Spence edged out in medal bid
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Spence, of Farr, and team-mate Heather Fell went into the run/shoot at Greenwich Park in third and fourth places respectively.
The 25-year-old briefly worked her way into the lead, but was ultimately overpowered by Olympic champion Lena Schoneborn, of Germany, and Lithuania’s Laura Asadauskaite, who took silver.
Despite this setback, Spence showed a real determination to secure fifth place in front of a home crowd.
“I was a bit up and down,” she said. “I set myself a goal of finishing in the top six and I’ve achieved that, but I wanted to win a medal for the home crowd.
“When you start the combined event, even in a podium position, you want to keep it, but my last run/shoot was just a little bit slow.
“When you’ve had a taste of the medals you just want more. Hopefully I’m working my way towards the Olympic qualification that I’m trying to achieve.
“Being here has made the whole idea of the Olympic Games in London seem very real.
“It’s so exciting. I want to get back in training and make sure I’m here next year enjoying it all again, hopefully with a medal.”
Spence started the day well, winning her first seven fencing bouts. She went on to end the session with 23 wins from her 35 contests to finish fourth.
In the swimming, Spence won heat four in a time of 2 minutes 14.56 seconds, taking almost two seconds off her personal best
Her time was the eighth fastest time of the day, which meant she climbed up the field into second place overall behind France’s Elodie Clouvel.
It was mixed fortunes, however, for Spence in the riding arena.
She had four fences down and accumulated eight time penalties to add 1112 to her total and go into the run/shoot in third.
Clouvel led the field in this event with Russia’s Elena Rublevska a second behind, while Spence was 10 seconds off the top — a gap which proved too much to make up.
The action now moves on to the European Championships at Medway Park in Kent, which takes place from 28th July to 1st August.
