A vintage year: The 2022 season in five races

It's been a great year! Let's make it last a little bit longer. My five favourite races from the 2022 track season!

No 5. Ireland's fastest women

Women’s 100m final, Irish Senior Championships, Morton Stadium, Santry, 26 June

It was touted as a rare opportunity for an Irish audience to see, live and in-person, sprint sensation Rhasidat Adeleke, the woman who’d re-written the Irish record books already in 2022. A demonstration. The Adeleke show.

Molly Scott, who’d knocked chunks off the Irish indoor 60m record before Adeleke got her hands on it, had other ideas. This, afterall, is the one distance at which Adeleke doesn’t top the Irish all-time list.

Scott, injured early season, had a quiet build-up. Adeleke, jet lagged, was coming off the back of a busy NCAA season where she’d raced mostly over the longer distances.

Could this even be someone else’s day?

The Morton crowd waited.

After a start disrupted by in-field commentary, the 7-woman field were recalled to their marks. Sarah Leahy in two. Lane three vacant. Scott in four. Sarah Lavin in five. Lauren Roy in six. Adeleke in seven. Joan Healy in eight. And Lucy-May Sleeman on the outside in lane nine. Ireland’s fastest women.

Silence, this time, for the start.

And away they went.

Scott, powering out of her blocks, kept the head down. Her arms propelling her down the track. Adeleke was quicker to rise, her long, looping stride eating up the ground. But the Carlow woman was ahead. Driving for that line. Striving not to be caught…

…right until the last stride of the race.

Scott leaned. Adeleke leaned further.

This one had gone right down to the wire.

No 4. Olatunde versus the clock

Men’s 100m final, European Senior Championships, Olympic Stadium, Munich, 16 August

He’d already done so much just getting to the final. The fastest overall, a 10.19 PB and an Irish U23 record to make it through the first round. Second place and an Auto Q in the semi-final. We’d seen what that meant to him. We knew what it meant to all of us. The first Irishman to make a 100m final at a major senior championship. But it meant so much more than that too. Ireland had arrived, and not just at this European Championships.

Just hours after the greatest race of his young life, Olatunde was lining up to do it all again. He’d drawn lane seven for the final, right next door to Lamont Marcell Jacobs, the Olympic Champion. European U23 Champion Jeremy Azu was to his outside.

The twenty-year-old Olatunde got out safely. But Jacobs was pulling clear of the field. It’s the point which so much can go wrong. Olatunde looked to be last of the eight, but he wasn’t being left behind. This was going to be no disgrace. He remained composed. And then he found something. He dipped for the line as if he’d done this a thousand times before.

Jacobs was the clear winner. The title was his. 9.95. An equal championship best.

Zarnel Hughes took silver. He too dipping under 10 seconds.

There had been daylight between those two and the rest of the field.

The moments ticked on slowly as, one-by-one, the times appeared on the scoreboard.

Azu in third. 10.13 PB. Time for the Welshman to unleash his joyous celebration.

Ján Volko, Slovak Republic, 10.16 in fourth.

This was going to be tight.

Mouhamadou Fall, France, fifth in 10.17.

Dammit! Had had let this one get away? Surely he was next?

More moments that seemed like minutes.

And then, there it was: 6. Olatunde 10.17.

The NR didn’t appear on the graphics, but we all knew what those numbers meant. Israel Olatunde, who started the year with a 10.41 best had been running PBs since May and had already picked up Irish U23 records in June, July and August. Now he was the fastest Irishman of any age.

What a stage to do it on!

Olatunde, too, had arrived.

No 3: A game of cat and mouse

Men’s 5000m, Irish national Senior Championships, Morton Stadium, Santry, 26 June

The Irish Championships always seems to throw up a humdinger of a battle or two, especially in the men’s distance races; lads demonstrating just how special national titles are, and what they’re willing to do to get their hands on one. But few 5000m races have ever been as exciting as the one witnessed in Santry on 26^th June.

Twenty-two of Ireland’s best distance runners. Twelve-and-a-half laps of the track. A startlist that actually resembles the entry list that got us excited during the week.

