Former Olympic champion French retires

Modern pentathlete Kate French has announced her retirement, having won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Throughout her career, French also won five World Championship medals and six European gold medals, and had an exceptional 2021, winning the World Cup and reaching the world number one ranking.

The 33-year-old athlete returned to competition last summer in Paris, 18 months after leaving the sport. However, illness hampered her chances of winning another medal, and she ultimately withdrew from the competition on the final day. French stated in an Instagram post that she was leaving the sport with a “heart full of happiness and a head full of wonderful memories.”

She added, “There have been many highs and lows, but it has been a truly amazing adventure and honestly, I wouldn't change a thing.” French, from Kent and now residing in Wiltshire, has been involved in the sport since joining the British pathway program in 2007. In 2010, her team won the junior world championships, followed by her first senior world gold medal in the team event in Taiwan in 2013.

French made her Olympic debut in Rio in 2016, finishing fifth. Five years later, she won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. She swam a personal best in the 200m freestyle and led by more than 15 seconds in the laser run, setting a new Olympic record for the highest total points in the event. After winning gold in 2021, French took some time off, only competing twice the following year, before returning to competition in 2023 because she "didn't want to have regrets" about not trying for last summer's Paris Olympics.

British Modern Pentathlon performance director Jamie Cooke said, "From a performance perspective, Kate has dominated the sport; from a personal perspective, she continues to inspire people in her own way." Modern pentathlon is undergoing major reforms ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, with show jumping being removed from the five events and replaced by a Ninja Warrior-style obstacle course.