Kate O'Connor and Sharlene Mawdsley delighted spectators at the National Indoor Arena in Dublin this afternoon by claiming titles on the final day of the 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships.
The tone was set in spectacular fashion by O’Connor, who produced one of the standout performances of the championships in the women’s long jump.
O’Connor’s opening-round leap of 6.50m was not only a personal best, but also a championship record which had the thousands in attendance on their feet.
That jump moved O’Connor to third on the Irish all-time list and capped a remarkable weekend following her personal best run in the 60m hurdles (8.21) on Saturday.
O'Connor said: "I’ve be training well and I was never going to enter myself into something I’m not training well in. It’s one thing doing well in training, but another thing to come out and do it when you’re under the pressure of competition.
"You’ve three chances to put in a good attempt as a multi-eventer, so I’m delighted I put that jump in on my first attempt.
"Last year I made leaps and bounds forward, but I ended last year knowing I had so much more potential. I didn’t feel in any way that I had maxed out any of the events and that’s what we’ve been working on all winter. This is my job now and I’m working towards my goals for 2026."
Mawdsley underlined her dominance in the women’s 400m with a composed performance to claim a third consecutive national indoor title in 51.89.
When asked by RTÉ Sport's Greg Allen if she was going to the World Indoor Championships, Mawdsley replied: "No. I was actually never meant to do indoors, that's what we had discussed from the start of the year. I don't know if you recall, but it's never been very good to me.
"I've been injured, I've got disqualified, I just had no grá for it this year and I was just like, 'I'm going to give it a miss, I'm going to train hard’. I'm in quite a heavy block. I came out today for my friends and family.
"They got to be here with me and it's not often that you get to show up to national championships, so yeah that's my reason for it this year.
"It's a hard one to be honest with you. I would love to say I would go, but it wasn't in my plans and sometimes you have to think of the bigger picture. World Relays is really just around the corner. We have to qualify teams for that, there's none next year.
"We have to put in a good foundation, so for me to be at my best, I want to be in that final in Birmingham. I want to be walking away with medals with the girls in the mixed relay and I'll be disappointed if we don't."
The men’s 400m was decided in a lung-busting finish, with Sean Doggett holding firm under immense pressure from Fintan Dewhirst to take his first senior indoor crown in 47.33.
In the short sprints, Ciara Neville (7.27) returned to the top step of the podium in the women’s 60m, securing her third national indoor title and her first since 20120.
In the men’s equivalent, Bori Akinola (6.60) was in imperious form as he successfully defended his title, continuing his strong early-season momentum as attention now turns towards the upcoming World Indoor Championships.
Nick Griggs and Louise Shanahan also walked away with the gold medals. The win saw Griggs claim his first senior indoor title (8:14.52) following a dramatic final lap which saw him battling it out with Darragh McElhinney (8:15.08) after Andrew Coscoran came down on the final bend.
Shanahan timed her finish to perfection in a thrilling women’s contest, bursting through in the closing metres (9:22.47) to add the 3000m indoor title to last year’s 800m indoor title. Shanahan came out on top of the thrilling finish to cross ahead of Zoe Toland (CNDR Track AC) 9:22.59 and Michelle Finn (Leevale AC) 9:23.03.
The 1500m finals continued the theme of tactical racing and late finishes. Lucy Holmes emerged victorious in the women’s race to secure her first senior indoor title (4:31.10), while the men’s event produced one of the finishes of the day as Lughaidh Mallon launched a decisive move to pass Luke McCann in the final strides to capture gold in dramatic fashion in a winning time of 3:43.45.
The 800m finals were also closely contested with Hannah Seagrave claiming her first senior indoor title in the women’s race. The men’s event produced a championship highlight, with Cillian Kirwan a hugely popular winner as he stormed to victory in a new championship record time of 1:47.68 championship record.
The day’s first track titles were decided in the race walks, where Kate Veale delivered another masterclass to claim an extraordinary tenth consecutive national indoor title, while Oisín Lane impressed with a commanding performance to secure his first senior indoor crown in the men’s event.
Eric Favors broke the championships record in the men’s shot with 19.57m, while Michaela Walsh picked up her ninth indoor title in a row.Michael Kent retained his title in the men’s pole vault with a best clearance of 4.50m.
