Natalya Coyle and Eanna Bailey made history in the US on Sunday where they won Ireland’s first medal at a World Cup competition. The pair claimed silver in the mixed relay event of the modern pentathlon in Palm Springs, California.
Both athletes produced an excellent display in the fencing to score 31 victories and 21 defeats for 910 pentathlon points and a share of third place on the leader board.
They then moved on to the swim, where Bailey posted a fantastic 100m split of sub 55 seconds to claim third place in the pool. The time for the pair of 2:01.71 gave them 1,340 pentathlon points and kept them in third spot heading to the riding event.
Coyle, riding “Mo”, knocked one rail while Bailey went clear on “Leap” and their points score of 1,116 was enough for second place in the riding event. A zero score for the Russian team saw the Irish move up the leader board to second place before the final run/shoot event.
Bailey cleared his first shoot series in 9.4 seconds and his second in 11.7 and the Irish athlete powered home to claim the silver medal behind the Hungarian team.
