Britain’s Heather Fell won her second Modern Pentathlon World Cup medal of the year when she took bronze in the Czech Republic on Saturday.
It was a great day for the British women as three finished in the top six. Fell’s team-mates Mhairi Spence and Georgina Harland produced their best World Cup finishes of the year, coming fourth and sixth respectively.
Fell added bronze in round five of the 2008 World Cup today to the gold she won at Millfield, Somerset in round three in March. It was the third World Cup medal of her modern pentathlon career.
The 25-year-old Devon athlete went into the final discipline, the 3km run, in fifth place some 47 seconds behind the leader, Aya Medany from Egypt. She climbed a place and then overtook Spence at the 2km-mark, finishing in 10: 17.39 to take bronze.
Harland, Britain’s Athens 2004 Olympic gold medallist, produced a scintillating run, climbing from 15th to sixth, crossing the line in 10:09.24, the fourth fastest time of the day. There was disappointment for Katy Livingston, who finished 29th.
But overall it was a terrific result for the Brits ahead of the World Championships in Hungary in two weeks time – when they will go head to head at the final qualifier for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
Modern Pentathlon consists of five diverse disciplines- shooting, fencing, swimming, riding and running. All five events of the Modern Pentathlon take place in one day and while there is some flexibility in the order of events, the running must always be the final event.
A points system for each event is based on a standard performance earning 1,000 points. The winner is the Pentathlete who has accumulated the most points after the five events.
A delighted Fell said: “My fencing has been improving and I set personal bests in the swim and the run today, so I’m very pleased. It makes me slightly more relaxed going to the World Championships,” she added.
“I know I’m not yet safe for the Olympics, but I think this performance means I’m a bit safer than I was.”
Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
