Sensational Sarah Healy secures first Diamond League victory in Rome
'I'm obviously really happy to come away with the win,' said Healy. 'It was a really competitive field, I thought it wouldn't be crazy quick and it was quite crowded, there was a lot of bodies and I was further back than I wanted to be the whole time. But I tried to stay patient and in the last lap I had to make a good few moves, which I was happy with, especially on the home straight.
'I know my shape is good, I ran a big 3km PB two weeks ago so I know I'm really fit. Hopefully a PB in the 1500m is coming for me soon but today, I just wanted to compete for the win. I know I'm good at hard, fast races, but races like this were more where I struggled so I'm really, really happy to win – it's really cool.'
Healy, who recently finished third over 3000m at the Rabat Diamond League, will race next over 1500m at the Paris Diamond League on 20 June. 'I'm having a lot of fun which is the main thing,' she said. 'And it's probably why I'm running so well.'
Earlier in the night, Cathal Doyle clocked a big personal best of 3:32.15 in the men's 1500m. Doyle came home 14th in a loaded race, which was won by France's Azeddine Habz in 3:29.72, the Dubliner smashing his previous best of 3:33.32 and going under the automatic standard for the World Championships of 3:33.00. It makes him the eighth Irish individual athlete to qualify for Tokyo. It was also the second fastest run in history by an Irishman, behind only Andrew Coscoran's national record of 3:30.42.
'Absolutely delighted,' said Doyle. 'I kind of died the last 100 or so, I was trying to come through a bit but it's my first ever standard knocked out. I can't really complain. It's a one-second PB so I have to take that.' Doyle said he's training 'with September in mind' and will next race in Turku, Finland on 17 June before going back into a short block of training.
Meanwhile, Mark English will return to action on Monday at the FBK Games in Hengelo, the Netherlands, the Donegal man hoping to continue his fine start to the season after recently breaking the Irish 800m record. Rhasidat Adeleke will be in Diamond League action in Oslo next Thursday and again in Stockholm three days later, taking on world-class fields at both events over 400m – her first races of 2025 at her specialist distance.
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Irish Examiner
11 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Andy Farrell: Clean sweep 'would mean the world' to British & Irish Lions
The Test series with Australia is already won but Andy Farrell has insisted his British & Irish Lions side have a big responsibility to finish their 2025 tour unbeaten with a final Test victory over the Wallabies on Saturday. The Lions head coach on Thursday made two changes to the team which took an unassailable 2-0 series lead with last Saturday's dramatic 29-26 victory in front of 90,307 supporters at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. There remain nine Irish starters with James Ryan promoted from last weekend's replacements into the second row as England's Ollie Chessum drops to the bench while Scotland's Blair Kinghorn comes into the starting line-up on the left wing at James Lowe's expense. With the series in the bag, there might have been a temptation to rotate the Test team further but the Lions boss insisted a 3-0 clean sweep to leave Australia with nine wins from nine remained the primary target at what will be an 82,000 sell-out at Accor Stadium, the venue which staged the 2000 Olympics. 'It would mean the world to us,' Farrell said. 'It's something that we promised ourselves that we were going to chase after and try our best to represent the group as best as we possibly can do. 'Obviously, what goes along with that is representing the jersey and the brand of the British and Irish Lions, so we have a big responsibility this week.' Farrell had given his players last Sunday and Monday off to celebrate their victory at the MCG and he believes he has been rewarded by the attitude of the squad when they returned to the training field the following day. 'It's been great. It's nice coming off the back of a victory like the one at the MCG. 'Having said that, it's been a great week as far as recovering, reflecting etc, but when we came back into work on Tuesday afternoon, the process has been exactly the same and we've put ourselves in a position now that we're fortunate enough to go into the third Test, and there's a lot to play for.' Both Ryan and Kinghorn had made big impacts off the bench in last Saturday's series-clinching victory over the Wallabies and each played an important part in the final attacking sequence that led to Hugo Keenan's try which secured the Lions' come-from-behind victory, having trailed 23-5 after just 30 minutes. Ryan becomes captain Maro Itoje's third partner of the series in the second row, with Joe McCarthy having failed to recover from the foot injury he sustained in the series opener two weeks ago in Brisbane, and Chessum having started the second Test. 'We think that James thoroughly deserves his start,' Farrell said of Ryan. 'I think he's grown through this tour. His physicality when he has come off the bench, when he has put the jersey on over the last three or four weeks has been there for all to see, so we think he's the right person to start the Test.' The other change sees Scotland's Kinghorn replace James Lowe on the left wing as the Lions seek to win the aerial battle on what is forecast to be a rainy night in Syndey. 'We thought that Blair is obviously a great athlete but the unpredictability of his game makes him very dangerous,' the head coach said. 