PLYMOUTH’S Kerenza Bryson has been named in an eight-strong Great Britain squad to compete at the first UIPM Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the 2022 season.

The event will take place in Cairo in Egypt next week (March 22-27).

Bryson recently won the British Championships, but due to the Covid pandemic she has not competed internationally since 2019.

Her last international appearance saw her winning a mixed relay gold medal with fellow Plymouth athlete, Myles Pillage, at the 2019 European Championships in Bath.

Bryson, a medical student and a British Army officer, took a year out of her studies at the University of Plymouth to train full-time at Pentathlon GB’s National Training Centre in Bath during the 2019-20 season in a bid to qualify for Tokyo, only for the Olympic Games to be delayed for 12 months.

“I can’t have another year out, so I have been fitting in training for the past couple of years with going on medical placements and commanding 40-60 troops in my role as second lieutenant troop commander in 165 Port and Maritime Regiment,” said Bryson.

“It means I’m mega, mega busy but it seems to be going well at the moment, and Pentathlon GB and the Army have been incredibly supportive.

“With not having competed for the past couple of years, no one – myself included – knew what my potential would be going into the British Champs so it was great to win and nice to show that I am still competitive.

“I’m really, really happy to be selected for Cairo and I’m excited to see what else I can achieve in the season ahead.”

The Cairo event will be the first World Cup to be contested in the new modern pentathlon format, with athletes having to negotiate both qualifying and semi-finals – as they did at the Budapest Indoors – to reach the final.

Both the men’s and women’s finals will be staged on the same day, with the riding, fencing bonus round, swim and laser-run all taking place in 90 minutes.

Bryson is joined in the GB women’s team by Olivia Green, Jess Varley and Emma Whitaker. The men’s team is Guy Anderson, Ross Charlton, Henry Choong and Toby Price.