TAVISTOCK will have its very own star to cheer on at this year's Olympic Games — pentathlete Kate Allenby qualified with a brilliant and gutsy peformance in Italy last weekend and can now book her ticket to Sydney.
Kate, 26, finished sixth which was good enough to clinch the coveted remaining British place. She now joins ten other athletes who have already qualified for the first-ever women's Modern Pentathlete in the Games.
She admitted the relief was 'tremendous' as Saturday's competition was her last chance for selection. The world number two, who was educated at both Tavistock College and Kelly College, had failed by a whisker in her previous attempts to qualify automatically by taking a first place in the World Cup Championship series this year. So she had to finish in the top 14 and beat her British rivals on points in Pesaro.
After a nervy beginning in the shoot, a superb performance in the second discipline — fencing — gave her a much-needed boost to go on and secure her place.
Kate said: 'I had a distastrous semi-final on the Thurday and finished in 15th place.
'Then I started badly in the finals with the shoot and scored just 173 points. I was nervous and the atmosphere was tense — I think the whole thing got to me a bit.
'But when it came to the fencing I was on fire. I knew the night before I would do well, I just had this feeling in my stomach that things would go well in the fence.
'I didn't swim or run as well as I could, but I got such a good horse in the ride and won with a clear round.
'This put me up into sixth place and as soon as I had cleared the last jump I knew I had done it. It is so very exciting —just brilliant.'
Kate admitted the past six months had been stressful.
'I have been concentrating totally on qualifying for the Olympics so now I am going to give myself a bit of a break before the European Championships in Hungary in two weeks' time.
'I shall only take part in the relay competition for a bit of fun and relaxation.'
On the sideline in Pesaro were father James and mother Gill from Tavistock and sister Pippa who flew out especially to support Kate in her last-ditch attempt.
Gill Allenby said: 'It was nail-biting stuff. But her ride was the highlight of the competition and I didn't take a breath all through the round. We were all in tears at the end.
'Kate rode beautifully, very controlled and at a lovely pace, and she knew she had qualified.
'She galloped around the ring and punched the air before coming over to to where we were sitting and shouted "wow".
'The whole thing was very emotional — it was rather like watching an exciting film or reading a book which you couldn't bear to watch or put down.'
The family can also now book their tickets to Sydney.
'We didn't dare do it before Saturday just in case she didn't make it but we always hoped she would.'
Kate flies out with the British team in September, three weeks before the competion, and will be training at the athletes' holding camp on the Gold Coast.
'We will fly down for the opening ceremony and then return for training until the actual competition on October 1,' said Kate.
Great Britain took the silver medal in the team event in Italy and Kate's former flatmate, Stephanie Cook, who is the other British qualifier, finished ninth in the individual listings.