2011 Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final Preview

The 2011 Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final is being held in London this weekend. This is the culmination of the 2011 World Cup competitions held in USA, Italy, Hungary and China with the top 36 ranked athletes after the four competitions qualifying of this event. This competition will act as the test event for the London 2012 Olympic Games and also doubles as a qualification competition as the winner will qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Ireland will be represented at the World Cup Final by Natalya Coyle. The 20year old Meath athlete will go into the competion as the 31st ranked athlete after finishing 21st in the USA and 25th in China.

This is the second year running Natalya will compete in the World Cup final after her surpirse inclusion in last years event which saw her attend the competition without any coaches. "For Natalya, last year was all about gaining experience at senior level and for us World Cup Final wasn't even on the radar so we, her coaches, were already committed to other events and unable to attend. She went the the World Cup Final in Moscow alone but under the wing of the British team. It was a really hard experience for her but she came through it and she is definately a more determined athlete because of having to cope alone" say Performance Director, Lindsey Weedon.

With significant improvements in her performances and elevated expectations, this year's World Cup series was a completely different ball game with a major goal being qualification for the World Cup Final. Thankfully Natalya's performances in the USA and China were enough to see her qualify and she will compete in London this weekend with a full coaching team present. In a reversal of last year's competition, the young Irish athlete is looking forward to having the support of her coaches and other followers at the event. "This is the first competition where I'll have home support. My family and some close friends are coming over for the competition so it'll be great to have some friendly faces in the crowd".

Natalya has recently enjoyed good results at some warm up competitions, finishing in 14th in the Polish Open and 9th in the Hungarian National Championships. She has been training in Bath this week and making her final preparations for the weekend. "My preparations have been pretty good. I was able to go and compete in some lower level competitions which has given me loads of confidence. Of course I'm a little bit nervous about the competition as it's the test event for the London Olympics but it's also a really exciting thing to be a part of. It really brings home the idea that the Olympics is really just round the corner."

The men's competition will run on Saturday 9th July while the women will compete on Sunday. The swimming and fencing events are being held at Crystal Palace, while the riding and combined event will be held at Greenwich Park.