Champions Natalya Coyle and Arthur Lanigan-O'Keefe

Sarasota gold for Natalya Coyle

Meath woman Natalya Coyle and her partner Arthur Lanigan-O'Keeffe won gold in the Mixed Relay at the Modern Pentathlon World Cup in Sarasota, Florida last night.

The duo produced a fine display in the Combined event win to go one better than the silver medal they won 12 months ago.

This time around the Irish duo took the gold ahead of Belarus pair of Katsiaryna Arol and Mikalai Hayanouski in a reversal of last year's finishing positions.

'Last year we had three silvers in World Cups so we were pretty damn hungry coming into this one and we're delighted,' stated Coyle who was a monthly winner in the 2015 Meath Sports awards.

'I love the Mixed Relay, I think it's fantastic to watch because it's male and female and it's such a different tempo. It's a great asset,' she added.

Individual world champion Pavlo Tymoshchenko (Ukraine) and partner Valeria Permyinka took the bronze medal.

The Combined event had four contenders for the top three places with Mexico - Tamara Vega and Jorge Inzunza - in fourth place, one point off the third-placed Ukraine duo.

TOP FOUR
1, Arthur Lanigan O'Keeffe & Natalya Coyle IRELAND - 1495
2, Katsiaryna Arol & Mikalai Hayanouski BELARUS - 1480
3, Pavlo Tymoschenko & Valeriya Permykina UKRAINE - 1478
4, Jorge Inzunza & Tamara Vega MEXICO - 1477