Pentathlon Ireland announces new roles for Martina McCarthy and Andrei Fedotov

Pentathlon Ireland announces new roles for Martina McCarthy and Andrei Fedotov

Two new appointments have bolstered Pentathlon Ireland’s performance support team in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Martina McCarthy, Senior Strength & Conditioning Consultant with the Sport Ireland Institute, has taken on the role of Performance Director at Pentathlon Ireland under a contract for service with the Institute.

Part of the remit of Martina’s role is to strengthen the coaching network that supports Ireland’s elite pentathletes, and Andrei Fedotov has become the first addition to that network after being appointed Head Fencing Coach.

 

The good news follows a fantastic start to the season for the Irish performance team as Natalya Coyle won Women’s Individual silver at UIPM Pentathlon World Cup Cairo on 1 March.

World No.5 Coyle will be back in action tomorrow (10 April) attempting to qualify for the women’s individual final at UIPM Pentathlon World Cup Cairo, alongside Sive Brassil and Eilidh Prise.

World No.3 Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe is also with the team in Bulgaria and will compete on Thursday (11 April) in qualifying for the men’s individual final.

The women’s individual final follows on Friday (12 April), before the men’s individual final on Saturday (13 April) and the mixed relay on Sunday (14 April).

Martina McCarthy competed for Ireland as a sprinter and was part of the 4x400m relay at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, before going on to win multiple caps for the Ireland Rugby 7s team.

In her role at the Sport Ireland Institute she has been supporting Ireland’s leading pentathletes for some time, contributing to the rise of Lanigan-O’Keeffe and Coyle to the top five in the UIPM world pentathlon rankings, as well as the exciting development of several other athletes.

Andrei Fedotov is a world-class pentathlon fencing coach who counts Alexander Lesun, the Rio 2016 Olympic champion who was world champion in 2012 and 2014 and European champion in 2014 and 2017, among his long list of successful proteges. Both he and Martin McCarthy are with the high-performance team in Sofia this week.

John Foley, Pentathlon Ireland Chairm

an, said: “This coming competition season will be crucial in the development of our Tokyo team. It is vital that we leave no stone unturned in providing our athletes with every possible support.

“With the help of Sport Ireland, the Sport Ireland Institute and the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Pentathlon Ireland are determined to smooth the way for our team.”

While the UIPM Pentathlon World Cup series is the main priority for the high-performance team this spring, a big focal point of the season will be the European Championships in Bath (6-11 August), where there will be 16 Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifying places at stake.

For interview requests, high-res photographs or more information please contact Jonathan Coates via email or phone +44 7788 352219.

+++