ZOE Addinsall’s trip to China to compete at the 2024 World Laser Run Championships was a huge success with the 16-year-old carrying with her a bronze medal as she touched back down on Australian soil last week.

It was the third time that Addinsall has pulled on the green and gold to represent her country and she did the nation proud again with a podium finish in Zhengzhou, China.

Despite being just 16 years old, the bottom ager competed in the Under-19 section and finished in third place with her other team members, as well as finishing fourth in the Under-21 age group for mixed relay.

Addinsall said it was an amazing experience representing her country despite the hot conditions making things hard.

“It felt so good to be in the green and gold again representing Australia, it was a good experience in China,” she said.

“I met lots of new people and made heaps of friends when I was over there, it was interesting to see how they live over there and experience the different culture.

The weather presented a big test to Addinsall and the other competitors with the extreme heat making the running component of the event significantly more challenging.

“It was really hot, about 39 degrees which was a little bit of a shock because I’m not used to that, but it was a really good event.

“It was a really tough competition, but I was happy with how I did.”

Addinsall finished with a time of 14:59.72 which placed her 11th and helped the Aussie trio win bronze in the Under-19 final – she was the fastest of her teammates.

She then competed in the mixed relay with fellow Victorian Lachlan Nicholls with the duo finishing in fourth place – narrowly missing a second medal.

It wasn’t the first time the teenager has received a bronze medal on the world stage, but she said it definitely exceeded her expectations.

“It was amazing to receive the bronze medal, I was not expecting it this year being against some really strong competition who were much older than me,” Addinsall said.

“After running (in the heat), it made it so hard to stop and shoot, my shooting was pretty good until my last one.

“I felt like I ran pretty well in my individual … I was a bit intimidated (for the relay) as we went up a section, but we did well as a team.”

Addinsall has now travelled to England, Portugal and China to compete on the world stage and is still getting started at the young age of 16.

While she has competed in many tetrathlons in the past, she has now transitioned into pentathlon events which include fencing, swimming, show jumping, shooting and running.

The Ballarat Grammar boarder hoped her experience at the laser run championships would help her hone her skills for future pentathlon events.

But in the immediate future, she was looking forward to helping run an upcoming pentathlon camp and competition locally.

“I’m going into holidays next week and have a week-long training camp and a comp in Hamilton, I will focus on that and keep training hard,” she said.

“I am one of the mentors in the pentathlon and am excited to teach some of the younger kids about it (at the camp).”

The pentathlon training camp and winter championships will span from July 4-6 and be held at Monivae College in Hamilton where athletes can practice four of the five disciplines.

It is the first time the championships haven’t been held in Geelong and people from all across the state are expected to travel to Hamilton for the event.