Modern Pentathlon

Pierre de Coubertin · 26-05-2018 12:44pm #1

Big things happening for Ireland's modern pentathletes lately.

Natalya Coyle won our first ever senior world cup individual medal (silver) yesterday in Bulgaria.

Arthur Lanigan O'Keeffe is in action in the men's final today - currently leading after 2 disciplines. Unless something bizarre happens like elimination in the ride, he has to be in with a great chance of another podium, at least.

This all follows silver for a pair of far less experienced athletes in the mixed relay at the last world cup leg in Hungary a few weeks ago.

Exiting times.

Pierre de Coubertin · 26-05-2018 8:34pm

Lanigan O'Keeffe wins very impressively to follow up Coyle's silver yesterday. They team up for the mixed relay tomorrow, will be fatigued but among the favorites nonetheless.

Pierre de Coubertin · 28-05-2018 11:21am

Lanigan O'Keeffe & Coyle pulled out of the relay during the fence yesterday

Understandable after the week they each had in their individual events

Pierre de Coubertin · 18-06-2018 1:30pm

World Cup Final from Thursday 21st June in Astana. Top 36 ranked men and women competing - good mentions for Arthur and Tal on the organiser's preview:

UIPM 2018 Pentathlon World Cup Final Astana: find out who is competing

If she is going to retain her crown, Tamara Alekszejev of Hungary will have to overcome four women who have won the most coveted prizes in the sport in the past two years at the UIPM 2018 Pentathlon World Cup Final.

Alekszejev (HUN) has been one of the top performers on the circuit since her breakthrough victory in this event in Vilnius (LTU) 12 months ago, and currently sits at No.3 in the world rankings.

However, the entry list for the Women’s Final at Astana 2018 on June 22 contains a stunning array of the world’s top talent, including Rio 2016 Olympic champion Chloe Esposito of Australia and silver medallist Elodie Clouvel of France.

Reigning champion Alekszejev (HUN) will also be up against her compatriot, 2016 world champion Sarolta Kovacs (HUN), and the woman who succeeded her as the top performer on the planet in 2017, current world No.1 Gulnaz Gubaydullina of Russia.

Competition is sure be fierce from the chasing pack, too, in the shape of world No.2 Anastasiya Prokopenko of Belarus, two-time world junior champion Kim Sunwoo of Korea, in-form Natalya Coyle of Ireland and Laser-Run specialist Ilke Ozyuksel of Turkey.

In the Men’s Final on June 23, Rio 2016 Olympic champion Alexander Lesun of Russia may have had a quiet season in 2018 but he is a proven performer on the big occasion and should not be overlooked from podium predictions.

Korea can be confident of featuring in the medal race as they are represented by 2017 world champion Jung Jinhwa, Pentathlon World Cup Los Angeles winner Lee Jihun and world No.2 Jun Woongtae, who has been the star of the circuit this year with a gold and silver medal in the European legs on the back of a 5th-placed finish in Los Angeles.

Watch out too for perennial contenders such as Pavlo Tymoshchenko of Ukraine and three 2018 Pentathlon World Cup medallists from France – Valentin Belaud, Christopher Patte and Jean-Baptiste Mourcia – as they fly the flag in the absence of 2017 winner Valentin Prades.

Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe of Ireland and Bence Demeter of Hungary will also be in with a chance after strong performances in recent weeks.

Host nation Kazakhstan will be represented by world No.19 Elena Potapenko and Ardak Akhidullayeva in the Women’s Final and world No.21 Pavel Ilyashenko and Vladislav Sukharev in the Men’s Final.

Ireland will be hoping for a third consecutive success in the Mixed Relay on June 24, especially if Coyle and Lanigan-O’Keeffe are fully fit after the individual events.

UIPM 2018 Pentathlon World Cup takes place from June 22-24 in Astana (KAZ). A live stream will be available each day on UIPM TV with up-to-date results available at the UIPM website.

Pierre de Coubertin · 21-06-2018 3:05pm

Good start today in the fencing for the big 2, Coyle 4th and Arthur 8th.

The other Irish girls fared less well in 34th and 35th at the bottom of the rankings, however this is by far the biggest event either of them have been at to date.

Womens event finishes tomorrow, mens' on Saturday, relay on Sunday.

Skid X · 21-06-2018 11:16pm

Nice one PdC, Natalya and Arthur are both showing great form recently, hopefully they can keep it up.

Joe_ Public · 22-06-2018 1:24pm

Looking forward to catching a bit of this today. Been two great competitors for Ireland these past few years, insane level of commitment they have to put in to compete on the international stage. Fair play to RTE for giving it coverage.

