle course.