Darragh McElhinney already has 13.17.17 to his name, and the European Championship qualifying mark. Hiko Tonosa is the national cross country champion, a title he won in a sprint finish over McElhinney in the park next door last November. Efrem Gidey, the 2019 European U20 Cross Country silver medallist is back from injury and reminded us of his potential when he finished 6^th in the 10,000m at the European Cup in May. Paul O’Donnell, too, is an athlete in form.

Away they go.

900m in. Gidey takes the lead. The rest follow.

1200m. Gidey increases the pace. McElhinney and Tonosa lead the chase.

1600m. They main contenders are back together. O’Donnell and Jake O’Regan hanging on.

The pace drops again. Pierre Murchan and Keelan Kilrehill reattach themselves.

Halfway. There’s still a group of seven.

3000m gone. Gidey, forever dictating the pace, starts to pile it on.

1600m to go. It is down to just four.

1200m to go. Gidey, McElhinney, Tonosa are bunched together. O’Donnell, again, hangs on. 

800m to go. Three remain. Gidey is still out front, pretty much where he’s been from the start. But he’s not the one in charge now. He probably never was. McElhinney moves out onto his shoulder. Tonosa is tucked in behind them on the kerb. He has shown nothing yet.

700m to go. McElhinney looks impatient.

600m to go. But still he waits.

Still Tonosa shows nothing.

500m to go. McElhinney comes wide ready to strike. He glances to his inside, checking where Tonosa is. Waiting for his move. Again and again he checks. He waits. If Tonosa wants this now, he’ll have to come the long way round. He’ll have to make the first move. Gidey still has the lead.

300m to go.

McElhinney glances again.

Tonosa doesn’t flinch.

280m to go.

It’s time.

McElhinney makes the first move. A fast, decisive one. Out past Gidey. The others respond. Tonosa, too, goes past the young Clonliffe man, in hot pursuit. McElhinney is away. Tonosa follows.

150m to go.

The gap is 3 metres. Tonosa is fighting, gritting his teeth.

The crowd hold their collective breath.

Memories of national cross.

Is there still time for another twist?

100m to go.

McElhinney glides. Tonosa chases.

50m to go.

It’s all over. McElhinney was ready this time. He is not to be caught.

Another title for the collection.

No 2: Sub-2 by two

Women’s 800m, Belfast Irish Milers Club meet, Mary Peter’s Track, Saturday 15^th May

World class female 800m runners is not something Ireland has traditionally been renowned for. But the new generation are cut a bit differently. 1500m runners stepping down. 400m runners stepping up. Two lap specialists finally fulfilling potential. All with a belief they belong here.

It was the first major domestic race of the season and Eamon Christie had gathered some of the best around, arranged a pacemaker, and given them the stage.

Ciara Mageean, the Irish record holder, had just returned for altitude training in St Moritz. She was going to test where her speed was at prior to a summer of championships. But just what kind of shape was she in?

Louise Shanahan had Olympic experience now at this distance and had gone into last winter knowing that she had to step it up a level if she’s going to be competitive internationally. She’d finish 2nd over 1500m at the British University Championships at the beginning of May, and ran 55.88 for 400m at the Oxford v Cambridge varsity the weekend before. Could she combine that speed and strength over two laps?

We were about to find out.

They set out at a brisk but sensible pace, the field gently strung out. Mageean, keen to keep things moving, pulled up alongside the pacemaker 380m in. Shanahan followed. They hit the bell bang on the minute mark. Four athletes were away around the bottom bend: Mageean, Shanahan, Danish athlete Marissa Damink and Jenna Bromell each a stride or two apart. Mageean pushed on. Shanahan, shadow-like, followed. With 200m to go, she’d entered Mageean’s airspace. 100m to go, she pulled level. Mageean fought back. But Shanahan had another gear. She pulled away.

1:59.42 for Shanahan. Negative splits. A new Irish record.

Mageean hung on for 1:59.86.

We’d waited a lifetime for a sub-2 800m runner. Now we had two in one race.

