Scarlett was 2nd Brit in the JEC Middle race

Three FVO stars were in action for Great Britain in the final international races of 2024, and all three made their mark in the face of tough competition.

Scarlett Kelly was the first under 16 athlete in eight years to appear for GB in the Junior European Cup, having won the trial race three weeks ago. Her Sprint run ended in disappointment, as she had the first mispunch of her career, when a contact failed to register, but she was in fine form in the Middle distance race.

The opening section of the course, flat with an array of dry ditches, held her up, but a steep. green middle and end were more in the Kelly line, and she worked hard up and down the hills for a time of 28.27, and 26th place in a field of 62, as the 2nd placed Brit.

The reward for this was a place in the Under 20 team for the relay, and she was consistent on her round, keeping the team in middle-pack contention on what was essentially a solo effort, coming home in 39.04 for the 25th best time of the 34 athletes in the leg.

Grace and Peter Molloy appeared at the final race of the World Cup, in Finland, with mixed fortunes across their programme. Grace was 35th (93.28) in the Long race, which ended her chances of a top 20 placing in the overall standings, while Peter had a difficult day, 103rd in 113.57. The overall high standard of the sport in Scandinavia was evident, with seven athletes from both Norway and Sweden, as well as eight from Finland in the top 30 in the women's race.

Peter was left out for the Middle race, but Grace was 30th (34.07) and both were involved in the final day relay. Grace was 19th-quickest (34.55) on the middle leg for GB 1, as she pulled them up from 31st at the changeover, to send Megan Carter-Davies out in 25th place. Megan was able to get the team up to 17th by the end, as the 8th nation in the field.

Peter had the middle leg for the GB 3 men, and a time of 30.15 was the quickest of the three GB athletes in the race, good enough to help the team into an eventual 20th place.