Fell looking to recapture form in World Cup opener

HEATHER Fell is looking to recapture her best form after a six-month break from competition as she lines up at the opening event on the modern pentathlon World Cup circuit in Mexico this weekend.

NEW FOCUS: Heather Fell will spend the next two years preparing for the challenge of
London 2012 (Getty Images)

The 26-year-old has struggled to repeat the consistency that saw her win silver at Beijing 2008 after a disappointing ninth place at last August's World Championships at Crystal Palace.

But after an impressive fourth-place finish at the World Cup Final in Rio de Janiero last September, Fell announced that she would spearhead the British challenge for London 2012 despite initially suggesting her home Olympics was not high on her list of priorities.

And Fell is eager to see just how close she is to her peak when she takes part alongside teammates Jamie Cooke, Samantha Murray and Louise Helyer when the event starts at Playa Del Carmen in Cancun on Thursday.

"I'm going to be using this World Cup as a marker to where I am in terms of my form," Fell told the Plymouth Herald.

"It's been around six months since I last competed seriously, so I've no idea just how far I am off my best.

"I've been to training camps, of course, during that time, but it's not the same as actually doing it all for real.

"Therefore, I am really looking forward to testing myself in Mexico which is a country that I've been hoping to get to, but hadn't managed it until now."

Fell has used her break from serious competition to train abroad, most recently in Hungary at a camp which focused mainly on some high quality fencing practice.

And the modern pentathlete was given some top training partners to test her skills against.

"I didn't know it at the time but one of my fencing opponents was Hungary's double Olympic medal winning athlete Timea Nagy," added Fell.

"She won gold medals at the Sydney and Athens Olympics and has now come out of retirement.

"I'm happy to say I got a few hits on her, but I was bruised and battered myself at the end of the sessions.

"Still, it's all good in terms of sharpening up my reflexes and confidence in that discipline."