 

No 1: Morton Mile Classic

Morton Mile, Morton Games, Morton Stadium, Santry, Saturday 2^nd July

The gun went. Australian Callum Davies sat in behind the pacemakers. Andrew Coscoran followed. The rest were strung out behind. There was even a fall. A typical paced circuit affair.

Until it wasn’t.

With 650m to go they all started getting involved. Darragh McElhinney was the first to close up and slot in behind Coscoran. Then went Nick Griggs. Cathal Doyle and Shane Bracken followed. With 400m to go Irish athletes filled 2^nd to 6^th place. With 250m they were all queueing up; getting into the ideal position from which to strike. 

Coscoran, the Olympic semi-finalist, and the fastest on paper. Doyle, who stunned everyone in the 1500m at the National seniors the previous week. McElhinney, a 5km specialist, with a lethal kick. Griggs who ran Coscoran close over the same distance indoors. Bracken, the national 1500m silver medallist; he too with a serious turn of pace.

We knew at this point we were definitely in for a treat, and not of the plain jelly and ice-cream variety. This was an assiette à dessert of Michelin quality.

With 200m to go, they were four abreast behind the Australian, each trying to measure their effort to perfection. None of them ready to show their cards just yet. Corscoran eventually pulled alongside Davies with 150m to go. Doyle made his move around the outside. McElhinney was wedged between them at this point, his normally sublime stride looking strained against the shorter-distance men. But he wasn’t giving this one up without a fight.

They were still four-wide into the home straight.

Then Doyle and Coscoran pulled clear. North Dub versus North Dub. Shoulder to shoulder. Stride for stride. Coscoran, first, looked to have the edge. Then Doyle levelled and inched ahead. The finish line was coming, but not quick enough. Doyle leaned. Coscoran dived. Nobody wanted to call this one.

There was a visible buzz around the track. They lads had put on a great show. The perfect finale to the 2022 Morton Games. Irish athletes would fill the podium. Five had run under 4 minutes. But who’d won? Doyle’s supporters were celebrating. Rushing onto the track to congratulate him. He didn’t look sure. Coscoran too was waiting.

And eventually the result appeared. Coscoran had edged this one; 3:57.09 to Doyle’s 3:57.11.

Coscoran looked full of energy. Buoyed by the win, chatting, reliving the dive.

Doyle looked utterly sickened. The sweet smell of victory now the sour aftertaste of defeat.

Andrew Coscoran, here’s your big fancy trophy. Cathal Doyle, thanks for taking part.

Eight Irish female athletes to follow this summer

With the cross country season long forgotten and track season already stuttering into life, it’s high time to highlight some of the Irish females to look out for this summer.

Another difficult summer lies ahead for the Irish athletes and medals on the world stage are more of a hope than an expectation. There is some degree of transition after last year’s Olympics, a disappointing indoor season will have dampened spirits, and, as ever, the injury list is far longer than anyone would like.  Having said that, some athletes are definitely in a position to build on a successful 2016, and the current crop of juniors is as exciting as ever, if not more so. There may even be a slight glimmer of hope in some of the field events!

In addition to the World Championships in London and the European Team Championships in Finland, the younger athletes will be aiming for European Youth Olympic Festival, European Junior Championships, European U23 Championships and World University Games qualification.
Here are just some of the names I’m looking forward to following in the coming months.

Fionnuala McCormack: The queen of cross

It’s on the grass that Fionnuala McCormack, the undisputed queen of Irish Cross Country, is at her most comfortable, and while she has represented Ireland in four different disciplines over three Olympic Games, her summer performances haven’t yet lived up to her winter promise. Fionnuala remains in that uncomfortable position between a competitive force - if not quite a world beater - on the track, and an emerging marathon runner oozing with potential. Despite her notable endurance background, she is remarkably under-raced on the roads and time-wise she hasn’t quite set the tar-mac alight with her rare efforts over the half and full marathon distances to date. What the Wicklow woman lacks in recordings against the clock, however, she more than makes up for with her championship record, and the fact that her best marathon so far came in the heat of Rio, suggests that fast personal bests are not everything.

