Irish athletes have arrived in Scotland ahead of the World Athletics Indoor Championships which start at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow on Friday.
The championships welcome a star-studded entry list which contains 20 reigning world champions and seven gold medallists from the Tokyo Olympics.
Leading out the Irish on Friday, will be Sharlene Mawdsley from Newport AC in Tipperary, who was one of Ireland's standout performers at last year’s world championships in Budapest.
Mawdsley goes into the 400m ranked 13th based on her season’s best and will very much have sights set on progressing to the evening’s semi-final. World record-holder Femke Bol heads a stacked 400m field which will likely result in Mawdsley having to threaten her PB of 51.91 to progress.
Mawdsley also looks set to play a leading role on the women’s 4x400m relay team who will take to the heats on Sunday morning with eyes once again set on making another global final.
Another huge showing can be expected from the team of Mawdsley, Sophie Becker (Raheny Shamrock AC), Phil Healy (Bandon AC), Roisin Harrison (Emerald AC), Rachel McCann (North Down AC), and Lauren Cadden (Sligo AC). The final is set for 8.30pm on Sunday.
Tallaght AC's Israel Olatunde will take to the blocks in the opening session on Friday, with the three-time national 60m champion taking to another major championship in the heats of the 60m from 1.10pm.
The 2022 European 100m finalist has raced sparingly this season with Olatunde proven at saving his best for championship racing. Ranked outside the top 30 on his season’s best, it’s likely Olatunde will need a mid 6.6secs to make the evening’s semi-final.
Sarah Healy (UCD AC) will lead out Ireland in tomorrow’s evening session as she takes to the heats of the 1500m from 7.05pm. Healy broke the Irish senior indoor 1500m record with a stunning 4.03.83 earlier this month and it’s reported that her team feel she is capable of going even faster should race conditions allow.
Healy is ranked fifth on her season’s best, and should she safely negotiate the tricky heats, the UCD athlete can expect to face a tactically run race in the final on Sunday, which looks set to be dominated by Ethiopia who boast the top three ranked athletes in the field.
Roisin Flanagan from Finn Valley AC is set to take her place in a stacked women’s 3,000m final on Saturday.
Flanagan's previous major track championship experience came at the 2022 European Championships in Munich where she finished 14th in the 5000m, a position that she looks well capable of bettering on Saturday.
Sunday morning will see the return of Limerick’s Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) who travels to Glasgow on the back of a string of outstanding performances, most recently clocking an equal PB of 7.91 on her way to claiming her sixth national indoor 60m hurdles title.
Lavin, once again, will face a world class field but will undoubtedly be looking to replicate her appearance in the 60m hurdles final at these championships in 2022.
The national 100m hurdles record holder has already set a personal best over the shorter distance this indoor season (7.91), and in recent years Lavin has improved 0.14 from season opener to her season’s best which bodes well for another huge weekend for one of Ireland’s most consistent championships performers.
Team Ireland schedule:
Friday, 1 March
10.20am Women’s 400m Heats – Sharlene Mawdsley
1.10pm Men’s 60m Heats – Israel Olatunde
7.05pm Women’s 1500m Heats – Sarah Healy
7.45pm Men’s 60m Semi-Final
8.50pm Women’s 400m Semi-Final
9.45pm Men’s 60m Final
Saturday, 2 March
8.15pm Women’s 3,000m Final – Roisin Flanagan
9.00pm Women’s 400m Final
Sunday, 3 March
10.25am Women’s 60m Hurdles Heats – Sarah Lavin
11.38am Women’s 4x400m Relay Heats
7.40pm Women’s 60m Hurdles Semi-Final
8.30pm Women’s 4x400m Final
9.00pm Women’s 60m Hurdles Final
9.45pm Women’s 1500m Final
