Woodbridge, 20, finished 24th overall in Latvia, but had the consolation of a personal best in the 200 metres swim.

 

Weale did not complete the final.

 

He pulled out of the final after four of the five disciplines because of an injury to his left ankle he carried into the event that had prevented him from training properly for more than three weeks.
 
It means Britain’s men will have to attempt to achieve the Olympic standard through the remaining qualification events, which include the 2007 and 2008 World Championships.
 
GB performance director Jan Bartu said: “It was a credible result for Nick and I’m happy with the way he competed.
 
“Anything can happen in modern pentathlon and it was really, really tough out there with the most of the top people in the world fighting for eight places.
 
“Nick is a very talented swimmer.

 

"He took 1.2 seconds off his personal best and doing that in his final is a really good achievement.

 

 “I wouldn’t judge Sam on his performance today.

 

His training has been really limited.

 

It was a gamble to put him in, but he survived the semi-final.

 

The fact that he got into the final was a great achievement.
 
“He struggled with his left ankle all day, so we withdrew him from the run.

 

It’s not easy in a competition like this when you’re carrying that kind of handicap.”

 

The British men’s team will not now compete in the team relay event on Monday.
 
Weale started well in the 36-strong field, scoring 181 (1,108 points) from the shooting to put him in 15th place after the first discipline.

 

Woodbridge scored 174, netting 1,024 points to put him 29th.
 
But Weale dropped down the leader board after the fencing, his 12 wins and 23 defeats gave him 688 points putting him 29th, while Woodbridge’s 14 wins and 21 defeats gave him 736 points, making him 31st with two disciplines down.
 
Woodbridge produced a terrific swim to push him right back up the rankings to 20th overall.

 

His time of 1min 56.25sec took a big slice off his personal best and was the fastest in the field, giving him 1,408 points.

 

Weale used the swim to good effect too - his time of 2:00.80 was eighth fastest and earned him 1,352 points to push him to 23rd with two disciplines remaining. 
 
But the riding put Weale right out of contention.

 

“The horse and the rider did not match, it was as simple as that,” said Bartu.
 
Weale came off his horse twice – resulting in him not being allowed to complete the course.

 

He had accumulated 220 points up to that stage.

 

Woodbridge had one refusal and two fences down, netting 1,056 points from the 1,200 maximum, but he still dropped back down the field to 22nd overall.
 
Woodbridge rounded off his campaign with a time of  10:14 in the final discipline – the 3km run – scoring 944 points and a final total of 5,168, to finish 24th.

 

Weale’s final points total was 3,368, ranking him 35th.
 
Tomorrow the focus switches back to the women, where Britain has four athletes among the 36-strong field in the women’s final.

 

Georgina Harland, the Athens 2004 Olympic Games bronze medallist, is joined by Mhairi Spence, Katy Livingston and Heather Fell in Sunday’s final.
 
Britain will also bid to retain the team title they won in Hungary last year.