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Olympics 2024: Kate French withdraws from modern pentathlon

Britain's reigning Olympic champion Kate French has withdrawn from Sunday's women's Modern Pentathlon final at the Paris Games due to sickness, the sport's governing body said.

French was replaced by Germany's Annika Zillekens, who had announced her retirement after failing to qualify from Saturday's semifinal.

Zillekens was involved in a storm at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when she competed under her maiden name of Schleu and was a favourite for gold until her horse repeatedly refused in the show jumping element.

Coach Kim Raisner then struck the horse with her fist, an incident that led to Modern Pentathlon dropping the equestrian element for the 2028 Los Angeles Games and replacing it with obstacle courses.

Hungary's Michelle Gulyas won the gold medal in the modern pentathlon on Sunday with a strong performance in the laser with France's Elodie Clouvel taking the silver. South Korea's Seungmin Seong won the bronze while Team GB's Kerenza Bryson finished ninth.