WEST Devon's modern pentathlete Heather Fell returns to action at the third World Cup of the year in Hungary today (Thursday).
Heather is among an eight-strong British team competing at Szazhalombatta just south of Budapest with the aim of staking their claims for places on GB teams for the World Cup final and European Championships in July.
Both the World Cup final and the European Championships take place in the UK and provide the first opportunities for British athletes to achieve qualification places for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Beijing 2008 Olympic Games silver medallist Heather finished tenth in Palm Springs earlier this year and is ranked 13th in the world.
The competition for places on the GB women's team is particularly intense, with six athletes featuring in the top-40 in the world. Only four per gender from each nation can compete at each round of the World Cup and only a maximum of two per gender per nation can compete at the Olympics.
World Cup 3 schedule: Thursday, May 5: Women's semi-finals; Saturday May 7: women's finals.
Other major events this season are: World Cup 4 – Chengdu, China, May 26 to 30 May; World Cup Final – London, July 9 to 11; European Championships, Medway, Kent, July 28 Julyto August 1; World Championships, Moscow, Russia, September 8 to 14.