The women’s 200m relay team’s new national record was the highlight for Ireland at the IAAF World Relay Championships in the Bahamas over the weekend.
The quartet of Amy Foster, Steph Creaner, Sarah Lavin and Phil Healy ran 1:36.90, a time still to be ratified, in a race which was won by Nigeria in 1:30.52 on Saturday.
Theirs was the stand-out Irish performance at the championship.
Catherine McManus joined the quartet for the women's 4x100m on Sunday, replacing Lavin. The team finished fifth in their heat at the World Relays, running 45.38 seconds in a race won by Jamaica in 42.50.
Speaking afterwards, Foster said she was content with the team’s performance.
“It was our first relay of the year, the baton got round, so that’s all you can really ask for at this stage,” Foster said.
“This is our first time on a world stage. If we’re going to progress and make worlds and Olympics, then we need to be here.”
The Ireland men’s 4x400m team were eliminated in sixth place in their heat on Saturday night, a race described as “tough enough” by Thomas Barr, who ran the second leg in 45.13 seconds.
“I thought we could have got a quicker time, but we all gave it our all, so we can’t ask for more than that. It’s really good to have a team here,” Barr said.
Craig Lynch ran the first leg for the team, and was disappointed with the final result.
“It’s not the best team performance but it’s a start,” Lynch said. “We’ll learn a lot from it and build on it and move forward.”
The top eight finishing teams in the 4x400m or 4x100m finals at the championships automatically secured qualification for both the IAAF World Championships in Beijing in August and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
The Irish teams will now need to be ranked inside the top 16 teams in the world before the close in qualification on 9 August in order to qualify for the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Beijing.
