Local Olympic hero awarded MBE in the New Year Honours list

OLYMPIC gold-medallist, Kate French, has been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours 2022 list for her services to the sport of modern pentathlon. 

The Chapmanslade resident brought home the gold at the Tokyo Olympics last year, breaking the Olympic record for overall points in the event.  

Her Gold medal was one of 22 won by Team GB at Tokyo, which saw them win a total number of 65 medals and finish fourth in the medals table 65 – the second-best performance ever by Team GB. 

Speaking to White Horse News, Kate said, “I’m very honoured to be receiving an MBE award, I never thought I’d be seeing in the New Year with this!” 

Explaining the reasons behind Kate’s recognition on the New Year Honours list, a spokesperson from the Cabinet Office said, “Kate is a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold medallist in the Modern Pentathlon and is the first British competitor to win since Steph Cook took Gold at the Sydney Games in 2000. She also broke the Olympic record for overall points in the event. 

“She has competed and won medals in many World Championships and events since 2010, including winning gold medals in the women’s team event at the European Pentathlon Championships.  

“At the 2014 World Modern Pentathlon Championships, she won two silver medals.  

“She qualified for the modern pentathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympics by finishing eighth at the 2015 European Championships held in Bath. She 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. At the same event she won a gold medal in the team event.  

“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, she won the silver medal in the individual event at the European Championships held in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. The following year, she repeated her silver medal-winning performance in the individual event and also won gold in the team event at the European Championships held in Bath, England.”