Heather Fell is one of Britain’s top modern pentathletes and one of our best hopes for medals at the Olympics this year.

Fell grew up in Tavistock, Devon, where she was taught to ride and shoot, both disciplines in the pentathlon, by the parents of the 2000 Olympic pentathlon bronze medallist Kate Allenby.  Whilst training, Heather earned herself a degree in physiotherapy from Brunel University.

Heather enjoyed success at junior level, including two gold and one silver medal in the 2003 World Junior Championships in Athens.  Despite this Heather nearly gave up the sport she loved in 2006 when, due to a series of shin splint injuries, her funding was cut by UK Sport.

Heather had to wait until 2007 to get her first major tournament medal, with bronze in Moscow and an individual silver medal at the 2007 European Championships in Riga, reaching the Olympic qualifying standard in doing so. She also won a gold medal as part of the relay team, with Katy Livingston and Georgina Harland.

2008 saw Heather record perhaps her most successful medal haul to date with a gold at the World Cup and a silver at the Olympics in Beijing where Heather was catapulted into the public eye. Another silver medal at the 2010 World Championships has set Heather up with a great chance to claim a second Olympic medal at the London 2012 Games, something she is certainly capable of doing.

Hoping to pursue a career in broadcasting after she retires, Heather occasionally works for BBC South West as a commentator. She also writes for a monthly column for the Tavistock Times Gazette about her life on and off the track, which you can read here.