Sarah Lavin, displaying her now-signature consistency, did not disappoint at the 70th run of the Cork City Sports. She emerged as one of the standout victors, much to the delight of the enthusiastic athletics audience, with her 100 metres hurdles triumph. Just a fortnight before heading off to the Olympics in Paris, the sprinter from Limerick finished in under 13 seconds for the 11th straight time this season, clocking at 12.83 seconds (with a legal wind of +1.8 m/s), beating Talie Bonds from the US who was runner-up at 12.95.
Lavin expressed admiration for the fresh surfaced track at Munster Technological University (MTU). She was one of the crowd favourites that also numbered winners such as Reece Ademola in the long jump. Another standout was Nick Griggs, still just 19 but already shattering the under-23 3,000m record, another feather in Ireland’s cap.
Arriving at the new track, noting the audience’s anticipation, Lavin was set on victory. Despite the desire for a faster finish, she acknowledged the benefit of home-competition and the experience of performing under pressure, especially with the Paris Olympics approaching in just over a month.
Sophie O’Sullivan followed her mother Sonia’s illustrious path, by participating in the same event. The 22-year-old recently moved up from the 1,500m, where she received the national title, doubling that distance to 3,000m. The race was of supreme quality, where a blistering pace paced by Michelle Finn, a two-time Olympian from Cork. Taylor Werner came out top with a personal best of 8:43.12. Nine women managed to break the nine-minute mark, with O’Sullivan concluding at 9:08.65.
“She expressed mild disappointment for not performing at her best at Cork, one of Ireland’s major athletic events, but perceived it as a step towards the forthcoming Paris Olympics.” she shared. Olin Hacker, an athlete from America, clinched the top spot in men’s 3,000m, clocking a time of 7:40.49. Griggs, who put up a gallant performance from the outset, secured third place in 7:41.68. This not only shattered the Irish Under-23 record, hitherto held by Darragh McElhinney from Cork, but marked a significant victory for the 19-year-old, set to turn 20 in December.
Ademola won the long jump event at the young age of 21, marking a distance of 7.71m in his fourth attempt. Next, the national champion David Cussen from local Old Abbey AC, took the first place in high jump with a height of 2.11m.
Unfavourably strong tailwinds disrupted expectant sprint records. Nevertheless, Australian teen prodigy Torrie Lewis clocked an official 23.01 in the 200m, edging out Olympic-bound Phil Healy and Sophie Becker who managed fifth and sixth positions with 23.34 and 23.51 respectively.
Furthermore, Louise Shanahan demonstrated an impressive performance and secured a runner-up placement in the 800m, trailing behind the front-runner Keegan McKenna from the United States.
In the show-stopping finale, 21-year-old Nathan Green from America outdid himself in a remarkable mile run victory, while the three-time champion of Irish 1,500m Cathal Doyle, clocked a personal best – nearly two seconds faster, to clinch the second spot. In fact, all top 12 male competitors completed the mile within four minutes.