TAVISTOCK's Heather Fell rounded off a terrific weekend for British modern pentathlon by striking gold at the World Cup at Millfield in Somerset on Sunday. The 25-year-old sealed her victory with a strong cross-country run to win her first World Cup gold and her second World Cup medal. 'I'm ecstatic,' said a delighted Heather. 'I went into the comp-etition hoping for a top-eight finish so to win it was great. I had a bit of a shocker in the run in the semi-final on Friday. I felt quite heavy and I only just made it into the final, which knocked my confidence a bit. I was excited just to be in the top 36, so to win it today is brilliant.' The modern pentathlete follows in the footsteps of fellow Tavistock pent-athlete Kate Allenby, who won a magnificent bronze in the Olympics Games held in Sydney in 2000. Heather, who won the 2003 World Junior Championships, but then suffered a series of injuries, put together an outstanding sequence in the five modern pent- athlon disciplines today, including shooting a personal best, swimming her best time of the year and completing one of only two clear rounds in the riding arena. Jan Bartu, Pentathlon GB's performance director, said: 'Nobody could come close to Heather in the run today. It was a fantastic finish to the competition. 'She struggled a bit in the fencing, but she recovered in the second half and that was crucial for her confidence. Her swim was fantastic and she produced the best ride of the day.' Heather told the Times: 'I am just very, very excited. It's funny, I've come home and it's almost like it never happened — but it's certainly helped towards me getting to Beijing. I'm actually having a day off today, but tomorrow I'm straight back into it because this year is so important. Heather said her victory at Millfield was 'completely unexpected.' 'I fell off during a riding lesson last Wednesday so I've been feeling very sore. I had lots of painkillers and osteo treatment which got me through, but I literally only just made it. 'Only 18 girls out of 72 can make it into the semi final and I was 17th — at one stage I really didn't think I was going to make it. From scraping in on Friday to actually winning was a complete shock. Its been a really big boost to my confidence. The pressure has really been on me, there's been more expectation and the performances weren't coming, so this is fantastic,' she said. Heather produced a strong performance in the final discipline of the day – the 3k cross-country – to win gold. She went into the run with the most points accumulated from the other four disciplines, which means she set off first on the run with a 10- second advantage over Egypt's Aya Medany. But Heather's gold never looked in doubt – she led throughout the race, extending her lead to cross the finishing line to win by 14 seconds. Heather, who achieved the Olympic qualifying standard for Beijing 2008 by winning silver at last year's European Championships, won her only other World Cup medal – a bronze – in Moscow in May last year. She had taken the initiative early on, shooting 188 from a maximum possible 200 to score 1192 modern pentathlon points. Her tally – a personal best — included five consecutive 10s from her first six shots to put her joint top of the leader board with Greece's Donna Vakalis and Anna Arkhipenka of Belarus. Heather led the British challenge in 14th on 1952, netting 760 points from her 15 victories and 20 defeats in the fencing salle. Lithuania's Donata Rimsaite led the way after two disciplines on 2072 points but Heather continued her consistent series in the pool, clocking a time of 2mins 14.05secs to finish fourth in the fastest heat of the 200m freestyle. That gave her 1312 points, taking her total to 3264 and pushing her up to sixth in the overall rankings with two disciplines remaining. Egypt's Aya Medany – the 2007 World Cup Final champion - led the field with 3292 points after three disciplines. The equestrian element of the modern pentathlon can be notoriously unpredictable with riders allocated their horses by drawing lots and only having 20 minutes with their horse before going into the show jumping arena. But that didn't stop Heather, who produced the perfect ride to top the leader board at the end of the fourth discipline. She was paired with GV, a seven-year-old chestnut mare, and produced a clear round in 67 seconds to bag 1,200 modern pentathlon points.  It was one of just two clear rounds in the final.  That gave her a total of 4464 points – putting her 40 points clear of Medany and giving her a 10-second head start over the Egyptian for the 3k run. Heather is now due to compete in the Madrid world cup event next Wednesday — the world championships are being held a month later, at which a final decision on the UK Olympic team membership will be made.