Talking to Steve Ballinger from Matchtight Ltd about how I got involved in Modern Pentathon, my training and reaching the qualifying standard for London 2012

After a very stressful journey we arrived in Moscow late last night. We had to wrestle to get through customs and then a three hour wait in the airport to report the missing luggage! Got to love Russia!
We had a very early start this morning with our bus departing at 7.45 am Moscow time (4.44am British time!) with a short bus journey to the venue. It is a very impressive venue with all 5 events taking place under the same roof!
The day started with a very long fencing session (of around 3 and a half hours!) with a lot of hold ups due to equipment etc. It was a mix of emotions, some moments of brilliance which was then quickly followed and overshadowed by some serious lapses of concentration! I finished on a score of 18 victories 18 defeats which equates to 832 pentathlon points.
I followed this with a disappointing swim of a 2.21. I am hoping this was down to a lack of adrenaline which will hopefully be different in two days time in the final!
I started the combined in 17th position but all the placings were very close so the race was on as only the top 18 went through to the final. My shooting was strong which helped me climb up through the field, as on this tight run course overtaking was fairly difficult! I came out of the last shoot in 8th position and comfortably ran the last 1k loop to finish the day in 5th position.
In all a fairly successful day today, qualifying for Saturday’s final but there is definitely still areas for improvement. The three other British girls: Mhairi Spence, Heather Fell and Katy Burke are also all through to the final.
Bring on Saturday!

For full results visit UIPM Website

Final track session in Font Romeu completed. Always good to end on a positive note!! Now out for a team meal then home tomorrow