This past weekend, the National Athletics Championships served as a thrilling and inspiring prelude to the imminent Olympics in Paris, which is set to happen in 25 days. Although four out of 10 Irish athletes, who have qualified automatically for the Olympics, were missing, the Championships was an auspicious event.
All of the six athletes qualified for Paris, who also competed at the Championships, triumphed with national titles. Their victories were met with an immense cheer from the audience, unseen since the peak days of the Morton Stadium in Santry. The most triumphant of them all was Rhasidat Adeleke, who has now officially become the fastest woman in Ireland. She has accomplished this feat by setting a new Irish record of 11.17 seconds in the 100m.
Other athletes who also achieved victories as they prepare for Paris include Mark English (800m), Brian Fay (5,000m), Sarah Healy (800m), Sophie O’Sullivan (1,500m) and Sarah Lavin (100m hurdles). Their victories hint at their readiness for the upcoming Olympics. Particularly noteworthy was O’Sullivan, who clinched her maiden senior title.
Both Healy and O’Sullivan have also qualified for the 1,500m in Paris. Healy tested her speed at a shorter distance and emerged victorious comfortably in 2:03.64, defeating reigning champion Louise Shanahan.
Those qualifiers for Paris who were absent from the Championships were due to assorted reasons. Ciara Mageean (1,500m) had already stepped away for a fifth consecutive year. Mageean is concentrating on high-altitude training following her gold medal success at the European Championships last month and is expected to challenge herself again at the Monaco Diamond League on July 12th.
Sharlene Mawdsley was slated to prepare for the 400m in Paris by racing the 200m but was forced to withdraw from Saturday’s heat due to minor injuries, as did Andrew Coscoran from the 1,500m heats. Both chose caution to avoid disrupting their Olympic training.
Meanwhile, Fionnuala McCormack, who has qualified for the marathon, is preparing to make history in Paris as the first Irish woman to participate in five Olympics. McCormack, understandably, had never planned to participate in the Championships as her focus is primarily road-based.
Ireland has succeeded in securing automatic qualification for 10 of its athletes, with the assurance of the final selection of two relay teams, the women’s and mixed 4x400m, by Athletics Ireland expected later this week. Several athletes currently in the running have demonstrated impressive form in Santry.
In addition to the direct qualifiers, seven Irish athletes have a shot at securing places through the Road to Paris 24 quota qualification, in advance of the final cut-off date this Sunday. These contenders will boost the final tally for the Paris meet, added to those with automatic qualifiers. Each nation is constrained to a maximum of three athletes per event.
Following the completion of the National Championships globally, the World Athletics will refresh this list by Tuesday afternoon. The national athletic bodies have until Thursday midnight to either accept or decline those slots, prior to the final Road to Paris being disseminated by World Athletics this Sunday, July 7th.
The qualifying procedure is intricate due to several factors, including the choice of athletes who qualify in multiple events to renounce one, prior to the final allocation of ranking points.
Thomas Barr, who narrowly missed automatic qualification for his third Olympics in the 400m hurdles, occupied a quota position last week, although doubts remain about his continuation. On the other hand, Kate O’Connor ranks within her event quota after her successful second position at last month’s heptathlon World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold in Ratingen, Germany.
Within their respective events, Luke McCann and Cathal Doyle have possibilities for the 1,500m in Paris. Sophie Becker, Nicola Tuthill, and Eric Favors are similarly within the athlete quota for their individual events.
Phil Healy is likely to shift to the 200m category during the week due to her recent victory in the national championship. Meanwhile, Adeleke, who previously qualified for the same event, has decided to concentrate on the 400m competition exclusively. Another possible contestant for the women’s 5,000m category might be Jodie McCann. McCann, the sister of Luke, secured her spot by clinching the national title on Sunday with a timing of 15:44.80, with 42 positions up for grabs in the respective event.
On the cusp of his 32nd birthday, right before the Olympics commences, Barr is expected to jet off to Paris to participate in the 4x400m mixed relay, having significantly contributed to the team’s triumph in the European Championships in Rome earlier in the month.
This could potentially open up two additional vacancies in the men’s mixed relay team. Jack Raftery’s claim for selection was greatly boosted due to his victory in Sunday’s first senior 400m race, recording a time of 45.95 seconds. He was followed by Chris O’Donnell (46.07), Callum Baird (46.20) and Cillín Greene (46.85). However, it’s impossible for Paris to include all of them in the team.