World and Euro Champs round-up

INSPIRATION World & European Athletics Championships ROUND-UP

Ireland Women's 4x400m Relay team, from left, Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley celebrate after finishing second to qualify for the Women's 4x400m Relay Final

By Conor Gleeson

It was a busy summer for Team Ireland with the World Athletics Championships in Oregan closely followed by the European Championships in Munich.

Ciara Mageean of Ireland celebrates after finishing second in the Women's 1500m Final

The Worlds may not have produced any medals, but they proved it's not always about the medals. And the Irish athletes who made it Stateside did our small nation proud.

Team Ireland’s walkers, David Kenny and Brendan Boyce and the mixed 4x400m relay team of Chris O’Donnell, Sophie Becker, Jack Raftery and Sharlene Mawdsley, carried the tricolour into finals at the World Athletics Championship in Eugene in July.

Tallaght sprinting sensation, Rhasidat Adeleke was unfortunately forced to withdraw from the team for the final due to illness after helping the team secure their final spot.

Adeleke’s individual performance in the 400m at the championships was one of the highlights, finishing 9th fastest in the world, narrowly missing out on a final berth in a semi-final won by double Olympic champion ShaunaeMiller Uibo.

Sarah Lavin was once again in superb form when qualifying automatically for her semifinal of the 100m hurdles, running strongly for 5th as she bowed out.

There were notable runs from the ever-reliable Andrew Coscoran in the 1500m, Thomas Barr in the 400m hurdles, and Mark English in the 800m, the Finn Valley man coming within five hundredths of a second away from breaking his national record in his heat.

And not to forget our throwers, Eric Favors and John Kelly who represented the green and gold in the shot put. Championships kicked off in Munich for a week that will live long in the annals of Irish athletics history.

Dundalk man Israel Olatunde captured the hearts of the nation on day two, earning a place in the European 100m final and then going on to break Paul Hession’s Irish record with a blistering 10.17 to become the fastest man in the country.

But it was Ciara Mageean and Andrew English who brought home the medals.

Off the back of a Commonwealth Games silver medal just nine days before stepping onto the track at the European Championships, the weight of an expectant nation appeared to weigh lightly on the shoulders of Ciara Mageean as she produced arguably the performance of her career on a magical night in Munich to take silver in the women’s 1500m.

Mark English with his bronze medal after finishing third in the Men's 800m

Ireland’s second medal of the European Championships arrived on the final day of action in Munich, with Donegal’s Mark English taking bronze in the men’s 800m. Remarkably, the medal came 8 years after English last claimed European outdoor honours when he won bronze in Zurich in 2014, a testament to the longevity of the career of the current Irish national record holder.

Another star of the Championships was Rhasidat Adeleke. Running in the less favoured inside lane in the 400m final, Adeleke broke her own national record for 5th place. .