At times, Israel Olatunde can scarcely believe his rapid rate of progression.
The 20-year-old heads to his first outdoor senior championships in Munich next week and not only does he harbour realistic ambitions of making his mark, Paul Hession’s 100m national record is in serious danger of falling.
"I never thought that I’d be at this stage of my career so quick," he told RTÉ Sport ahead of the European Championships, which run from next Monday, 15-21 August.
"Obviously I still have a long way to go, but it’s great to be able to look back on how far I have come. I know the 14-year-old Israel would be very proud of where I am now, and I’m not done yet."
It isn’t hard to find the pedigree in his family. Elizabeth Olatunde, who immigrated to Ireland from Nigeria in 1999 with her husband Isaac and oldest son Gabriel, was a sprinter at school and represented her state in southwestern Nigeria.
Israel and his sister Shannon were born and raised in Dundalk, with Israel coming up through Dun Dealgan Athletics Club and now UCD, where he will shortly embark on his final year of a computer science degree.
A schools title never came his way, but the sprinter has blossomed in the last couple of years. A month after turning 19 he won his first national championship at 100m and backed it up again this year.
His indoor form has been equally impressive, with a number of underage records falling and Hession is the only Irish man to record a faster time over 60m. The 6.61secs set in Birmingham 15 years ago is just one-hundredth of a second quicker than what Olatunde knocked out twice this year already.
Hession’s time at the top of the standings over 100m (10.18) is also looking under serious threat. Olatunde set a PB of 10.24 in Tullamore last month and acknowledges that the consistent time indoors points to a tilt at the 100 national record.
"I definitely think there is more to come. 6.6 seconds (in 60m) is fast, but points to a 10.1 (100m). I think I can go faster, but I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself."
He won’t be getting bogged down by such talk of records, certainly not in Munich, but it isn’t something he shies away from either. A sprinter in good form knows to strike when the iron is hot. At 9.40am tomorrow he gets the chance to see exactly where he is at in his heat.
"I’m just going out here to compete. Championships are about beating the fella next to you, but Munich should be a fast track, so you just never know what could happen.
"I’ve only lost one outdoor race all season and I have raced against some fast guys."
A student of the sport, Olatunde makes no bones about the time he spends watching the best in the business go about their trade. American sprinter Noah Lyles is among those he looks to learn off just from watching every movement, and the UCD student feels he has made two significant gains of his own.
"Patience is one area around my race plan, not rushing things at the start. It’s 100m I’m running, not 60m.
"Also my relaxation in the second half of the race. You think that if you tense up it would make you faster, but it really doesn’t.
"It’s about learning to relax in the second half of the race and trusting my training routine."
Honing in that top-end speed at the key moment is a work in progress, but the team relay will also call upon his considerable talents when he competes in the 4x100m relay.
With the 4x400m mixed team fresh from making the final at the World Championships last month, the profile around the team event is growing and Olatunde is keen to continue that upward trajectory.
"We want to go out and show that we belong on the centre stage. It was a pretty tough journey for us to qualify, so the pressure is off a little bit.
"As Ireland’s fastest man, I want to be able to push Irish sprinting along, for sure. A good core of young sprinters coming up."
Follow live and extensive coverage of the European Athletics Championships in Munich, 15 – 21 of August, on RTÉ2.
