By Ben Baker, Sportsbeat
OLYMPIC bronze medallist Georgina Harland believes Heather Fell faces one of the toughest tests of her career to reach London 2012 - but she is in no doubt she'll pass it with flying colours.
The 28-year-old maintained Britain's streak of winning at least one medal at every Olympics since women's modern pentathlon was introduced in 2000 by claiming silver in Beijing in 2008.
However Fell's chances of becoming the second British female to compete at back-to-back Games are fast running out with less then four months of the London 2012 qualifying period left.
Her biggest miss came at July's European Championships, where as many as eight places were up for grabs, as she finished 23rd with fellow Brit Freyja Prentice coming eighth to secure an Olympic qualifying standard.
Fell must now perform at May's World Championships where three places are on offer or rely on global rankings, which decided eight, but Harland believes the situation will bring the best out of Fell, ranked tenth overall.
"Heather might not have had the best of time of it recently and she is probably under more pressure than she has ever been before," said Harland - who won Olympic bronze in Athens in 2004.
"But I would never rule her out as she has the talent and has done it before and that counts for a lot. She is a big game player and she always performs on the big stage when the pressure is on.
"And that is what makes her such a strong athlete so even if she might not be at the head of the pack right now it would be silly to say she is done for, far from it.
"During her career she has always delivered when it has mattered most and with an Olympic spot up for grabs I imagine it will be another perfect time to pull it out of the bag when it matters.
"She showed she is a championship performer with her medal at Beijing and I certainly wouldn't be betting against her this time around."
Britain have a rich modern pentathlon history at the Olympics with Fell's silver in 2008 following on from medals from Stephanie Cook and Kate Allenby in 2000 and Harland's bronze in 2004.
And Harland, speaking at a P&G ‘nearest & dearest roadshow in Bath, believes if Fell is selected for London then she will be more than capable of ensuring such a medal run continues.
"As a nation we have had real success for women with Stephanie and Kate in 2000, myself in 2004 and then Heather in 2008 so there is a bit of pressure on the group for London 2012," she added.
"But having watched the girls and guys this year and last I think they all have real potential and are well capable of continuing this great tradition we are building up."
Georgina Harland was speaking at the Bath leg of the ‘nearest & dearest' roadshow in partnership with P&G - supporting family and friends of all Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes in the lead up to London 2012. Visit www.pgproudsponsorofmums.co.uk for more information.
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