The Athens 2004 Olympic bronze medallist, who celebrated her 29th birthday yesterday, won the title in what was her first competition of the year.
 
The event was particularly significant for British athletes as it marked the start of the qualifying process for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

 

“It's an absolutely tremendous result,” said Dominic Mahony, the Olympic team manager. 

 

“It's brilliant to see Georgina take gold at her first event of the year.

 

"We're extremely proud of her performance.”
 
Harland, understandably delighted, said: “It means an awful lot to win today, to be on home soil surrounded by my family and everyone that has supported me over the past few years.

 

"Although I've medalled numerous times since Athens, it's great to actually be on top of the podium again.”
 
Britain had a superb start to the day’s events at Millfield School in Street, Somerset, with four of the seven British athletes in the final all shooting 180 or above.

 

Of all the disciplines, this was the one that Harland was particularly pleased with. “To have two strong shoots at this event was a great achievement for me," she said.

 

"I know that if I can score 170 or above, it puts me in a very good position for the rest of the competition".
 
Consistent performances in the first three disciplines put Harland in the top ten going in to the ride, with a further three athletes from the British contingent in the top 20.

 

Leading them all was Mhairi Spence, silver medallist at last year's Junior World Championships, who put in fantastic performances in the shoot, fence and swim disciplines.
 
Harland's experience in the ride really paid off as she took one of only two clear rounds of the day, moving her up to fourth overall.

 

“The ride is where many points are won and lost.," she said.

 

"It's hugely influential to the overall results." 
 
A good ride from Mhairi meant she maintained her lead going into the final phase of the pentathlon, a 3,000 metres run.
 
For this discipline, the difference in points from the first four phases is translated into seconds (one second for every four points), meaning a staggered start, with the athlete in first position after the ride, first off the gun at the start.
 
“It makes for a really exciting finish as whoever crosses the line first is the overall winner,” explained Spence, who with her exceptional performance today, was fortunate enough to be in this position herself.
 
However, Harland started only a few seconds behind.

 

Known for her blistering performance in Athens where she moved up 11 places to claim Olympic bronze, making up a few seconds today seemed more than achievable.
 
Sure enough after the first lap she was leading the field and finished 75m ahead of  Kazakhstan's Lada Jienbalanova with Sylwia Czwojdzinska from Poland finishing third and Spence in an impressive fourth place.
  
Modern Pentathlon Association of Great Britain performance director, Jan Bartu said: “Both Georgina and Mhairi dominated this competition.

 

"They performed spectacularly well today against the world's best pentathletes.
 
“This World Cup has been an excellent demonstration of the strength of the British team.

 

"We had 12 athletes on the starting grid, seven in the final and three in the top ten.

 

"It puts our pentathletes in a very strong position in a year of Olympic qualification."