IT WAS A FAMOUS day for Irish modern pentathlon as Natalya Coyle, Eilidh Prise and Sive Brassil combined to claim women’s team silver at the European Championships in Székesfehérvár, Hungary.
All three enjoyed their highest-ever individual finishes at senior European level: World no.5, Coyle, finished 5th in the individual standings, with Prise and Brassil 11th and 21st respectively.
Their results combined, Ireland climbed aboard the podium as team medallists behind only the host nation who took gold. France rounded off the top three.
Today’s silver was Prise’s second of these Europeans: she and Kate Coleman had already secured the same colour in the women’s relay on the opening day.
2015 European champion Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe will bid to add to Ireland’s haul in the men’s individual final on Sunday.
“We’re all really, really happy,” said Coyle, a top-10 finisher in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.
It’s the first time we’ve had three girls in the final and to come away with a medal shows the fantastic progress we are making. Eilidh and Sive already won a relay silver so it’s been a great championships.
“I was also really happy to get my highest-ever individual position, and it’s been such a great season so far. I’ve exceeded all my expectations, 100%, and I’m just delighted.”
The Europeans will be a qualifying event for the Olympics in 2019.
Ireland’s elite pentathletes have enjoyed quite the summer: Lanigan-O’Keeffe took bronze in the prestigious World Cup Final last month in Astana, Kazakhstan, adding to his gold in the final event of the regular season in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Coyle earned silver in Sofia and narrowly missed out on a top-three finish in Astana, while Prise made quite the impression at the recent World University Championships in Budapest, finishing sixth in the individual and fourth in the mixed relay alongside Michael Healy.
Back in May, Coleman joined forces with Healy to grab silver in the mixed relay at the World Cup event in Kecskemet, Hungary.
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