TAVISTOCK'S modern pentathlete Heather Fell notched fourth place in Budapest on Saturday while her team-mate Katy Livingston won the World Championship bronze medal, giving a big boost to her bid to compete at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The 24-year-old produced an outstanding performance in Budapest to win her first individual World Championship medal. The Great Britain women's team of Fell, Mhairi Spence and Georgina Harland also collected the team silver medal, behind Poland. But the day ended on a sad note, with Harland limping over the finishing line after injuring a calf muscle during the run. Livingston and Fell had already achieved the qualifying standard for the Olympics by securing top-eight finishes at last year's European championships. And both did their selection prospects no harm at all with strong performances in the final qualification event for Beijing. 'It was fantastic to win an individual bronze and a team silver,' said Pentathlon GB performance director Jan Bartu. 'This is a new generation of young athletes taking on the best in the world and we are very, very proud of them.' Final results: individual Gold: Amelie Caze (FRA) 5616 pts. Silver: Aya Medany (EGY) 5596 pts. Bronze: Katy Livingston (GBR) 5588 pts, (Sh 1000, F 1000, Sw 1280, Ri 1136, Run 1172). Fourth:Heather Fell (GBR) 5560 pts, (Sh 1120, F 712, Sw 1348, Ri 1168 , Run 1212 ). 19th:Mhairi Spence (GBR) 5348 pts, (Sh 1072, F 832, Sw 1304, Ri 1112, Run 1028). 30th: Georgina Harland (GBR) 5152 pts, (Sh 772, F 784, Sw 1296, Ri 1192, Run 1108). Team results — Gold: Poland 16168 pts. Silver: Great Britain 16060 pts. Bronze: Hungary 16052 points. Fell started the day well, shooting 182 from a maximum 200 to net 1,120 modern pentathlon points from the first discipline, putting her fifth. Livingston was the pick of the Brits in the fencing. She won 25 and lost 10 of her contests. It was the second best performance in the field, earning her 1000 points and taking her points total to 2000, propelling her to fifth overall. Spence won 18 and lost 17 for 832 points, remaining 16th overall. Harland won 16 ands lost 19, remaining in 36th, while Fell dropped down to 22nd after winning 13 contests and losing 22. Livingston remained fifth overall after the swim, clocking a time of 2.16.90 for 1280 points, taking her total to 3,280. Spence climbed six places to 10th overall courtesy of a 2.14.78 swim that earned her 1,304 points and a total of 3208 after three disciplines. Fell was was the fastest of the British competitors. Her time of 2:11.02 was the fourth quickest among the 36 competitors, earning 1,348 points and pushing her to 14th. Harland's 2:15.52 was 14th fastest, earning 1,296 points, but she remained 36th going into the penultimate discipline, the ride. Harland collected just eight penalties in the riding arena to score 1192 pentathlon points – the second best performance in the riding. But that was only enough to take her to 33rd overall with one event remaining. But the other three Brits were now in the top 10 going into the 3km run. Livingston netted 64 penalty points in the riding to remain in fifth place on 4416 points. Fell was back in the top 10 for the first time since the shooting – she netted just 32 penalties to climb to seventh with 4348 points. Spence was also still in the hunt. Her 88 penalties gave her 1112 points in the ride, keeping her 10th overall with 4320 points. Livingston started the cross country run just three seconds off the bronze medal position and produced a strong run to claim a podium place behind France's Amelie Caze, the defending champion, and Egypt's Aya Medany, winner of the 2007 World Cup final. Fell climbed three places in the run, but couldn't quite catch Livingston, finishing just seven seconds behind her team-mate. Spence ended the day in 19th, while Harland climbed through the field, before suffering a calf injury, limping across the finish line in 30th. Heather Fell and Katy Livingston had already achieved the Olympic qualifying standard by virtue of their top-eight finishes at last year's European Cham-pionships. A top-three finish at the World Championships or a top seven position in the Olympic ranking list after the Worlds also achieve the qualifying standard. A total of 36 men and 36 women will compete in the modern pentathlon at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Up to two athletes of each gender from each country can compete, subject to qualification through performances at a series of pre- determined events.
