‘Massive balancing act’ for modern pentathlon hope Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe

In the middle of his hardest sessions, right when the pain gets close to intolerable, Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe imagines a very specific scenario.

It’s mid-August in Rio de Janeiro, and the 24-year-old is charging around a cross country course in the final event of the Olympic modern pentathlon, a combined test of running and laser shooting. It’s a test which will require concentration, co-ordination and a hefty dose of courage.

Fittingly, it’s the event which crowns the champion, and every time that homemade movie plays in his mind, Lanigan-O’Keeffe is in that starring role.