Katherine Elizabeth French (born 11 February 1991) is a British

modern pentathlete The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...

who won the gold medal at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, Japan.

Personal life

French was born on 11 February 1991 in

Meopham Meopham is a large linear village and civil parish in the Borough of Gravesham in Kent, England, lying to the south of Gravesend. The parish covers , and comprises two villages and two smaller settlements; it has a population of 6,427 increasi ...

, near

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

, Kent. She was privately educated at the independent

Cobham Hall School Cobham Hall School is an independent day and boarding school for girls in the English parish of Cobham, Kent. It is a Round Square school and a member of the Girls' Schools Association. The school is housed in Cobham Hall, a Tudor era Grade I li ...

. She completed a degree in sports performance at the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

, where she also trains at the Pentathlon GB High Performance Centre. French is married and lives in

Chapmanslade Chapmanslade is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, in the southwest of England. The parish is on the county border with Somerset and includes the hamlets of Huntenhull Green, Short Street and Thoulstone. The village lies abo ...

, Wiltshire.

Modern pentathlon

In 2013 French finished in tenth place in the individual event at both the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in held in

Kaoshiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiu ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

held in

Drzonków Drzonków (german: Drentkau) is a district of the city of Zielona Góra, in western Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, c ...

, Poland. At the European Championships she also won gold medals in the women's team event, competing alongside

Mhairi Spence Mhairi Spence (born 31 August 1985) is a British modern pentathlete. She has won a series of medals at European and World Championships, but was not selected for the 2008 Summer Olympics by the British team due to the limited number of places a ...

and

Samantha Murray Samantha Murray (born 25 September 1989) is an English modern pentathlete. She won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the bronze medal at the 2012 World Championships. In 2014, she won individual gold and team silver medals at t ...

, and in the women's relay event, with Murray and

Katy Burke Katy or KATY may refer to: People * Katy, a short form of the name Katherine * Katy (given name) * Katy (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a fictional character * Katy Perry Places Serbia * Kać, Serbia ( hu, Káty, link=no) United States * Katy, ...

. At the World Championships French, Murray and Spence also won the gold medal in the team event. At the

2014 World Modern Pentathlon Championships The 2014 World Modern Pentathlon Championships was held in Warsaw, Poland from September 1 to September 7, 2014. The event included pistol shooting, fencing, 200m swimming, show jumping and a 3 km run. Medal summary Men's events Women's even ...

held in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland, French won two silver medals. Competing with

Freyja Prentice In Norse paganism, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a cha ...

and Samantha Murray she was part of the women's team that finished second behind China and in the mixed relay event; French and

Joe Evans Joseph Patton "Doc" Evans (May 15, 1895 – August 9, 1951) was an American professional baseball outfielder and third baseman, who played for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators (1901–60), Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns of Major ...

finished second behind Justinas Kinderis and

Laura Asadauskaitė Laura Asadauskaitė-Zadneprovskienė (born 28 February 1984 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian modern pentathlete. She won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and achieved an Olympic record score. Asadauskaitė also competed in three ...

of Lithuania. She qualified for the

modern pentathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympics The modern pentathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 19 to 20 August 2016 at Deodoro Aquatics Centre, Deodoro Stadium, and Youth Arena. Thirty-six athletes competed each in the men's and women's events. Initia ...

by finishing eighth at the 2015 European Championships held in Bath. 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. 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. 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 the

held in

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...

, 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

held in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, England. In 2021 she won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the first British competitor to win since

Steph Cook Stephanie Jayne "Steph" Cook, MBE (born 7 February 1972) is a British retired modern pentathlete. She was the Olympic champion at this event in 2000. Cook was born in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. She was educated at Bedford High School; T ...

took gold at the Sydney games in 2000. She also broke the Olympic record for overall points in the event. French was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to modern pentathlon.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:French, Kate Living people British female modern pentathletes 1991 births Alumni of the University of Bath People from Meopham Modern pentathletes at the 2016 Summer Olympics Modern pentathletes at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic modern pentathletes of Great Britain People educated at Cobham Hall School Sportspeople from Gravesend, Kent Team Bath pentathletes Olympic medalists in modern pentathlon English Olympic medallists Members of the Order of the British Empire