VIDEO: Mhairi enjoys psychological battle
MENTAL strength is as crucial as physical prowess when it comes to the modern pentathlon.
It is a sports contest which sees competitors participate in five events in one day — pistol shooting, épée fencing, 200m freestyle swimming, show jumping, and a 3km cross-country run.
Getting off to the best possible start in the fencing is key for new world champion Mhairi Spence, who believes a lot of the battle can be won psychologically.
“It’s important to reserve as much energy as possible throughout the day and staying level headed with emotions is vital,” she said.
“If I have a good fencing event then it builds up my confidence for the rest of the day.
“Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses and I consider fencing a strength of mine so a good start pushes me on.”
Despite the intense pressure associated with all competitive sports, Spence prides herself in being one of the happiest people in the British ranks.
“Obviously everyone has their down days and when you are training as much as we do for sport, it makes you pretty tired but I try to be quite a jolly character and not take myself too seriously,” she added.
“Even at contests I spend the whole day smiling because I perform best when I’m happy and smiling — that’s all apart from when I’m running because I’m probably grimacing then!”