Ones to Watch - Jamie Cooke
The second-ever British Modern Pentathlon World Champion
Modern pentathlon is a relatively unknown sport that consists of five events: fencing, freestyle
swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running.
In Jamie Cooke, British Olympic fans will have a World Champion and former world number 1 flying the flag for them.
Jamie hails from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and dedicated himself to the sport after a former coach encouraged him to take it up. Since then, Jamie has won the Junior World Championships and competed at the 2016 Rio Games, numerous European Championships and a few World Cups.
Despite the achievement of competing in Rio, 2018 turned out to be the real breakout year for
Jamie. Competing in the World Championships in Mexico, he pulled off a stunning and memorable sprint finish to win a gold medal. The win saw him become the first British male modern pentathlon World Champion in 25 years. The manner of the win showed Jamie’s determination, passion and desire to win.
Jamie’s achievements are even more remarkable when he mentions that he has suffered from non-positional vertigo, which affects balance. The condition saw him pulled from a major European final last year. Jamie has now set his eyes on Tokyo.
