Livingston among favourites to lift Beijing gold

11:10am Wednesday 27th February 2008

HAVING claimed a maiden World Cup victory in Cairo this weekend, Redcar modern pentathlete Katy Livingston is almost certain to represent Great Britain at August's Olympic Games.

And with all but four of the world's top 20 female pentathletes having competed in Egypt, the former Marske Harrier will now start as one of the favourites for a gold medal in Beijing.

Livingston, one of the six athletes The Northern Echo is tracking ahead of the 2012 Olympics in London, secured a qualifying spot for this summer's Games when she claimed a top-six finish in last year's European Championships.

The 24-year-old is one of two British pentathletes to have qualified for Beijing but, with only two competitors permitted from each country and with further qualification spots available at May's World Championships, the BOA selectors could yet have a decision to make.

Livingston's lack of international experience could have counted against her, but having leapt to the top of the world rankings with victory in the first World Cup event of the year, the North-Easterner is now all but assured of a place in Beijing.

"This has put me in a much better position," said Livingston, who is part of Britain's elite modern pentathlon training squad based at the University of Bath.

"It shows everyone what I'm capable of at the very highest level.

"My final points total was pretty high, and it would probably have been good enough to win any pentathlon competition.

"It shows what I can do. Parts of some of my previous competitions have been up to a similar standard, but this was the first time everything came together over the course of one pentathlon."

Livingston was in 13th position after the opening shooting discipline, but a career-best fencing performance saw her leap to the top of the overall rankings after the second event.

She slipped to second despite another strong showing in the pool, and remained on the heels of leader Amelie Caze after knocking down just one fence in the riding programme.

Caze set off ahead of her in the concluding 3,000m run, but Livingston quickly overhauled her French rival and finished 17 seconds clear of eventual runner-up Victoria Terreshuk.

"I knew I was a much better runner than most of the field,"

said Livingston. "So starting the run in second meant I was always going to be in with a chance.

"Running has always been my strongest suit, but the most pleasing thing about the weekend's performance was how I did in the fencing and the riding.

"That's where I've tended to struggle a little bit in the past, but I've been doing a lot of extra training in both of those disciplines and it seems to have paid off.

"It's great to win a World Cup at any time, but with it being the first competition of the season, it's set me up nicely for the bigger events that are to come."

Livingston will sit out next week's second World Cup event in Mexico, but will return to action in four weeks' time when the World Cup series comes to Millfield School in Somerset.

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