But they do stand for something, and with that in mind, McCormack’s plan is to aim for the 10,000m qualifying time for London, and have a serious crack at a big city marathon in the Autumn. She, like those of us following her progress, know that faster times lie ahead.

Fionnuala’s 10,000m PB is 31:29.22 from 2012; her best last season was 31:30.74. She needs a time of 32:15.00 for London.  However, with four athletes breaking the 30 minute barrier in Rio, much faster will be required from the Wicklow woman if she hopes to feature come August. Her marathon PB of 2:31:22 has already earner her selection for London should she decide to contest the longer distance in the British capital.

Ciara Mageean: Carrying the weight of expectation

You always get the sense that the weight of public expectation rests lightly on Ciara Mageean’s shoulders and that her precocious talent is more of a motivation than a burden. Just as well since, as our one genuine potential female medallist on the world stage, she regularly carries the hopes of a nation.

On paper, the Irish team travelled to Amsterdam for the European Track Championships last summer with zero chances of a medal. They left the Netherlands with silverware thanks to Mageean’s brilliance and grit. In hindsight, the bronze medal that she won in the 1500m was a disappointing result – a measure of her ability rather than a criticism of her effort. Reaching the semi-final of the Olympics was a further step to fulfilling her potential, but it was the world class time of 4:01.46 which she achieved in Paris at the end of last season that confirmed Mageean’s global medal potential.

The past indoor season didn’t go according to plan, and while images of Ciara hobbling off the track injured in Belgrade brought back memories of the Portaferry woman’s darkest days, it seems that her failure to finish at the European Indoor Championships was but a minor blip on the bumpy road to the top.

The World Championship qualification time in the metric mile is 4:07.50, something which should be but a formality for Ciara. Anything less than a place in the final will be a disappointment – both for Ciara and for those across Ireland willing her on. And once she’s in the final…

Christine McMahon: One lap wonder

Another to excel in Amsterdam last July was Christine McMahon who reached the semi-final of the 400m hurdles. The Ballymena and Antrim athlete chipped away at her personal best throughout a summer which also saw her graduate from Dentistry at Queen’s University Belfast, and she eventually got inside the Olympic qualifying time on 16th July, two days after the date by which performances needed to be recorded.

Unfortunately for McMahon, unlike Olympic qualification periods which cover two track seasons, times from last year won’t count towards London selection, and she must do it all again this year if she is to take her place on the startline in London. Fingers crossed the stars line up for her a little earlier this summer.

The qualifying time for London is 56.10. Christine’s best is 56:07. She is also eligible for the World University Championships where a time in the low 56’s would put her in contention for the medals.

Sarah Buggy: One step at a time

St Abban’s athlete Sarah Buggy hopped, stepped and jumped her way to number two on the Irish all-time list for the triple jump last summer, and the 23 year old’s best of 13.25 metres is within striking distance of Taneisha Scanlon’s Irish record (13.62). Sarah picked up where she left off in 2016 with a stellar indoor campaign. She again leaped to number two on the domestic indoor list, and got within 10 cm of Scanlon’s Irish indoor record.

Buggy is still some way off the standard required to compete on the world’s biggest stage, and the qualification standard for London, at 14.10 metres, may well be a stretch too far at this stage. But other international competition opportunities are well within her reach. The standard for August’s World University Games is 13.35. And there are those two Irish records to target in the near future.

The problem with talented field eventers in Ireland is not that they don’t exist, but that they exist in isolation. Buggy is a metre and a half ahead of everyone else at the moment. Wouldn’t now be a nice time to see the return of the long-injured Caoimhe King who has a best of 12.96m from 2014?

Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner: Barriers to be broken

Each year the hopes of an Irish woman finally breaking the two-minute barrier for the 800m are pinned on a different athlete. Rose-Anne Galligan, Laura Crowe, Ciara Everard and Ciara Mageean have all been pretenders to the throne, and while all these will be looking to continue the quest, Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner more than has her name pencilled in as Ireland’s next sub-2 challenger. The Villanova student has a current PB of 2:01.98 and improved her indoor best to 2:02.97 earlier this year. It would be nice, too, to see what the Dublin native can run for 1500m. Her best of 4:22.37 dates back to May 2013 and is surly due a major revision.

The all-important qualification times required for this summer’s championships are 2:01.00 for World Championships in London; 2:04.80 for European U23s and 2:04.30 for World University Games.

Shona Heaslip: Dancing her way into contension

Former Irish dancing champion Shona Heaslip must surely be the most exciting prospect on the domestic distance running scene. She recently glided her way to the Irish University 5000m title, and knocked a whopping 29 seconds from her personal best in the process. Given her relative youth in the sport, the big PB is not a surprise, but the ease and manner of her victory were particularly noteworthy. With the World University Games qualification already in the bag, the Kerry woman will look to get into some fast races in the coming months. Once she gets under the 16 minute mark - which must surely be but a formality - Shona can start to concentrate on adding senior track representation to her cross country cap from December.

The qualifying time for London - at 15:22.00 - is still some way off, and chasing it down is unlikely to be Heaslip’s priority this year, but by 2018 the 15:30 or thereabouts that’ll be required to make the European Championships should be well within her reach. Like all distance runners, remaining injury free will be her main challenge.

Phil Healey: From the depths of hell

The epic finale to the women’s 4 x 400m relay at last summer’s IUAA Intervarsity Championships catapulted Phil Healey into the public consciousness. Only her second ever run over 400m, the UCC graduate’s heroics not only earner her recognition thanks to that now legendary footage, but accelerated her transition to the longer sprint. Given her undoubted speed and the fact that her opening foray over 400m places her just outside the Irish all-time top 10, Healey could well be a future international star in the one-lap event.

Fully expect Healey to smash the 53.49 personal best she set indoors in February when the outdoor season gets into full swing. The target for World University Games is 53.30, though she already has the 23.70 qualifying time for the 200m in Taipei. The London qualifying times of 52.10 and 23.10 will be on her radar, but probably just out of reach.

Michaela Walsh: Throwing down the gauntlet

Michaela Walsh, a 2016 World Junior shot put finalist and a hammer finalist from the 2015 World Youth Championships, is Ireland’s most promising thrower since Elaine O’Keeffe. Walsh’s National Junior Record of 59.64 – set in March this year – may well be distant history by the time the 18 year old fully graduates to the senior ranks, and the Swinford AC athlete will surely have O’Keeffe’s impressive senior hammer record (73.21 metres) in her mind as she continues to rise through the ranks.

The European Junior Championships A qualifying standards are 60.00 metres for the hammer and 15.30 metres for the shot put, though Michaela already has the two required B standards in the latter event and a B standard in the hammer.

And then…

Elsewhere, I’m hoping that the rivalry between our three Olympic steeplechasers – injuries permitting – can put Roisin McGettigan’s nine-year-old Irish record under threat; I’m looking forward to seeing what the ever-improving Emma Mitchell can achieve as she aims for Commonwealth Games qualification; I’m excited about the prospects of the young sprinting trio of Ciara Neville, Gina Akpe-Moses and Sharlene Mawdsley, and I’m curious as to how Sommer Lecky – the future of Irish high jumping - and Elizabeth Morland – emerging multi-event starlet - can progress.

All in all, there’s lots of reason for hope. But imagine the sense of optimism there would be if Mary Cullen, Sarah Lavin, Ciara Everard, Jessie Barr, Laura Crowe, Rose-Anne Galligan, Claire Tarplee – to name just a few – had an injury-free season, and if more of our talented juniors stayed in the sport long enough to fulfil their senior potential.

As always, predictions like this can be woefully off the mark. The most memorable performances of the summer will, no doubt, be the ones that nobody could have seen coming.

And hopefully those omitted will be even more inspired to make their mark!


For those interested, the full selection criteria for this summer's championships can be found on the High Performance section of the Athletics Ireland website.