In the first big weekend of the year for indoor athletics, Irish athletes managed to secure four national records and five automatic qualification marks for next month's European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn.
The standout performance came from Balbriggan’s Andrew Coscoran, who took eight seconds off the indoor 3000m record at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix meeting in Boston.
The 28-year-old put in a decisive spurt with 400 metres left to run, overtaking longtime leader Azzedine Habz to storm to victory at the prestigious meet with a blistering final lap of 26.71 seconds. The mark of 7:30.75 will be more than enough for Coscoran to be in the mix at the upcoming European Indoors.
Habz ended up second, running a French national record in the process but he was almost a second adrift of Coscoran.
At the same lightening-quick track in Boston, Sarah Healy broke her own 3000m record to finish fourth in 8:35.19.
This first mark of the year will secure European Indoor automatic qualification for the two-time Olympian.
The race was won by Britain's Melissa Courtney-Bryant in 8:28.69.
Elsewhere, Sharlene Mawdsley opened her 2025 season in the 400m in Glasgow. The European champion in the mixed relay event was first to the bell and led for the rest of the two-lap event but was pushed to the line by her new training partner Lina Nielsen.
The Tipp woman was rewarded with a 0.22 improvement on her indoor best, lowering her time to 51.69 and entering the mark set for the European Indoors.
Kate O'Connor broke her own Irish pentathlon record when finishing second at the World Athletics Combined Events Tour in Estonia.
O'Connor, who became Ireland’s first heptathlete to compete at an Olympic Games in Paris last year, equalled or bettered her indoor personal bests in all five of her events to record a points tally of 4683, bettering her previous lifetime best by 287 points.
The 24-year-old's display in Tallinn qualified her for the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands in March.
O'Connor clocked 8.37 seconds in the 60m hurdles, cleared 1.82m in the high jump, threw for 14.42m in the shot put, leapt 6.16m in the long jump and recorded a time of 2:13.60 in the 800m.
Saga Vanninen won the competition on 4843 points.
