Heather Fell (born 3 March 1983 in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, England) is a former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

modern pentathlete The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anc ...

turned triathlete. She competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, winning the silver medal in the women's modern pentathlon event.

Early life

Fell grew up in

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13,028 ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, where she was taught to

ride Ride may refer to: People * MC Ride, a member of Death Grips * Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut * William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Ride'' (1998 film), a 1998 comedy by Millicen ...

and

shoot In botany, a plant shoot consists of any plant stem together with its appendages, leaves and lateral buds, flowering stems, and flower buds. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop. In the spri ...

, both disciplines in the pentathlon, by the parents of the 2000 Olympic pentathlon bronze medallist

Kate Allenby Katherine Fiona “Kate” Allenby MBE (born 16 March 1974) is a British modern pentathlete who competed in two Summer Olympics, taking the bronze medal at the 2000 Games and placing in 8th place in 2004. She has won medals at four World Cha ...

. Heather has a degree in physiotherapy from

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June 1 ...

Career

After initial success at junior level, including two gold and one silver medal in the 2003 World Junior Championships in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Fell nearly gave up the sport in 2006 when, due to a series of

shin splint A shin splint, also known as medial tibial stress syndrome, is pain along the inside edge of the shinbone (tibia) due to inflammation of tissue in the area. Generally this is between the middle of the lower leg and the ankle. The pain may be dull ...

injuries, her funding was cut by

UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created ...

. She described this as giving her "the kick up the arse I needed", and, forced to stop training at the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

's facilities due to the cost of living in the city, she moved back home with her parents, funding her continued training with three part-time jobs; as a swimming coach, a barmaid and a physiotherapist. Her funding was not restored until she qualified for the Olympics. 2007 brought her first medal success in a World Cup event, with bronze in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Fell won an individual silver medal at the 2007 European Championships in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, reaching the Olympic qualifying standard in doing so. She also won a gold medal as part of the relay team, with

Katy Livingston Katy Livingston (born 10 January 1984 in Guisborough, England) is a British modern pentathlete who has competed at the Olympic Games. Early life Whilst at school she was a member of the running club, New Marske Harriers and swimming club, Saltb ...

and Georgina Harland. In 2008 Fell won medals at two events on the World Cup circuit, gold at Millfield and bronze in

Kladno Kladno (; german: Kladen) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 67,000 inhabitants. It is the largest city in the region and together with its adjacent suburban areas has a population of more than 110,000. ...

. In Kladno she went into the final discipline, the run, in 5th place, but moved up two positions with a personal best, she had also set a PB in the swimming. At the World Championships, in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, she finished just outside the medals in 4th place in the individual event but picked up silver medals as a member of the squads in team event, with Georgina Harland and

Mhairi Spence Mhairi Spence (born 31 August 1985) is a British modern pentathlete. She has won a series of medals at European and World Championships, but was not selected for the 2008 Summer Olympics by the British team due to the limited number of places ...

, and team relay event, with Katy Livingston and Spence.

2008 Olympic Games

At the

, in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Fell won the silver medal in the women's individual event, behind

Lena Schöneborn Lena Schöneborn (born April 11, 1986 in Troisdorf, West Germany) is a German pentathlete, who won the gold medal in the Modern Pentathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She is living in Berlin and besides Pentathlon she is studying Marketing. She ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In the first discipline, the air pistol

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

, she scored 185 out of a possible 200, this corresponded to 1156 points and 6th place. Results of 880 points in the

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

, 1328 points in the

freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of swimming competition, defined by the rules of the International Swimming Federation (FINA), in which competitors are subject to a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most commo ...

, and 1144 points in the

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...

followed, leaving her in 2nd position, with a 19-second deficit on leader Schöneborn, heading into the 3000 m run. Fell completed the run in 10 minutes 19.24 seconds, a time worth 1244 points, giving her a final total of 5752 points. Despite closing the gap on Schöneborn by 9 seconds she was unable to catch her and take victory. She said after the medal ceremony, "It's pretty obvious that I don't regret deciding to stick with it."

Triathlon

In January 2014 Fell announced her retirement to pursue a career in media. She took up

ironman triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consider ...

and came second in the 30-34 women's category at the 2017 Standard Bank African Championship - qualifying for Kona in her first ironman distance race. She subsequently finished 36th in her age category at the 2017

Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

As of late 2017 Heather has been co-presenting content on the Global Triathlon Network YouTube channel. In 2018 Heather became European Sprint Triathlon Champion in the 35-39 women's age category at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow.

References

External links