ALEX POWELL TO TRAIN WITH TEAM GB PENTATHLETES

Alex Powell is set to train with Team GB’s Pentathlon athletes in Paris as they prepare for the 2024 Olympics. 

At just 24 years old, Alex Powell is travelling to Paris ready to train with Team GB’s Pentathlon athletes as they prepare for the 2024 Olympics. Powell has spent the past 16 years of her life as a epeeist, now helping to train with others to master the one-touch epee in the modern pentathlon.

Admirably, Powell is a balancing a career as a full-time nurse alongside her passion for fencing. She trained as a nurse at Manchester Met University, where she fenced throughout. She now currently works in A&E, and although a demanding job, she continues to pursue her love of fencing.

It was during Alex’s first year at university where she began training with pentathletes in Bath in 2019. She supported them during Covid-19 and the national lockdowns.

“I was travelling from Manchester to Bath and going there for three weeks at a time to train with them. I spent more time in Bath than I did in Manchester. I’ve now known the pentathletes for a long time because of working with them in the training camp.”

It is because of the relationships Alex has built with the pentathletes and her passion for fencing that she was then selected to train alongside the team in Paris.

“I am quite an active fencer, so I am similar to the pentathletes. It is beneficial for them to fence me. It’s also really good training for me to fence them.”

After finding out she would be training with the Olympic team, Powell expresses her excitement.

“It was so out of the blue; I got the phone call whilst at work. I went home and told my family; they thought it was amazing. They needed an answer quickly, and I thought why not? I needed to work out swapping my shifts and stuff. But I was excited.”

Powell will travel to Paris on the 2nd August 2024. She will be training with the team on the 3rd and 5th of August after which she will return home. She is optimistic about Team GB’s chances of bringing home a medal.

“I think the chances of GB bringing home a medal in the Pentathlon are high. Kate French is going, and she won the gold medal in the 2020 Olympics. Kerenza Bryson is an incredible athlete as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if they both brought home a medal.”

“We have Joseph Choong, he won the gold in 2020. We have Myles Pillage too. Such an incredible team.”

The modern pentathlon consists of fencing, freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. Powell explains that one-touch fencing is very different to traditional fencing, involving a round robin format where each bout is decided by a single hit.

“It is pretty high pressure. The training is very different compared to the individual sport of fencing. It’s interesting to train with them.”

“When training with pentathletes, it’s more of a spa run, so they can try stuff out when they’re fencing to see what does and doesn’t work. If you just train one hit per fencer, it isn’t going to be a very long session. So, we fence as a normal fencing session, but it is different, with different scenarios, and different coaching techniques.”

Powell trains with the Women’s Pentathletes and admires their versatility and skill.

“The fact that they all do five sports blows my mind. It’s insane. They are so good. If I had to say who is the best pentathlon fencer out of the women, I’d say Kerenza because she has a lot of fencing experience outside of pentathlon. She is a fencer in her own right and has been to a lot of fencing internationals.”

Grateful for the opportunity, Powell is eager to support the athletes in their Olympic journey.

“I’m just super excited. It’s an incredible opportunity. To be a part of the Olympics is amazing. It’ll be cool to see, because we’ve seen them train and to see them compete will be surreal.”

“I am invested in the athletes after I’ve trained with them. They are such nice people, super down to Earth and it’s an honour to train with them.”

 

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