Great Britain's Cooke wins World Cup again

SARASOTA -- James Cooke of Great Britain was in third place, 11 points behind the leader.

After swimming, fencing, and equestrian jumping, Cooke needed a solid finish in the combined -- running and laser shooting -- Saturday to successfully defend his UIPM World Cup championship in Sarasota.

Taking advantage of the good weather conditions, Cooke placed ninth in the combined event and won the gold medal again at Nathan Benderson Park.

"Today was a good day," Cooke said. "I quite like Sarasota because I had success here at the last World Cup. You can't really beat the weather. It was pretty good competition. I wasn't expecting (the gold medal)."

Cooke said winning this year is even better than the first time because this is an

Olympic year. Each of the World Cup competitors is vying to represent his country Aug. 5-21 in the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"I'll get a lot of Olympic points for this (victory)," he said. "It was just a perfect day. I'm so happy."

The field included the top 36 modern pentathletes from 21 countries.

Cooke and silver-medalist Patrick Dogue of Germany tied for second in the equestrian jumping event, behind Nathan Schrimsher of the United States. Schrimsher was the top overall American finisher, placing seventh, 15 points behind Cooke. Valentin Prades of France won the combined event and earned the bronze medal. Cooke finished second in the swimming competition at the Selby Aquatic Center. He then placed 17th in fencing and second in equestrian jumping, leading to his medal-clinching finish in the combined event.

"It was a nice ride," Cooke said of his time on the local mount. "The horse was amazing. It had a lot of spirit and it jumped perfectly for me."

Swimming is Cooke's best event. He finished behind Jianli Guo of China.

Round-robin epee fencing is his weakest event, Cooke said. He had 18 victories and 17 losses in the rapid-fire competitions.

"It was a good fight. I didn't have the best day," Cooke added. "But I worked hard and I got through it, which is good."

Cooke and Dogue have known and competed against each other in pentathlon events for years, Dogue said. Cooke, 25, has usually been a level ahead of Dogue, 24.

By winning the silver medal, Dogue said he achieved his "first podium. I always knew I could make a podium but I never made it until now," he said.

"It feels good. We've competed together our whole lives against each other but he just reached the top of the seniors earlier than me."

Both Cooke and Dogue are vying to compete in their first Olympic Games. But there's little time to recharge. The World Championships are in Moscow later this month.

This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 12:59 AM with the headline "Great Britain's Cooke wins World Cup again ."