Cook's recipe for a happy ending

Stephanie Cook has decided to quit the sport in July

Sydney's modern pentathlon gold medallist Stephanie Cook tells BBC Sport Online she wants to bow out in style at the World Championships in July.

Sport isn't fair. Hit a small ball around a park with a stick and you can earn millions. Excell in five different disciplines and few know your name.

Britain's Stephanie Cook won modern pentathlon gold on the last day of the Sydney Olympics, but less than a year on, she's preparing for her last hurrah.

The qualified doctor competes in Bath from Friday in her first international competition in Britain since her Olympic triumph.

But the World Championships at Millfield in July will be her last major event before resuming her career in medicine.

I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't motivated and I still enjoy competing

  Stephanie Cook

"From January I turned my mind back towards pentathlon with a view to carrying on to the World Championships," says Cook.

"After that I'll be going back to medicine."

Focused

Despite the career change, or perhaps because of it, Cook maintains she is totally focused on her final challenge.

"I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't motivated and I still enjoy competing. I want to do the best I can in every competition.

"I may not be as well prepared as I was going into the Olympics after injury but I'm going to give it everything.

Cook has competed since Sydney, finishing second in Paris and Hungary.

Comforting

"We won the team event at both, as well as the team relay in Hungary, so I'm doing quite well," says Cook.

With Cook looking to retirement, it is comforting to know modern pentathlon will be in safe hands once she's gone.

"Georgie Harland has been competing exceptionally well, Sian Lewis finished second to Georgie in Mexico and Kate Allenby's coming back from injury," says Cook.

Despite her success and brush with fame, Cook knows pentathlon is still shamefully underexposed in this country.

Attention

"In the three months post-Olympics there was an awful lot of media stuff, as well as charity work," admits Cook.

"But pentathlon's a funny sport, so although I've had a fair amount coverage it's still low profile.

"I'm not completely convinced how many people will turn up to watch in Bath but I'm hopeful that we'll attract a bit of attention."

It's a tragedy for modern pentathlon that Stephanie Cook is so talented in her chosen field, but pentathlon's loss is medicine's gain.