Pentathlon World Cup China

Natalya Coyle finished 21^st in the 2012 World Cup Final in China today. The 21-year-old athlete headed into today’s competition occupying a qualification position for the Olympic Games but given the unpredictable nature of the sport, Coyle was not taking anything for granted.  Today’s result seems to be enough to keep her within the qualification positions but this will only become official on June 1^st when UIPM release the official list of qualified athletes.

Coyle’s competition day didn’t begin well, fencing well below her usual level scoring just 14 victories from 35 bouts and giving her 736 pentathlon points for 23^rd position.

An outstanding performance from the outside lane of heat three saw Coyle post a time of 2:19.46, just shy of her personal best. With other athletes posting slower than usual times, Coyle capitalized and finished 7^th fastest in the whole field and moved her up to 18^th position overall.

Placing in the top 18 before the riding gives athletes an advantage of being able to watch their horse being ridden by a fellow athlete in the first round. Coyle’s horse was first into the arena with a Chinese athlete and performed well, knocking just one fence. With many riders knocking fences and having problems on their draw, Coyle was confident of a good performance in the ring. A lack of impulsion into fence 5 and 6 cost her 40 points but still moved her up the overall placings to 16^th.

Starting 16^th in the combined run/shoot event, Coyle shot well on her first series and maintained her position into the first run lap. A disastrous second shoot dropped her down the field and she worked hard to get back places on the second kilometer. A final third shoot was better but Coyle was unable to make up any ground and crossed the line in 21^st position.

Twenty first position saw Coyle improve her Olympic ranking points and with only one athlete significantly improving their ranking from today’s competition, Coyle now sits 10^th on the clean list with 13 athletes to qualify from the ranking list. The official list of qualified athletes won’t be published by the UIPM until June 1^st. Once confirmed, Coyle will be able to celebrate her qualification on her return to Dublin when she will carry the Olympic torch on Wednesday 6^th June. 

2012 World Cup Final, China

Saturday 26^th May – Women’s Final

Sunday 27^th May – Men’s Final

 

The 2012 World Cup Final will be streamed live at:

• www.pentathlon.org

 

For further information about 2012 Cup Final:

• www.pentathlon.org
• www.pentathlon.ie
• Facebook: search ‘Pentathlon Ireland’ pages
• Twitter: @Pent_Ireland

 

 

2012 Dates

 

• 8^th – 11^th March – World Cup 1. Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
• 15^th – 18^th March –  World Cup 2. Rio De Janerio, BRAZIL
• 12^th – 15^th April – World Cup 3. Budapest, HUNGARY
• 19^th – 22^nd April – World Cup 4. Rostov, RUSSIA
• 7^th – 13^th May – World Championships. Rome, ITALY
• 26^th-27^th May – World Cup Final. Chegdu, CHINA
• 31^st May – End of Olympic Qualification period
• 1^st June – Confirmation of athlete qualified for London 2012 Olympic Games
• 5^th June – Pentathlon Ireland Media Day for qualified athletes – TBC
• 4^th – 10^th July – European Championships, Sofia, BULGARIA
• 11^th August – Olympic Games Modern Pentathlon Men’s event
• 12^th August – Olympic Games Modern Pentathlon Women’s event

 

 

 

Three athletes will represent Ireland at the 2012 World Cup Final. For the third year running, Natalya Coyle has qualified for the women’s competition while Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe and Eanna Bailey will make their debuts in the Men’s competition after impressive results during the 2012 World Cup series which saw the athletes compete in the USA, Brazil, Hungary and Russia.

Coyle, whose best World Cup finish was in Russia where she finished in 10^th position, will be looking to perform well to boost her ranking in the final Olympic qualification competition. The 21 year old Co. Meath athlete, currently stands in a good position to be on the start line in London 2012 but will not be resting on her laurels as she aims to improve her ranking position to ensure Olympic qualification.

Lanigan-O’Keeffe finished 25^th on the World Cup standings after an impressive World Cup series, finishing 25^th in the USA, 20^th in Brazil and 22^nd in Hungary. As the highest ranked Junior athlete in the World Cup standings, Lanigan-O’Keeffe will be heading to China with aims of being one of the youngest athletes in the sport to be competing in London come August. Qualification will be tough and Lanigan-O’Keeffe will need to produce something special to make the grade but after such impressive results earlier in the season the Irish youngster will be confident of his abilities to do so.

Bailey’s qualification to the World Cup Final was boosted by his 14^th in Russian World Cup – the highest World Cup finish for an Irish male athlete to date. He will be heading to China excited about the prospect of competing in his first ever World Cup Final. Bailey has an outside chance of Olympic qualification but he will need be in the hunt for medals to make this a reality.

To have three Irish athletes competing in the World Cup Final in an Olympic year is an incredible achievement for a relatively new High Performance Programme and is a huge reflection of how far the athletes have progressed in a short few years.

 

2012 World Cup Final, China

Saturday 26^th May – Women’s Final

Sunday 27^th May – Men’s Final

 

The 2012 World Cup Final will be streamed live at:

• www.pentathlon.org

 

For further information about 2012 Cup Final:

• www.pentathlon.org
• www.pentathlon.ie
• Facebook: search ‘Pentathlon Ireland’ pages

Twitter: @Pent_Ireland