LOCAL duo, Zoe Addinsall and Matilda Mason will both pull on the green and gold to represent Australia at the Laser Run World Championships in August travelling to Bath, England for the two-day event.

The event offers direct qualification to the Paris 2024 Olympics for those athletes who perform best at the championships.

The laser run is an aspect of modern pentathlon which involves the competitor running as quick as they can over 600 metres and hitting a target five times at the shooting range.

Both Addinsall and Mason qualified on the back of strong performances throughout the year in laser run and modern pentathlon events – they will compete in the Under-17 section.

The pair have both represented Australia in the past travelling to Portugal last year for the same event, Addinsall competing in the Under-17 section, while Mason was in the Under-15 section.

At the Laser Run State Titles in February this year, both girls achieved great success, before the National Pentathlon Championships brought more success in April.

Addinsall competed two age groups higher so she could fully participate in all parts of the pentathlon and took home the Under-21 title, while Mason received a silver and bronze medal from the event.

More recently, Addinsall competed at the 2023 National Laser Run Championships in Sydney a couple of weeks ago and performed well, taking home first place in the Under-17 section.

The 15-year-old said performing well at the event was like a confirmation that she would be selected to go to the world championships.

“I’m feeling pretty happy with it all, I did better than I thought I was going to do, I’m really excited to go to Bath and represent Australia,” Addinsall told The Spectator.

Addinsall said that taking on some of the best talent in the world would be a great test and after experiencing Portugal at the same event last year, she couldn’t wait.

“I’ll be really happy to put the green and gold back on, I haven’t competed out of Australia in a year, so it’ll be good to get out of the country again and challenge myself,” she said.

“When I was at Portugal, I wasn’t really nervous at all … you’ve just got to rely on your training and all the hard work you’ve already done.

“It’s going to be really good to see how I rank against all the people that are really good from all across the world.”

After competing in a much higher age group earlier this year, Addinsall said it was good to get back down to the Under-17s and achieve success.

“I didn’t get a PB, but I was really happy with my times, and I was under the qualifying time by 45 seconds which I was happy with,” she said.

“I sort of had the idea that I was going to get selected for the team but going to Sydney gave me the thumbs up that I’d definitely be going … it’s exciting.

In the leadup to the event, Addinsall will be focussing on the two main aspects of running and shooting to hone her skills.

“I have a training camp for a week and half with some friends in Melbourne, I got the opportunity to train with the AIS in Canberra, but the travel makes it too hard,” she said.

“I have decided I am going to put all my hard work in for the next Olympics (Los Angeles 2028) so I can hopefully go there and really try and get a podium finish.”

Mason didn’t attend the recent laser run national championships due to selection into a global amateur tour with young showjumping riders from around the world, the tour was too close to the nationals to do both.

The 14-year-old was among seven young showjumpers selected to go to Paris for a week of training with Lucy Olphert Showjumping. CONTINUED ON PAGE 29.