PENTATHLON Natalya Coyle to compete at the World Cup Final

Natalya Coyle will be the first ever pentathlete to represent Ireland at the World Cup Final event being held in Moscow this Saturday June 19th 2010.

Natalya, who is currently ranked 24th on the World Junior Ranking list and 61st on the Senior World rankings, is part of the Pentathlon Ireland High Performance Programme that aims to qualify pentathletes for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

According to Natalyas coach Lindsey Weedon, ‘2010 was a year that we had set aside for athletes to gain experience at competing at the highest level so that when the Olympic qualification period begins our athletes will be sufficiently prepared and know exactly what to expect. For Natalya, this weekend at the World Cup final will be the biggest competition of her pentathlon career so far. It really is a remarkable achievement for the Trinity College student to qualify for the World Cup Final in just her first year of competing at such a high level’.

The Modern Pentathlon World Cup series 2010 has had 5 gripping competitions; Mexico, Cairo, Medway, Hungary and Berlin. The top 36 ranked athletes at the end of this series are invited to the World Cup Final in Moscow.
Natalya finished 19th in the Mexico World Cup giving her a significant number of World Cup ranking points which saw her reach 51st in the World Cup standings after the five competitions. Because only two athletes per nation can compete at the World Cup Final, it means that Natalya Coyle will be the first ever pentathlete to represent Ireland at the World Cup Final.

‘Natalya will be competing against much higher ranked athletes this weekend but has been in good form in recent weeks where she finished 14th at the Junior European Championships. In a sport like pentathlon you can never rule surprises out and if you’re on the start line there’s always a chance. The show jumping event for pentathlon often causes some upsets - athletes are provided with an unknown horse and given twenty minutes to 'get to know their horse. They then have to complete a 1.20m show jumping course. This unknown element has the potential to catch some athletes out. Thankfully Natalya is an excellent rider and has already demonstrated her skills in this event where she won the riding event at the Junior European Modern Pentathlon Championships. Natalya's skills as a rider will be an advantage that she will hope to capitalise on’, said Weedon.

The Pentathlon Ireland High Performance Programme has received some financial assistance from the Irish Sport Council's High Performance Unit and the Olympic Council of Ireland however at present athletes have to fund themselves for training and competitions. We are always looking for ways to raise funds to ensure that our talented athletes can develop in the hope of qualifying for the London 2012 Olympic Games

For more information about pentathlon:

www.pentathlon.org -  this is the Union International de Pentathlon Modern

http://www.pentathlon.org/images/Pentathlon_itog.pdf - the official programme for the World Cup Final

www.mpaireland.com – the Pentathlon Ireland website

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