JUST WHEN Britain's modern pentathletes thought things couldn't get any worse - they haven't.

 

But this week's news that their sport's Lottery funding will be modestly increased for the next Olympic cycle has hardly unleashed a riot of joy from competitors still coming to terms with the fact that modern pentathlon will be radically different as from January.

 

To most outsiders, the decision made two weeks ago by the sport's international body to combine two of the five traditional events, shooting and running, into a biathlon-style mixture looks bonkers.

 

It could have been worse - combining swimming and fencing would perhaps have caused even more radical damage to the average pentathlete's psyche.

 

But talking to those involved in the sport, it is clear that most competitors and coaches are still in a state of shock over the International Union of Modern Pentathlon's Big Idea.

 

Harland's new challenge

 

For Georgina Harland (pictured), the 2004 Olympic bronze medallist, January will prove doubly challenging.

 

Not only is she going to have to adapt to the new format herself - as soon as she recovers from the injury which ended her chances of competing at this summer's Beijing Olympics.

 

Harland is also going to have to start offering support to all her rivals in her new role as chair of the sport's Athletes Committee, a position she was voted into at the same conference in Guatemala where the Big Idea came to pass.

 

"This is a big change, and I don't think we completely understand it in terms of what it will mean," Harland said this week in between rehabilitating her right calf and Achilles tendon at the University of Bath's high performance centre.

 

"There's a lot of concern amongst the athletes because it's going to be so different.

 

"The rule change has come in response to the International Olympic Committee's wish for sports to increase their levels of media and spectator interest.

 

"We can only hope it will have the desired effect.

 

"As competitors, we have always believed that finishing the competition with a time-handicapped 3,000 metres run, where the first past the post is the obvious winner, is  a real strength of our sport.

 

"Part of the argument for change has been based on the suggestion that, at the last two Olympic Games, the winner of the women's event has been quite obvious before the final run has started.

 

Striking a fine balance

 

"I'm not sure that was true.

 

"For example, I went into the run at the Athens 2004 Olympics in 14th place and won my bronze by crossing the line in third place.

 

"We know we have a sport which people can fall in love with, because so many spectators have.

 

"Rules evolve in all sports, but you have to strike the balance between sports evolving and retaining the heritage that has been established over many years.

 

"Sometimes there's a fine line between the two."

 

Harland, who turned 30 this year, remains confident that British athletes can maintain their high standing in an event where they have taken four Olympic medals since the women's event was introduced to the Games in 2000 - gold for Steph Cook, silver for Heather Fell and bronze for herself and Kate Allenby.

 

"We have shown we can do it at Olympic level, and I have absolutely no doubt that British athletes will remain strong," she said.

 

"We have the funding in place again to enable us to do the research we will need on the new demands of the sport.

 

"Even running in 1,000 metres stretches rather than a straight 3,000 metres is going to take adjusting to.

 

"But the latest funding package should allow us to keep up Olympic showing.

 

"Money wins medals - it's not rocket science."

 

The tricky new arrangement to the format, however, is far less straightforward.

 

And Harland will have to bring all her diplomatic skills to bear as she travels the world to liaise with her fellow athletes.

 

Clearly, she believes the experience of having 36 athletes running 1,000 metres, then stopping to shoot, then running another 1,000, then stopping to shoot and so on runs the risk of turning the finale into a lottery.

 

And her international colleague Katy Livingston, the world bronze medallist, has already voiced her own concerns about the potentially ruinous effect of wind and rain on the shoot/run/shoot/run/shoot/run.

 

"The top athletes will really struggle to get some experience of the new format before it becomes a full-blown part of the competition," Harland said, before adding ominously:

 

"The first year is going to be a difficult one."

 

Bye bye to the 5p target

 

What makes things even more awkward for Harland and her team-mates is that Britain will host the first World Championships to operate within the new format - at Crystal Palace next August.

 

Among the Brits seeking to make a good home impression three years before the Olympics arrive in London will be Nick Woodbridge, the 22-year-old former world youth champion who made his Olympic debut in Beijing having been able to prepare thanks to his sponsorship with Atos Origin.

 

 "The new rule will make a complete change to the shooting side of things," he said.

 

"We are going to have to operate under new physical pressures, trying to control our heavy breathing.

 

"We have always shot at targets about the size of a 5p piece.

 

"Now we shooting at something more like the circumference of a toilet roll.

 

"We haven't had a proper competition yet under this format, so next year is probably going to be a ropey one.

 

"I don't know how it will all pan out."

 

Britain's Modern Pentathlon performance director, Jan Bartu, is also cautious in his welcome for the new deal.

 

"It is a massive change to combine the two events into one and completely changes the ethos of a sport that was formulated by Baron [Pierre] de Coubertin," Bartu said.

 

"But whatever we feel or would like to do we need to move on and adapt to the changes.

 

"There is no other way at this moment in time."

 

Interesting times, then, for Bartu, Harland and Co.

 

Interesting to the point of fascinating…

 

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the last five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now freelancing and will be writing regularly for insidethegames