Heather Fell, Olympic modern pentathlete silver medalist, writes about her life 'on and off' the track.

LAST week I was flying off to Moscow for the invitational Kremlin Cup and, as the sole Brit to be invited, I was travelling alone to an international pentathlon for the first time. You might think I'd be a well-seasoned traveller by now; however I was a little worried after not only missing my flight a week ago but also the last flight I took out of Heathrow terminal five. I gave myself an extremely generous time allowance so there was no chance I was going to miss this one!

My relaxed feeling soon disappeared when I reached the other end, even though this was my fifth visit to Russia, the country and its people never fail to put me slightly on edge. After a worryingly long wait at the airport eventually an expressionless man in a shiny grey suit and carrying a briefcase confirmed my name and led me out of the terminal. I timidly followed, lugging my large pentathlon bag behind me. Having had no eye contact or any words exchanged (not even in Russian) we stood outside in the rain. I was then put into a private taxi and thankfully — even if only in Russian — the driver chatted away to me in a friendly tone. I woke up a couple of hours later and to my relief we had arrived at the hotel. My worries weren't over yet though — it turned out I'd managed to lose the departure part of my landing card which I was then told is as important as a passport when it comes to leaving the country. I wasn't reassured by the numerous times I was told not to worry! Luckily, for whatever reason, I made it back through border control but my heart skipped a beat when I arrived at the gate and had my boarding pass taken off me. However, it couldn't have been a better outcome. Out of the blue I was upgraded to business class — wahoo!