Any athlete with a speck of ambition will have a goal or series of goals towards which they strive.  Many work in four year cycles – perhaps with an aim to competing at an international tournament.  Others take things one day, and one event at a time, slowly building up to the grand prize. 

For most, the ultimate prize is Olympic gold.  There is no higher honour in sport than to possess that little disc of precious medal with the five rings encrusted upon it.

And for Mhairi Spence, that particular goal sits fine with her.  But she has other ideas for glory beyond the Olympic accolade, as the up-and-coming modern pentathlete told In The Winning Zone when we spoke to her from her training base at the University of Bath.

 “My real aim is to win an Olympic Gold Medal, get interviewed, so people can realise how good I am at being interviewed, and then they will give me Sue Barker's position on A Question of Sport!!”

An interesting ambition, but you never know.  Stranger things have happened –who would have thought little Sue would have ended up on telly each week flirting with Ally McCoist when she trod the grass courts of SW1 back in 1977? 

Of course, Spence, from Farr, near Inverness, was only having a laugh – about A Question of Sport – not the gold medal – because she is the type of person who enjoys a joke, knows when to take a rest from her hectic schedule, and understands the need to find a balance in pretty much everything she does.

You see, being a modern pentathlete is all about balance, both in training and in competition.  With five contrasting disciplines crammed into the one event, it is pivotal to apply equal dedication to each in practice, but at the same time remain focused on the task at hand, as Spence explains.

“The modern pentathlon is a mix of two very physical sports, [swimming and running] two very technical skill based sports, [fencing and pistol shooting], along with the challenge of horse riding as well.  It makes your training day interesting because you are not doing the one thing all the time, you are always doing different sessions, which mixes things up.”

So on a given day she could be in the pool in the morning, on horseback in the afternoon and at the shooting range after dinner.  Plus on top of this Spence is studying for a degree in Coach Education and Sports Development.  And somewhere in between she tries to squeeze in physiotherapy, massage, sports psychology and nutrition sessions.  It is easy to imagine that on any given day Mhairi’s head, and body, could be utterly scrambled by bed-time.

But – here comes the hard part – this is the one thing that Spence absolutely must not allow to happen when it comes to competing.  Meltdown is not an option.

“The overall result is where the main pressure comes from. You do need to put it to the back of your mind because when you’re on the shooting range you cannot be thinking ‘how am I going to run?’ or ‘what place am I going to finish at the end?’ because you have so far to go to get there.  That it is really hard.  You need to try and think of each sport as an individual goal.”

“At the end you can look back and analyse your position, but you have to learn how to focus individually on each sport, and at the end of the day it all comes together.

Mhairi, 22, is obviously adept at finding this balance, as in the last two years she has won bronze at the senior European Championships in 2006, silver at the Junior World Championships 2006, and team gold at the Worlds as well as finishing 6th at the World cup Final in 2007.

With so much experience and achievement at such a young age, it is heartening to think that Spence is still very much a work in progress.  Pentathlon only came into her life in 2000.  Having been a talented runner and swimmer as a child, and growing up with horses, when she took up and excelled in fencing as a teenager the modern pentathlon seemed like a logical step. 

Ironically, she discovered her ‘gift’ was the real deal on her 16th birthday, the day she entered and won her first modern pentathlon.  She moved to Bath in 2003 after finishing high school, and found the transition from schoolgirl to committed student and athlete a tough one.

“When you first come down here you get thrown in at the deep end and you try to struggle through the few first months or so, but then it becomes second nature.  Although I am still studying at university, it is pretty much like a full-time job. I come to uni at 8am and I probably leave at 6pm or 7pm at night. I do different sessions, trying to fit everything in. 

“It is a strain, but it just takes time to get a good balance between social life and training. To start with it was very hard, obviously I was a student and I wanted to do student things but it’s getting the balance right that’s important. The reason I came here was to train, so that’s obviously my number one priority.”

So what motivates her to keep up such a demanding lifestyle?  Most athletes find it difficult enough excelling in one sport, let alone five, all of which are vastly different.

“Sometimes I look at an old picture or medal that I have won and try to think I could do it again, it helps to remember those good times when you are standing on the podium with the national anthem playing.

“Plus being able to travel around and meet lots of people in lots of different places is great. I love what I am doing and I think I am really privileged to get the opportunity to do it. Obviously it’s great to win medals and be on top of the game, but it makes it all worthwhile when you get to travel to different countries and compete, it gives you pride.”

Of course to get to where Mhairi is at the elite end of the sport, it takes a special kind of mentality as well.  When you are competing at the top, there are only minute fractions of a difference between you and your competitors.  In the case of modern pentathlon, you can be unstoppable in four events but if you have one weakness, the more rounded athletes will always win overall.

Mhairi does admit to being slightly behind the pace when it comes to running, but she is working hard to improve and ensure she can mix it with the very best on a consistent basis.  But she remains philosophical when it comes down to her performance, and realises self-fulfilment is as satisfying as a win.

“For me it’s not always about the winning, it’s about taking part and enjoying yourself and pushing yourself to the best of your ability.  If you’re always improving it doesn’t matter what level you are competing at, and that’s why I do sport, to always make myself better and try and be a better person all round, not just on an athletic field.”

So how does she define winning in her context?

“I think it’s about conquering your inner targets you set yourself, it’s these personal things that can make you feel like you have done well.  I can go out and do a really good competition and feel like I had done everything I set myself to do and still come last, but the challenge is the more important thing.

“Pushing yourself to be your best in its own very personal way, that really is winning, that’s what it is about.”

It is a truly mature, positive approach to have.  Her business may be about getting results, but Mhairi knows that it is impossible to win every event.  Although she has picked up some medals along the way, 2007 hasn’t been the best year for her.

“This year I have had a bit of a rollercoaster ride.  I had a lot of targets set for me, as well as expectations, and I didn’t reach a lot of the expectations due to the fact that I couldn’t handle the pressure. I also put too much expectation on myself.”

But everyone has off-days.  It is part of human-nature.  The important thing is being able to deal with defeat and disappointment, and coming back stronger the next time.

“I didn’t have a terrible year, I had some good and bad results, but I think that’s what makes you come out the next day and makes you work hard to reach your goals.

So how does she combat the disappointment of a loss or a poor performance?

“I probably would have a little cry into my pillow on my own when no one realises, then once I am passed the initial depression stage of things I would look back and see where it went wrong and how I could fix it. I would revaluate and start all over again”

Sue Barker shouldn’t start feeling unsteady in her seat yet, but when it comes to a question of sport, Mhairi Spence seems to know all the right answers.

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