Saturday marks the start of the World Championships [which take place from 19-27 August] and not only is Ireland sending its largest team to compete, it's arguably the most in-form squad we have ever assembled.
In the past, the World Championships has sometimes felt like the forgotten child of athletics, a little lost among other sporting events before springing into action. That certainly changed last year, in part due to a different looking sporting calendar.
The new GAA schedule meant there was no inter-county action during the European Championships in Munich last August. In truth, there wasn’t a lot of sport on at the same time competing against athletics.
It seemed like interest in athletics soared, with people stopping me when I came back from Germany to chat about our athletes and the event in general. Hopefully we can see something similar in Budapest.
There is excitement when you look throughout our team, with our medal hopes likely to rest on the shoulders of Ciara Mageean (1500m) and Rhasidat Adeleke (400m).
Ciara is in the form of her life, with PBs in 800m and the mile in 2023 already. She has been in elite races where world records have been broken and is up there with the best athletes in her event. Now it is about bringing it into the championships, which in a middle-distance event is a little different.
There are rounds to get through and unlike the Diamond League you don't have pacers setting the tempo and stringing out the field. At championships it requires more tactics, running with awareness of what’s happening around you and making sure you are in the right place to progress.
Hopefully she will be up there mixing it with the best.
Where do you start with Rhasidat?
At the age of 20, the times she is putting in are phenomenal. She is ranked four in the world, and with number one Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone out injured, that highlights just where the Dubliner’s ambitions are. She travels in expectation rather than hope, but you have still got to put it together when it really matters.
The only caveat with Rhasidat is as a college student at the University of Texas, her focus for 2023 was geared towards winning the NCAAs, which she duly delivered in June. She ran 49.20, which would have put her on the podium at the last Olympics and World Championships.
Having subsequently turned professional, she is now trying to maintain that and keep it going into August.
It’s a challenge, but she has done everything right in my book. Off the back of the NCAAs, she has rested well and put in decent showings in Hungary (200m) and Monaco (400m).
The men’s 1500m is really stacked and arguably the blue-ribbon event. Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a global superstar, but in the field is our own Andrew Coscoran, currently ranked 11th.
Sometimes the rankings really don’t matter, it can come down to tactics and grit and he has performed well in championships previously.
The 27-year-old is coming into this having broken some serious Irish records this year and a PB of 3:30.42 for the 1500m shows the talent he possesses. If he were to get to a final, it would be a phenomenal achievement, and if you make the final, anything could happen.
The 5000m is a tough event, dominated by African athletes, but Brian Fay is fresh from breaking the long standing national recored with a blistering 13:01.40. Just think about that for your parkrun!
Sarah Lavin (100m hurdles) is going really well this year as records continue to fall, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on Kate O’Connor. It’s very hard to qualify for the heptathlon and we haven’t had a multi-eventer at this event before. She could go well and aim for a PB and national record.
There is a nice blend of exciting young talent coming through and looking to make a mark. Nick Griggs, Sarah Healy and Sophie O’Sullivan are all competing in the 1500m and are looking to bring through their underage pedigree to senior ranks.
It’s exciting, but this is the World Championships where the bar is set so high, with more than 2,000 athletes from 200 countries descending on Budapest.
The relay events could also offer Team Ireland a chance of progression. Adeleke’s presence in the 4x400m team will significantly bolster their chances, while the mixed relay team reached the final last year.
Saturday and Sunday are hectic from an Irish perspective. If we can get off to a good start it would set us up nicely.
Here’s hoping for a successful Championships.
