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| Born | (1991-02-11)11 February 1991 (age 34)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Gravesend,England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 60 kg (132 lb)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Modern Pentathlon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Istvan Nemeth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Katherine Elizabeth French (born 11 February 1991) is a British formermodern pentathlete who won the gold medal at the2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
French was born on 11 February 1991 inMeopham, nearGravesend, Kent.[2] She was privately educated at the independentCobham Hall School. She completed a degree in sports performance at theUniversity of Bath, where she also trains at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre.[3]
French is married and lives inChapmanslade, Wiltshire.[4]
In 2013 French finished in tenth place in the individual event at both theWorld Championships in held inKaoshiung,Taiwan and at theEuropean Championships held inDrzonków, Poland. At the European Championships she also won gold medals in the women's team event, competing alongsideMhairi Spence andSamantha Murray,[5] and in the women's relay event, with Murray andKaty Burke.[6] At the World Championships French, Murray and Spence also won the gold medal in the team event.[7]
At the2014 World Modern Pentathlon Championships held inWarsaw, Poland, French won two silver medals. Competing withFreyja Prentice and Samantha Murray she was part of the women's team that finished second behind China and in the mixed relay event; French andJoe Evans finished second behindJustinas Kinderis andLaura Asadauskaitė of Lithuania.[8][9]
She qualified for themodern pentathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympics by finishing eighth at the 2015 European Championships held in Bath.[10] French was placed fifteenth after the first three events but missed only a single target during the combined run and shooting event to secure the top eight finish needed for Olympic qualification.[11] At the same event she won a gold medal in the team event, competing alongside Samantha Murray and Freyja Prentice, who finished tenth and thirteenth in the individual event.[11]
In 2016 she placed 5th at the Olympic games after a consistent performance throughout all events, including winning the riding event with a perfect clear round. 2017 saw her most successful season with a silver medal at World Cup 1 in Los Angeles and a gold medal at World Cup 2 in Cairo. Due to this success she achieved a world ranking high of number 2.
In 2018 French won the silver medal in the individual event at theEuropean Championships held inSzékesfehérvár, Hungary. The following year, she repeated her silver medal-winning performance in the individual event and also won gold in the team event at theEuropean Championships held inBath, England.
In 2021 she won gold at theTokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the first British competitor to win sinceSteph Cook took gold at the Sydney games in 2000.[12] She also broke the Olympic record for overall points in the event.
French was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2022 New Year Honours for services to modern pentathlon.[13][14]
French took the 2023 season off.[15] She returned to competition in 2024 and on 26 June, she was announced as part of the Great Britain team for theParis Olympics to be held later that year.[16][17] She qualified for the final at the Games with a fifth place finish in her semi-final[18] but withdrew due to illness on the morning of the competition.[19][20][21]
French announced her retirement from modern pentathlon on 21 January 2025.[22][23]
