UCD student Lanigan O'Keeffe claims gold for Ireland at pentathlon World Cup event

Posted May 30, 2017 

UCD student Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe and Natalya Coyle have won the gold medal in the mixed relay at the modern pentathlon World Cup IV event.

Ad Astra elite athlete and two-time Olympian Lanigan O’Keeffe and Coyle finished with 1,436 points, beating Germany and Kazakhstan to first place.

The duo finished first in the opening event of fencing, claiming victory in 30 of their bouts. They followed up with a second place in the swimming event, clocking a time of 1 min 57.56 secs.

They finished ninth in the riding event after they gave up 30 penalty points to Hungary. But a strong finish in the combined running and shooting, Laser-Run, event gave them enough points to secure the gold medal.

Pictured homepage: UCD student Arthur Lanigan O'Keefe and Natalya Coyle celebrate after they claimed a gold medal for Ireland in the mixed relay at the modern pentathlon event in Drzonkow, Poland. Image: Twitter/@Pent_Ireland

The event at Drzonkow, Poland, was the fourth World Cup competition in the series after earlier rounds in Los Angeles, Cairo and Kecskemet. The final takes place in Lithuania from June 22-25.

Bye bye Demons of Rio, here comes Tokyo 2020!! World Cup 4 CHAMPIONS! Thanks (opens in a new window)@Natalyacoyle for being the best partner (opens in a new window)#BOOM #?? (opens in a new window)pic.twitter.com/lCODdWZ8YP

— Arthur LOK (@ArthurLOK1) (opens in a new window)May 29, 2017

Both Arthur Lanigan O’Keeffe and Natalya Coyle had top-ten finishes in individual events at the Olympic Games last year in Rio last year. UCD (opens in a new window)Sport and Exercise Management BSc student Lanigan O’Keeffe finished eighth and Coyle finished seventh.

By: Jamie Deasy, digital journalist, UCD University Relations