Pierre de Coubertin · 22-06-2018 1:33pm

Well, this couldn't really be going much better for Tal:

Standings before the combined run/shoot:

1. KOVACS Sarolta 826
2. ESPOSITO Chloe 813
3. KHURASKINA Ekaterina 809
4. COYLE Natalya 808
5. SERAPINAITE Ieva 802
7. CLOUVEL Elodie 800

1 second off the podium as things stand, mixing it with the gold and silver medallists from Rio. Live coverage of the combined from 1.55pm on www.uipmtv.org if anyone out there interested

Pierre de Coubertin · 22-06-2018 1:37pm

Just to add, Sive Brassil up to 25th now. Elidh Price 32nd.

Joe_ Public · 22-06-2018 1:46pm

Pierre de Coubertin wrote: »

Well, this couldn't really be going much better for Tal:

Standings before the combined run/shoot:

1. KOVACS Sarolta 826
2. ESPOSITO Chloe 813
3. KHURASKINA Ekaterina 809
4. COYLE Natalya 808
5. SERAPINAITE Ieva 802
7. CLOUVEL Elodie 800

1 second off the podium as things stand, mixing it with the gold and silver medallists from Rio. Live coverage of the combined from 1.55pm on www.uipmtv.org if anyone out there interested

Thanks. Not sure if what i'm watching on RTE is actually live or what the schedule is. Will use the official site to be sure I think.

Joe_ Public · 22-06-2018 2:18pm

4th in the end or 5th? Was sure she was booked for a podium finish, that Lithuanian seemed to come out of nowhere at the last laser. Great performance nonetheless.

Pierre de Coubertin · 22-06-2018 2:22pm

4th.

So, so close after running 3rd much of the race and some great shooting.

Looked a horrible surface and very windy.

Girl who passed her for the bronze started way down the field in 24th. Shows the importance of the combined event.

That is still a brilliant result. The winner Chloe Esposito is the Olympic Champion, these athletes should be the ones contending for medals in Tokyo and we have a lively contender in Tal for sure.

Skid X · 23-06-2018 10:04pm

I didn't see it today but Arthur won Bronze, great achievement

http://www.the42.ie/arthur-lanigan-okeeffe-wins-bronze-medal-at-world-cup-4088036-Jun2018/

Pierre de Coubertin · 19-07-2018 6:32pm

Final major competition of what has been a spectacularly successful year for the Irish Modern Pentathletes this week at the Senior European Championships in Budapest.

Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe and Natalya Coyle will probably be looking for podiums after their recent individual medal winning exploits in the World Cup series.

What is so hugely encouraging is the fact that for the first time we are now bringing through other seniors to the top international level. There are 3 other women competing this week, Kate Coleman Lenehan, Sive Brassil and Eilidh Price (the last 2 being young and still very much on the up). Sive, Tal and Eilidh all qualified today for the women’s final on Saturday. Arthur should sail through men’s qualifying tomorrow for his final on Sunday. The week has already been a success actually with Kate and Eilidh winning silver in the women’s relay on Tuesday, beaten by 1 miserable second.

May not mean a lot to the casual observer but the number of medals won this year by the squad, individually and in relays, and more importantly the spread of those medals among more than just the 2 big names, is quite incredible for a country of our size without any real history in the sport.

Pierre de Coubertin · 22-07-2018 10:13am

Another huge landmark in an amazing season yesterday as Ireland won silver in the women’s team event with the 3 finalists coming home 5th, 11th and 21st. First Irish team medal of any kind.

http://www.cardsys.hu/versenyek/2018eb/ewg4fto.htm

Arthur goes today in the mens final.

Pierre de Coubertin · 22-07-2018 6:26pm

9th for Arthur today.

He will be disappointed with a 23rd ranked laser run which dropped him down the field and also an average ride before that - he had been lying 3rd after the swim and fence.

Pierre de Coubertin · 04-09-2018 6:48pm

All this success for the Irish pentathletes is now filtering through to the world ranking lists

Arthur #2 world ranked senior man
3 Irish ladies Tal Coyle, Sive Brassil and Eiledh Price ranked 3, 31 and 33 respectively

A maximum of 2 per gender per country can qualify for the Olympics so a big goal for next year would be to get a second woman qualified for Tokyo. That would really show that the sport here is not just about Arthur and Tal, although they really should both walk qualification assuming no injuries which is a testament to how far they've come.

Joe_ Public · 04-09-2018 6:57pm

Pierre de Coubertin wrote: »

All this success for the Irish pentathletes is now filtering through to the world ranking lists

Arthur #2 world ranked senior man
3 Irish ladies Tal Coyle, Sive Brassil and Eiledh Price ranked 3, 31 and 33 respectively

A maximum of 2 per gender per country can qualify for the Olympics so a big goal for next year would be to get a second woman qualified for Tokyo. That would really show that the sport here is not just about Arthur and Tal, although they really should both walk qualification assuming no injuries which is a testament to how far they've come.

