She is the second top British modern pentathlete this week to announce her retirement following the decision by Sam Weale, who competed at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, to leave the sport.

"I've had a wonderful career in a sport I love, I never imagined I would be able to do have the opportunity to train full time for my sport," said Fell.

"I take so many happy memories with me.

"I'm now turning my attention to a new and exciting career alongside the different physical challenge of road cycling."

Heather Fell will be best remembered for her silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games ©Getty Images



Fell first burst onto the international scene in 2003 when she won two gold medals and a silver in the World Junior Championships in Athens.

Her sporting career was nearly cut short in 2006 when, due to numerous shin splint injuries, her funding from UK Sport was cut leaving her on the verge of giving up the sport.

Upon returning home to live with her parents in Devon, Fell funded herself through three part-time jobs and began training at her old school, Kelly College in Tavistock.

In 2007 she tasted her first World Cup success, taking bronze in Moscow, before winning individual silver at the European Championships in Riga, Latvia, and gold in the team relay, alongside Katy Livingston and Georgina Harland.

The following year saw Fell secure World Cup gold at Millfield, Somerset, and a bronze in Kladno, Czech Republic, with a fourth place finish in the World Championships in Hungary securing her place in the Team GB squad for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Following her silver medal at the Olympics, Fell topped off 2008 with another silver medal at the World Cup Final in Portugal to end the year ranked number one in the world.

The following years brought further successes for the Briton, including individual silver and team gold at the 2009 European Championships in Germany, a 2009 World Cup silver in China, and team silver in the 2009 and 2010 World Championships.

A disappointing 15th place finish at the 2012 World Championships in Rome meant Heather Fell missed out on a London 2012 spot after teammates Mhairi Spence and Samantha Murray took gold and bronze respectively ©Getty Images



Her final international competition saw her claim silver in the 2012 World Cup Final in China with the result not enough to secure her a spot in Team GB for the 2012 Olympic Games – the two available spots were given to Mhairi Spence and Samantha Murray.

Since missing out on an Olympic spot, Fell has become a regular columnist, feature writer, commentator and journalist and has recently produced a report on the challenges facing retiring athletes which includes interviews with former Bath and England rugby captain Lewis Moody, former England rugby player Brian Moore, Beijing 2008 rowing bronze medallist Stephen Rowbotham and double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes.

Pentathlon GB performance director Jan Bartu paid tribute to Fell's achievements over the years.

"I'd like to wish Heather all the best for the future," he said

"Her successes from her time as a junior up to Olympic, World Championships, World Cups and European Championships speak for themselves.

"It will be sad to see her go.

"Heather has been a very strong athlete and in many ways her competition performances often exceeded expectations from training.

"That's almost unique; it's something not many athletes can do.

"I would never underestimate Heather's desire and will to succeed, which have been inspirational."

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