By Tom Degun

Modern Pentathlon HungaryFebruary 24 - Hungary's team of Leila Gyenesei and Adam Marosi have won the first gold medal of the inaugural International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM)  Mixed Relay World Cup Series as they took victory in the event in Palm Springs.


The Hungarian pair started the day in second place after the fencing before moving to the top of the leader board after the swim with the fastest time in the pool.

They then dominated the ride gave to take a huge 18 second advantage into the run/shoot combined event, which they kept all the way to the finish line.

Irish pair Natalya Coyle and Eanna Bailey took the silver medal while Ukraine's Viktoria Tereshuk and Pavlo Tymoshchenko picked up the bronze.

"It was a good day," said Gyenesei following the win.

"When we started fencing it was good as we work well together.

"We started with good results and we pushed to the finish line."

Marosi, the London 2012 bronze medallist, was equally pleased.

Hungary Mixed relay Palm Springs February 24 2013Leila Gyenesei hands-over to Adam Marosi as Hungary won the first Mixed Relay World Cup

"It was a very good competition," he said.

"It is team work and we love it."

UIPM President Dr h.c. Klaus Schormann hailed the competition following the conclusion of the event in Palm Springs.

"The first World Cup season after an Olympic year has brought world class athletes together in desert Palm Springs, where the first World Cup Mixed Relay tour also took place," he said.

"The medals have been won by three different continents and for the first time ever an individual medal in the women's World Cup has been won by a Chinese athlete, Zhang Xiaonan.

"All the disciplines have been at the same venue and the competition was televised by our new media partner, NTV Plus, with live signal.

"Alongside the event a UIPM high level Judges seminar was held at the beginning of the competition."

The UIPM World Cup Series now heads down to Rio de Janeiro for the second event in the series, which is due to take place on March 20.

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