TAVISTOCK is getting set to cheer at the top of its lungs tomorrow as the town?s medal-hope modern pentathlete goes for gold at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, writes Chrissie Sumner.
Kate Allenby is hoping to better her bronze from Sydney 2000 by going all out for for the top spot in the 100 degree Grecian heat. From the Team GB camp in Athens Kate told the Times that she was ?feeling fine? and said her training was going well.
Great Britain?s team manager Dominic Mahoney said Kate, and fellow British pentathlete Georgina Harland, had flown into the Olympic Village yesterday after three weeks? training at the French Olympic training ground of Font Romeu.
He said: ?Their training has gone very well, Kate looks fantastic ? she is in perfect shape and raring to go.?
Tomorrow?s event will see Kate competing in five consecutive events ? fencing, shooting, riding, swimming and cross-country running ? from 10am until 7pm. It is one of the Olympic Games? most gruelling disciplines, but also one of the best followed.
Mr Mahoney said: ?We are expecting quite a lot of British support and that is obviously a boost for Kate ? Sydney felt like a gradual coming together, this time around we?re on really solid ground.
?Of course there are other modern pentathletes who are in good shape at present and on paper they take some beating, but Kate is a formidable rival on her day, a fantastic athlete.?
Tavistock Town Council mayor Jenny Metcalf sent a letter of support from herself and fellow members to Kate wishing her all the best and commending her selection as a ?just reflection of commitment and talent?.
?I?m sure the whole town will be glued to their TV screens,? a council spokesperson said.