PLYMOUTH pentathlete Kerenza Bryson claimed a stunning bronze medal for Great Britain at the UIPM World Championships in Bath on Sunday.
By making the podium at the prestigious event, Bryson has also secured Great Britain an Olympic quota place for Paris 2024.
She also led her country to a team silver in Bath, while fellow Plymouth pentathlete Myles Pillage was a team silver medallist in the men’s event.
Bryson was over the moon with her medal, which capped a highly-successful season.
“I ran out of the last range sprinting and held on for dear life,” said Bryson. “It wasn’t until I looked back with 70m to go and saw I had some ground that it started to sink in.
“I want to say a massive thank you to my friends and family; to UK Sport and the National Lottery for funding us; to 165 Port and Maritime Regiment in Plymouth, my army family who are standing behind me and allowing me to do this; and to Pentathlon GB for hosting this amazing event. I’m so grateful to everyone.”
Bryson, who earlier this year completed her studies in medicine at the University of Plymouth, finished behind the Italian duo of Elena Micheli and Alice Sotero.
The results of Wednesday’s fencing ranking round carried over to the final, but just five points separated third to 11th place in a tightly-packed field.
The horse riding, contested in overcast conditions, proved challenging with none of the 18 riders in the final producing a clear round. Bryson scored 286 points to keep in contention.
The fencing bonus round saw GB’s Bryson, China’s Mingyu Zhang and Spain’s Laura Heredia all pick up vital wins to add valuable points to their total, moving Bryson up to second ahead of the swim.
Bryson clocked 2:22.17 in the swim to start the laser-run in sixth spot.
And the Plymothian surged through the pack early on in the laser-run and found herself in a medal position with two shoots to go.
London 20212 Olympic champion Laura Asadauskaite made a late push, but Bryson held on to make the podium and receive a huge cheer from the home crowd.
In the men’s final, Pillage came 13th in an event won by his Great Britain team-mate Joe Choong.
Pillage set the fastest time in the swim, clocking 1:57.23 and then made sure of his position with a 10:22.90 laser-run time.
With Charlie Brown finishing as third Brit in 17th spot it was enough for the GB men to take team silver.
🥉 BRONZE and an Olympic quota place… on home soil!
Doesn't get much better than that from @KerenzaBryson.
A great performance at the World Championships in Bath qualifies @PentathlonGB a second place in Paris 💪 pic.twitter.com/juezYbQnUs
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 27, 2023