Natalya Coyle's hopes of a medal in her third Olympic games have been given a boost, after an excellent start to the Modern Pentathlon.
The Meath woman is in third place after the opening day's fencing, where she won 23 of her 35 bouts.
Coyle finished in brilliant form, winning seven of her last eights bouts, leaving her with 238 points, enough to see her level in third place with Uliana Batashova of the Russian Olympic Committee.
Setting the pace is Annika Schleu of Germany who won 29 of her bouts for 274 points, while Korea's Sehee Kim is in second on 244. She's just six points ahead of Coyle, who is looking to build on her 9th and 6th place finishes in London and Tokyo respectively.
The action concludes tomorrow with swimming, shooting, showjumping and cross-country events.
Phenomenal start to modern pentathlon by @Natalyacoyle to take third in 🤺Rest of the comp is tomorrow. She’s bidding to make the podium after 2 previous Top 10 Olympic finishes - incredibly talented, durable & consistent #TeamIreland https://t.co/ekJUuYnoxZ
— clÃona foley (@ponyyelof) August 5, 2021
Elsewhere at the games, Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire have boosted their chances of a medal in the golf.
They're both four-under-par and tied for 11th after two rounds in Tokyo.
Meadow had a five-under round of 66 today with Maguire signing for a round of 67.
World number one Nelly Korda double bogeyed the last but has a four shot lead at 13-under.
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