Coyle on track for Olympic Qualification

Natalya Coyle finished 21st 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 1st 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 23rd 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 7th fastest in the whole field and moved her up to 18th 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 16th.

Starting 16th 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 21st 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 10th 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 1st. Once confirmed, Coyle will be able to celebrate her qualification on her return to Dublin when she will carry the Olympic torch on Wednesday 6th June.
Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe and Eanna Bailey will represent Ireland in the men's competition in China tomorrow. This is the first year that Ireland will have male representation in the World Cup Final after impressive performances during the 2012 World Cup series by both athletes. Lanigan-O'Keeffe represents Pentathlon Ireland's best chance of qualifying a second athlete to the London 2012 Olympic but will need the performance of his career to make his ambition a reality.