That makes for truly great reading. What's the next major target for these guys? Is the season basically done now?

Pierre de Coubertin · 04-09-2018 7:11pm

Season is over now for Arthur and Tal so they will be quiet now until next year.

Sive is going to the world championships next week in Mexico. As I understand it the others opted out because its at altitude and to have the best chance of a high finish they would have needed to do training camps at altitude during the summer which would have clashed with their events in Europe.

Pierre de Coubertin · 28-09-2018 1:53pm

Pathetic lack of social or any other media promotion but the world laser run championships take place this weekend in Trinity, hosted by the Irish Modern Pentathlon Association (Laser run is the combined run/shoot event in modern pentathlon competitions)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DkE7DxPVsAA-v33.jpg

Pierre de Coubertin · 30-09-2018 7:52am

Great event yesterday in Trinity. Good write up on the UIPM website here

https://www.uipmworld.org/news/uipm-2018-laser-run-world-championships-golden-glory-varley-gbr-and-kardos-hun

Pierre de Coubertin · 27-02-2019 6:02pm

First major modern pentathlon world cup event of the season this week in Cairo. This is the first of 4 world cups leading up to a final in June. That final will be the first Olympic qualification opportunity for European athletes but you need to get into the final based on results at world cups 1-4, so in reality the cycle starts now.

2 Irish in action today in women's qualification. Natalya Coyle qualified comfortably for Friday's final. Sive Brassil out of luck unfortunately.

No Irish men competing.

Pierre de Coubertin · 01-03-2019 11:36pm

Superb performance from Natalya today finishing 2nd in the final of World Cup 1 in Cairo.

What a start to the season!

She is performing at a way higher level of consistency now than she was in the run up to her top 10s in London and Rio.

Joe_ Public · 02-03-2019 12:06am

Pierre de Coubertin wrote: »

Superb performance from Natalya today finishing 2nd in the final of World Cup 1 in Cairo.

What a start to the season!

She is performing at a way higher level of consistency now than she was in the run up to her top 10s in London and Rio.

Great news. Hopefully the launchpad for a big season for her.

Pierre de Coubertin · 02-03-2019 12:31am

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Great news. Hopefully the launchpad for a big season for her.

Absolutely. This year is really about qualification though and then really push on for 2020.

She over achieved in London and Rio - she is going into this cycle as a genuine medal contender. A totally different kind of pressure but she is seems to be in the form of her life.

Joe_ Public · 02-03-2019 9:13am

Pierre de Coubertin wrote: »

Absolutely. This year is really about qualification though and then really push on for 2020.

She over achieved in London and Rio - she is going into this cycle as a genuine medal contender. A totally different kind of pressure but she is seems to be in the form of her life.

Oh yes for sure, it’s really all about tokyo at the end of the day. So i guess the europeans is the big target for the year? What does she need to secure the olympic berth?

There’s a lot of irish athletes who would kill to have that kind of pressure so i hope she relishes it. She has so much experience behind her now, it’s a great place to be in.

Pierre de Coubertin · 02-03-2019 10:57am

Ok its complicated, 36 qualify, max of 2 per country, the full thing is below but in summary you need:

- Win World Cup final June 2019
- Top 8 in Europeans August 2019
- Top 3 not already qualified in 2019 or 2020 Worlds
- Top 6 not already qualified in ranking list as at June 2020 based on results June 2019 to June 2020

......but, where 2 athletes are already qualified from a country, all other athletes from that country are ignored for the purposes of subsequent qualification events/ the ranking list.

So, if say 3 GB athletes finished in the top 8 at the Europeans, GB would get their 2 qualification spots and the 3rd athlete would be disregarded for the purposes of picking the 8 qualifiers from those Europeans, 9th would move up to 8th etc.

Or for example you could be in 20th place on the ranking list on 1 June 2020 but have 15 above you who are either already qualified themselves from the other events or are from countries who already have 2 qualified. That would move you up from 20th to 5th and qualification.

I am certainly not going to say Arthur or Tal cant medal at Worlds, but realistically they would probably be looking at top 8 in the Europeans, and at the same time building their ranking list positions as the plan B. The other Irish girls would be looking at the ranking list I think as their best bet.
_____________

QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXXII OLYMPIAD – Tokyo 2020

QUALIFICATION PLACES The qualification events are listed in hierarchical order of qualification.

1. 2019 UIPM World Cup Final – Tokyo (JPN) One (1) quota place will be allocated to the highest placed athlete of the UIPM World Cup Final Should a Continental Championships take place before the UIPM World Cup Final, the quota place obtained at the World Cup Final takes precedent and the Continental Championships quota place will be allocated to the highest placed athlete at the respective continental event.

