Ireland’s Natalya Coyle earned a top-10 position in the fencing ranking round – the opening event of the UIPM 2021 Pentathlon World Cup Final.
The 30-year-old from Meath, who has already qualified for her third Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer, scored 21 victories from her 35 bouts for a share of 8th place alongside Michelle Gulyas of Hungary and Anastasiya Prokopenko of Belarus.
With 226 points Coyle lies 30 points off the lead, held by Amira Kandil of Egypt, heading into tomorrow’s remaining disciplines – swimming, riding and Laser Run.
Competing in an event that mirrors the Tokyo 2020 Olympic format with 36 female and 36 male athletes, Sive Brassil and Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe didn’t fare quite so well on the piste as their Irish team-mate.
Brassil, 27, managed 13 wins for a score of 178 points and a share of 27th place, while two-time Olympian Lanigan-O’Keeffe battled his way to 16 victories (196 points) and a ranking of 21st in the men’s event.
The remaining disciplines in the men’s final in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, follow on Saturday (May 15).
The World Cup Final is the penultimate opportunity for pentathletes to improve their position in the UIPM Olympic Ranking List, which will determine the majority of the remaining qualifiers for Tokyo 2020.
The last qualification competition will be the UIPM 2021 Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships in Cairo, Egypt in June.
For live competition coverage visit UIPM TV, the UIPM website or download the “UIPM Central” app.