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World champion Jamie Cooke returns to action this weekend

Author: Roger Jackson, Posted: Friday, 11th January 2019, 10:00

Jamie Cooke winning gold in Mexico. Picture, Nuno Goncalves

World modern pentathlon champion Jamie Cooke returns to action this weekend almost four months after proving he is the best modern pentathlete on the planet.

The one-time Balcarras School pupil, who was brought up in Andoversford, is competing in a star-studded line-up at the first 2019 Pentathlon GB ranking competition in Bath.

The 27-year-old Cooke won his world title in Mexico City in dramatic style last September, literally snatching gold in the final few strides of the 3,200 metres run to win by 0.03 seconds.

Speaking to The Local Answer just hours after the event, Cooke, who these days lives in Bath, said: ”It’s surreal, it still hasn’t sunk in.

“It’s something I’ve worked so hard for. I’ve put 10 years of my life into this and I’ve finally got my reward. To be world champion, the best in the world… it’s amazing.

“I’d never won a senior medal before, it’s something that’s just eluded me. Now I’ve finally got one.”

Cooke, who finished 14th in the Rio Olympics, also helped Great Britain to claim a team silver in Mexico but while the memories are great there is plenty more that Cooke wants to achieve.

And 2019 is another very important year with qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games beginning in June.

“Winning the Olympics, that would be perfect,” he said.

Modern pentathlon is a full on sport and to succeed in it you need to be able to swim, fence, horse ride and shoot as well as run.

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World champion Jamie Cooke returns to action this weekend

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