Sam Weale marked his first international appearance since the London 2012 Olympics with an impressive qualifying performance at the fourth Modern Pentathlon World Cup of the year.
Needing a top-eight finish to guarantee a final place with the 80-strong field split into three qualifying groups, Weale placed fourth in the B division however he was not the best Brit in action.
Jamie Cooke, the 2011 world junior champion, was second in qualification group A with Pentathlon GB performance director Jan Bartu full of praise for the pair.
“It was 100 per-cent for the Brits,” said Bartu. “It was really tough and demanding. The level of competition was the highest of the four World Cups this year.”
Weale placed fourth after clocking 2:01.28minutes in the 200m freestyle but was eighth overall after winning 15 of his 26 bouts in the fencing element.
He improved four places to rank fourth in qualification group B after the combined run-shoot while Cooke went from 16th after the fencing to seventh after his 200m freestyle.
Cooke posted 1:55.18, the fastest time of the three qualification groups, and was up to second after the combined run-shoot behind Olympic bronze medallist Adam Marosi.
© Sportsbeat 2013