'The conditions that we're expecting as far as the aerial game is concerned will be at its premium, so I think this game suits him.' Otherwise, the Lions are unchanged with tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong set to make his ninth consecutive Lions Test start in an all-Irish front row alongside Andrew Porter and Dan Sheehan. Farrell acknowledged the 32-year-old's season with Leinster and Ireland which was disrupted by calf issues that many observers believed would make it difficult for Furlong to justify his Lions selection. On Saturday the three-time tourists will draw level with Wales and Lions captain Alun Wyn Jones (2013-21) and England's Dickie Jeeps (1955-59) in a tie for fifth pace on the Lions' most successive Test starts list, a roll of honour led by Willie John McBride on 15 across five tours from 1966 to 1974. 'It's amazing, and it's been well documented how much he loves playing for the Lions. 'Over the last year or 18 months, the continuity of his game and fitness... it just always happens that when this comes around, how much it means to him to get himself in the right frame of mind to be able to do what he's done. 'It isn't just the performances that has been through the roof. It's also his manner on a Lions tour as well. I've never seen him in such good spirits, so he's ready to go again.' The Lions bench, which made such a vital contribution to the victory at the MCG, has been switched from a 5-3 split between forwards and backs deployed by Farrell in the first two Tests to a 6-2, with Ben Earl restored as a third back-rower alongside Jac Morgan and Chessum, who can cover lock and blindside. 'We think that's what's best for our group and the game that lies ahead for how we want to play it, and how we want to combat Australia's game as well.' Schmidt has made four changes to the Wallabies starting side. Racing 92-bound tighthead prop Taniela Tupou comes in for his first Test appearance of the year having faced the Lions nine days ago for the First Nations & Pasifika XV. Tupou replaces the injured Allan Alaalatoa. Rob Valetini has been rested to protect him ahead of next month's Rugby Championship campaign after his explosive 40-minute comeback from injury in last Saturday's second Test. Valetini is replaced at blindside flanker Tom Hooper alongside fellow back-rowers Fraser McReight and captain Harry Wilson. There is a return at scrum-half for Nic White to start in his 73rd and final Wallabies Test having announced his retirement from Test rugby earlier on Thursday. White replaces Jake Gordon. The final change sees Dylan Pietsch replace the injured Harry Potter on the left wing. 'The squad was certainly deflated after the gut-wrenching end to last week's Test in Melbourne,' Schmidt said, 'but they have started to gather momentum in the back half of the week and will be ready to go again on Saturday.' AUSTRALIA: T Wright; M Jorgensen, J-A Suaalii, L Ikitau, D Pietsch; T Lynagh, N White; J Slipper, D Porecki, T Tupou; N Frost, W Skelton; T Hooper, F McReight, H Wilson - captain. Replacements: B Pollard, A Bell, Z Nonggorr, J Williams, L Gleeson, T McDermott, B Donaldson, A Kellaway. 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Irish Daily Mirror
11 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Rhasidat Adeleke's absence means X-factor will be missing from Nationals
The X-factor that Rhasidat Adeleke brings to the National Championships will sadly be missing from Morton Stadium in Santry this weekend. The 22-year-old, according to Athletics Ireland, 'continues to focus on recovery following recent race exertions' as she turns her full focus to the World Championships that will take place in Tokyo in September. Athletics Ireland added that Adeleke was 'disappointed not to be defending her national 100m title this weekend'. Thousands of fans will feel the same after creating an atmosphere that blew the Tallaght star away when the Nationals were held at the end of June last year, just weeks before the Paris Olympics. While the timing added to the buzz around the event, the presence of Adeleke made it really special. The 400m specialist competed in the 100m and her victory over nearest challenger Sarah Lavin in a time of 11.13 completed a clean sweep of Irish sprint records at the age of 21. The big crowd roared her home and a Garda escort was required to guide her through the hordes of enthusiastic young supporters who wanted autographs and selfies with their hero. Adeleke later expressed her gratitude to the crowd. 'I love competing at home for nationals, it's so special,' she said. 'Seeing everyone out here is phenomenal, I don't remember there being a crowd like this at nationals so having them all cheer me on when they called my name at the start I was like, 'I want to put on a show and do something special.' 'That was the most special, not even the national record but everyone cheering my name. It's a visualisation of the support I have and it just goes so far because actually seeing them here, physically, and people travelled so far from different counties to come watch. I just really appreciate it.' Rhasidat Adeleke waves to the crowd (Image: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane) So it won't be quite the same this weekend, although the presence of European Indoor 3000m champion Sarah Healy - competing in the 800m - adds heft to a star-studded line-up that also includes fellow Euro medallists Kate O'Connor and Mark English, plus fellow Olympians Lavin, Sharlene Mawdsley, Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Sophie O'Sullivan and Andrew Coscorcan. Athletics Ireland normally grants athletes dispensations to miss the Nationals for 'medical reasons and/or exceptional circumstances'. It is not known if Adeleke is dealing with an illness or an injury and she was a late withdrawal from the Diamond League event in Monaco recently. But it has been a mixed year for the Dubliner who has been working on her endurance levels after finishing fourth in the 400m at the Olympics. Adeleke's team may well see this as the crucial time in her build-up to Tokyo and so skipping Santry this weekend will be worth it if it all comes together in just over a month's time in the Far East. Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .
Irish Independent
43 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Jake Doyle-Hayes and Francely Lomboto set for a Sligo Rovers exit
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