Fell lands silver after a thriller in Games debut

The 25-year-old from Devon came to the fore last year when she was runner-up in the European Championships and won her first medal on the World Cup circuit, a bronze.

Today she went into the final event, the 3000 metres, in second place behind Lena Schoneborn and although she was unable to overhaul the German she still had plenty to celebrate.

"I had some luck - you have to for five events to go so well," she said. "The crowd helped so much and it has been a great day."

Team-mate Katie Livingston finished seventh and Fell added: "For two Brits to finish in the top seven in our first Olympics shows how strong we are."

Earlier, Fell had recorded her best swimming time of the year before safely negotiating a tricky equestrian course.

Fell's swim, in the 200m freestyle, was spectacular as she came home in the third fastest time in the field to build on a strong display in the fencing and a solid start in the shooting.

An 11th place-finish in the equestrian meant she went into the 3000m starting 19 seconds behind Schoneborn.

In modern pentathlon, the competitors' overall points totals are converted into a time handicap for the run, in which the leader heads out first and the rest of the field follow in staggered starts. The first across the line wins gold and although that proved too much for Fell she did at one stage get within 11 seconds of the German.

Earlier the women's equestrian escaped the farcical scenes which marred the men's event yesterday, when the horses struggled to deal with the combination of a tough course and heavy rain.

None of the 36 competitors managed a clear round as horses refused jumps and unseated their riders. Athletes in the men's competition also claimed the horses - which they do not get to ride beforehand - were not good enough to deal with the demands of the course.

Competition officials denied that, claiming it was an easy excuse for athletes to blame the horses.

Britain's Sam Weale finished in a creditable 10th place ahead of Nick Woodbridge, who was 25th. Both completed relatively respectable rounds in the equestrian but there were some major casualties.

Czech star David Svoboda was in medal contention after the air pistol, fencing and 200m freestyle swim events but his horse demolished a jump in spectacular fashion and he dropped from second place to 31st.