By Paul Martin in Paris

Kerenza Bryson dug in and showed her character as she fought back strongly on the opening day of her Olympic debut.

The Plymouth modern pentathlete lost her first five bouts in the fencing ranking round of her multi-faceted event, including to compatriot Kate French first up.

But she bounced back to claim 21 victories, with 14 defeats in all, to sit fifth going into Saturday’s next stage.

"I just had to really work to find my flow and just fight the whole way,” she said.

“I’m a bit of a fighter and started really, really poorly. I have never done that before and just knew that if I wanted to end this competition well, I needed to fight back to finish on a good result.

“Fighting back to fifth place after, I’m pretty sure I was last at some point, I’m pretty happy with that."

The semi-finals begin with a 200m freestyle swim, followed by a fencing bonus round and a show jumping stage which sees the athletes link up with an unfamiliar horse, decided by a random draw.

The women’s competition then concludes on Sunday with the laser run, involving four rounds of laser pistol shooting and an 800m run.

Both Brits are well placed heading into the weekend, with French in third, and Bryson is confident they can continue their momentum.

“We both have good horse-riding experience,” she said. “I think we can pull out a good competition with what we have given ourselves.

"The French have done a really good job in picking some really good horses, it’s been something they are really thinking about and working hard at from what I have heard.

"I can’t complain, the horses will all be really lovely, we saw some of them go round in the test round and they all look beautiful in my opinion.

“I’m sure whatever horse I can draw, I will hopefully be able to create a really nice partnership with them and work well with them."

The men’s competition started badly for Tokyo gold medallist Joe Choong, who sits in 29th, with Olympic debutant Charlie Brown two places better off.

"I’m really disappointed,” Choong said. “I’m reigning Olympic champion, and I fully believe I’ll be able to go out and defend that title, at least competing for a medal.

"I’ve had a tough year in terms of injuries, I’ve not completed a single competition. But I’ve had a really good build up to here.

“I thought physically, I was capable of being where I wanted to be. It shows from a mental point of view that in modern pentathlon you have to be switched on and ready to compete."

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