At just 20 years old, Singleton-born Genevieve Janse van Rensburg is about to achieve her ultimate goal – competing in the Modern Pentathlon at the Paris Games.
The Modern Pentathlon consists of four events, fencing, swimming, equestrian – show jumping and the oneLaser Run – running and shooting.
Genevieve has played sport all her life.
“Mum made us swim from six-months old because we were living in Singleton where there are a lot of open dams. Then I started netball when I was five years old and horse riding at six and then tried a little bit of everything during high school.
“I came across Pentathlon when Chloe Esposito came to our school to talk about it. I realised I already did three out of the five sports so what’s another two to learn!”
Genevieve, her parents and her sister moved to Newcastle when she was eight years old.
“My first international competition was in 2018, the Asia Oceania Championships. International competition was put on hold during the pandemic, but I was able to compete in multiple fencing competitions.”
In 2022, Genevieve was back on the international circuit, placing third at the U19 European Championships and brought home gold from the Australian Modern Pentathlon National Championships.
All those events were preparing Geneveive for her ultimate goal: Paris 2024.
“There are several ways to qualify for the Games. There is one regional quota spot for Oceania, or you can qualify through world rankings or if you come first at the World Cup Final,” Genevieve said.
“I qualified through the regional quota spot. For me it’s relaxed now, I’ll do the World Championships and train in the UK for the next five weeks or so and then head over to Paris for a week and then it’s straight into competition.”
Modern Pentathlon as a sport isn’t hugely popular in Australia which Geneveive said has its positives, but also negatives.
“It does mean there are more opportunities for me and I don’t have to worry about being accepted to go to competitions or struggling with the number of athletes allowed, but it also means the sport itself doesn’t get the recognition or the funding it deserves.”
For now, Genevieve is focused on Paris. The Modern Pentathlon will be run over four days from August 8and no doubt there will be plenty of locals watching her every move.
-JESS ROUSE