2. Continental Championships 20 quota places will be allocated to athletes achieving the following places at the respective Continental Championships to be held during the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019, as follows: • Africa – 1 st place • Asia – 5 highest places with a maximum of one (1) quota place per NOC • Oceania – 1 st place • Pan America – 5 places with a maximum of one (1) quota place per NOC, in the following order: − 2 highest places NORCECA − 2 highest places South America − 1 st place Pan American • Europe - 8 highest places with a maximum of one (1) quota place per NOC

Should the athlete who obtained one (1) of the quota places through the Continental Championships has already qualified via the 2019 UIPM World Cup Final or the 2019 UIPM World Championships, the quota place will be allocated to the next highest placed athlete, not yet qualified, at the respective Continental Championship.

3. 2019 UIPM World Championships Three (3) quota places will be allocated to the three (3) highest placed athletes at the 2019 UIPM World Championships unless previously qualified through the 2019 UIPM World Cup Final or Continental Championships in which case the quota place(s) will be allocated to next highest ranked athlete(s) on the UIPM Olympic World Ranking List of 1 June 2020.

4. 2020 UIPM World Championships Three (3) quota places will be allocated to the three (3) highest placed athletes at the 2020 UIPM World Championships unless previously qualified in which case the quota place(s) will be allocated to next highest ranked athlete(s) on the UIPM Olympic World Ranking List of 1 June 2020.

5. UIPM Olympic World Ranking List of 1 June 2020 - Six (6) quota places will be allocated via the UIPM Olympic World Ranking List as at 1 June 2020 to the first six (6) athletes not already qualified through the above competitions. If one or more of the six (6) athletes has already qualified at a Continental Championships, the 2019 World Cup Final, the 2019 UIPM World Championships, or the 2020 UIPM World Championships, the athletes ranked 7th and thereafter according to the UIPM Olympic World Ranking List (as of 1 June 2020) will be considered qualified by the UIPM Olympic World Ranking instead. The UIPM Olympic World Ranking List comprises eligible ranking competitions taking place during the period 1 June 2019 to 31 May 2020 the calendar of which events will be established and fixed by UIPM and published by 31 December 2018.

6. HOST COUNTRY PLACES The Host Country is guaranteed one (1) quota place per gender, if not otherwise qualified.

7. TRIPARTITE COMMISSION INVITATION PLACES Two (2) Tripartite Commission Invitation Places are made available to eligible NOCs at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in each gender.

Joe_ Public · 02-03-2019 1:04pm

Thanks Pierre, that all seems reasonably straightforward enough.Not sure if it’s answered above but in the event 2 athletes secure qualification is there a chance for others to displace them? From the same country i mean.

Pierre de Coubertin · 02-03-2019 6:46pm

Athletes secure qualification spots for their countries so yes, a third athlete could come into form late and replace someone who actually won the spot. Or to replace an injured qualifier. Same as in showjumping - Ireland's Bertram Allen won the spot for Rio but Greg Broderick was selected to go.

This scenario played out in GB pentathlon before Rio with the girl left out taking to social media talking abut how she felt like her closest and most trusted coaches, the people who had looked after her throughout her career, and who she depended on for everything had taken turns punching her in the face. Brutal stuff.

Joe_ Public · 03-03-2019 11:49am

Pierre de Coubertin wrote: »

Athletes secure qualification spots for their countries so yes, a third athlete could come into form late and replace someone who actually won the spot. Or to replace an injured qualifier. Same as in showjumping - Ireland's Bertram Allen won the spot for Rio but Greg Broderick was selected to go.

This scenario played out in GB pentathlon before Rio with the girl left out taking to social media talking abut how she felt like her closest and most trusted coaches, the people who had looked after her throughout her career, and who she depended on for everything had taken turns punching her in the face. Brutal stuff.

It’s a horrible way to lose out but it’s got to be a good problem for any sport to have. You’ve got to feel a little bit for coaches and others making those decisions, knowing they’ll be breaking someone’s heart and likely destroying a lifetime dream.

The show jumping one was a brave call, whether the right one. Easiest thing was just to pick Allen and no controversy ensues. I guess we don’t have that issue regularly here, just the marathon probably and occasionally boxing too.

Pierre de Coubertin · 10-04-2019 12:03pm

Team Ireland over at World Cup 2 in Bulgaria this week.

Women's qualification today, final Friday. Men's qualification tomorrow, final Saturday.

The 3 Irish women all going ok in the early stages this morning.

Arthur LOK will be having his first competition of the year tomorrow so will very interesting to see how he goes.

Modern Pentathlon

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