Team GB star withdraws from Olympic final just HOURS before event due to illness in huge blow to Britain’s medal prospects on final day in Paris

Team GB have announced that reigning modern pentathlon Olympic champion Kate French will not defend her title in Paris due to illness. 

The 33-year-old was hoping to add to reclaim the crown she magnificently won in Tokyo but she has been forced to pull out not long before the 10am start time. 

‘We can confirm the withdrawal of Kate French from today’s modern pentathlon final due to illness.’ Team GB announced in a statement on X. ‘This has been an extremely difficult decision for Kate as she had hoped to defend her Olympic title and ride in the jumping for a final time in Olympic competition.’

French had qualified comfortably from Saturday’s semi-final and would have been among the favourites for a medal.

Team GB retain another strong contender for the crown in Kerenza Bryson, who set an Olympic record in winning her semi-final.

The Team GB star was due to compete in the women’s final of the modern pentathlon 

Team GB have already suffered disappointment in the event in Paris after Joe Choong, who won gold in the men’s modern pentathlon in Tokyo three years ago, finished well outside of the medals.

The 29-year-old placed ninth on Saturday. After the event he suggested that he would have performed better at Paris 2024 if his girlfriend had also been selected by Team GB. Olivia Green won bronze at last year’s European Games

‘The saying goes “a happy athlete’s a good athlete”, and I think that’s true.’ He said. ‘I’ve not been particularly happy with the training environment for a couple of months. ‘

He added: ‘My girlfriend. I wanted to have my family competing with me. That process was really disappointing. I didn’t quite understand the decision-making process. It has been difficult to work through that. It made my job a lot harder from a mental point of view.’