Eamonn Coghlan believes multiple Irish athletes can make finals at the upcoming World Athletics Championships, with Rhasidat Adeleke a medal prospect in the 400m.
The Dubliner, who won Ireland's first world gold 40 years ago this week, expects big things from Irish record holders Adeleke and Andrew Coscoran in particular, who along with Ciara Mageean, Sarah Lavin and Brian Fay have all run times in the last six weeks that would qualify them for next year’s Olympic Games.
"Rhasidat Adeleke is a 20-year-old phenomenon, who I think we’re going to see great things from over the next five, six and seven years," Coghlan told RTÉ Sport of the US college champion, who has taken almost a second and a half off the 400m Irish record over the last 12 months.
"She’s still raw, she’s going to harden up over the next two or three years. But she believes she can beat the very best in the world. If she’s not too fatigued from her collegiate season and turning pro, she’s mentally and physical fresh, I definitely see her in the final.
"She’s a racer, she knows how to win races. Times come with her wins and if she brings that into the 400 metre final I wouldn’t be surprised if she medalled."
Coghlan also believes 27-year-old Balbriggan native Andrew Coscoran is in with a good shout of making the 1500m final in Budapest. He runs in the heats on Saturday, the opening day of action.
"In terms of the middle distance, Andrew Coscoran is after running 3:30 and breaking Ray Flynn’s [40-year-old] Irish record three times in the last number of months. People in Ireland don’t realise how fast that is. That is seriously fast.
"I wouldn’t be surprised if Andrew got into the final, which would be fantastic. But I would say to Andrew 'Don’t worry about the time. Become a racer now. Learn to win’.
"You’re in with the very best in the world and when it comes to the championships it doesn’t matter if you win the heats or the semi-finals. When it comes to the final it’s a completely different kettle of fish. It’s not a time trial, it’s a race.
"We also have Sarah Lavin in the 100 hurdles, who won a double in the Irish Nationals. I’d like to see her get into the final.
"Nick Griggs, a young lad of 18 running 3:36, and Luke McCann in the 1500 metres. Brian Fay ran 13:01 for 5,000 metres recently, which is phenomenal. That’s 18 seconds faster than I ever ran!"
Since Coghlan’s ground-breaking triumph in 1983, Ireland has won only five more World Championship medals, and just two of them were gold: Sonia O’Sullivan in 1995 (5,000m) and Rob Heffernan in 2013 (50km walk).
Why have Irish successes been so few and far between?
"It’s not easy," said Coghlan. "It’s a ferocious amount of work that has to be done. You need an awful lot of luck that you don’t get injured in preparation.
"People say it’s much harder nowadays, it’s no different nowadays than it was back then. It’s not easy to win a world title in athletics or any sport.
"You need everything to come right on the day. You can win every single race in between but you still need everything to go right on the day to do it.
"But I think when you have everything right, you have the belief, and things go well for you, the most important ingredient you need on the day is luck. If you have the luck and everything else, you’ll win.
"Over the next year, leading up to Paris and beyond, I think we’ve get a great squad of young kids. We’ve got great talent on the horizon. Exciting times again for Irish athletics."
