Latest news with #Doyle
RTÉ News
9 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Cathal Doyle is desperate to race after 'crazy' Faith Kipyegon pacing duties
The old and somewhat tiring joke goes, that you can find the Irish at everything, and Faith Kipyegon's 'Breaking4' project was no exception. Kipyegon didn't manage to become the first woman to break the four-minute barrier for the mile, but she did achieve the fastest time ever run with a 4:06.42 clocking and in the process has inspired one of her Irish pacers from the bid. Cathal Doyle, Olympian, multiple national record holder and probably the gutsiest man in Irish athletics, was one of a long list of pacers to assist Kipyegon in the 1609m exhibition run at the Stade Charlety in the French capital on Thursday evening. Doyle says running three laps with Kipyegon is up there with one of the best experiences he has had in his 27 years. "It was probably just one of the coolest things you'll probably ever do, it was just a bit crazy because I've never paced a race before, especially at that kind of level," Doyle told RTÉ Sport. Doyle walked down the tunnel onto the track in the French capital that just ten months ago saw him progress to the Olympic semi-final, to be the tip of the 'shield' formation for Kipyegon after some gruelling training with the Nike team leading the project. "Training was actually pretty intense… We had two sessions every day in the morning and evening. We were shown on a laptop the formation. And I was like, 'Oh, I've kind of drawn the short straw here'." The five-time national champion explains that he ran in the middle of lane two, where there were markers for him to follow, meaning he ran marginally further than the rest, which can make pacing trickier. The Nike team, meticulous in their planning, attempted to cover every possible scenario that the athletes learned through dozens of repetitions. "There was just scenario after scenario, there must've been about six different scenarios. The front five of us around Faith were the shield. And then the guys around near her were the 'spoiler'. "Luckily for my job, I actually didn't have to think. All I had to do was just run hard and stay in line where I was…it was just a lot of practice." "Luckily for my job, I actually didn't have to think. All I had to do was just run hard and stay in line where I was… It was just a lot of practice." Doyle reveals the call to be involved came only last week, thanks to some intervention from training partner and fellow Nike-sponsored athlete Elliot Giles. "He (Giles) asked if he could bring a training partner, and then they realised this guy can pace when they looked up my personal bests. "I only knew I was doing it less than a week ago, there wasn't even a second thought." For any athlete racing on the circuit, it can become monotonous quickly. Doyle is no exception, running almost 25 races last season and 12 already this year, so the 'Breaking4' project offered a change from the continuance of the track season. "You never get a chance to do stuff like this, running meets is cool and it's fun and all, but at the same time, they're all the same. So, this was a little bit different." "You never get a chance to do stuff like this, running meets is cool and it's fun and all, but at the same time, they're all the same. So, this was a little bit different." There were doubts from both fans and media of the sport as to whether the goal was achievable, but Doyle details that there was no question of its feasibility among the 13 pacers, and it was vital those around Kipyegon believed. "Everyone was just so focused on their role. There wasn't even a question of, will she do it or not? "In there, you're starting to believe that maybe she could do it, but apparently a 3:59 mile for a woman equates to a 1:58 men's marathon. "So, it was even more difficult than the 'Breaking2 ' project with (Eliud) Kipchoge. But everyone was fully invested." The event, organised by the shoe brand that has become synonymous with technology, development and science-backed projects like the one Doyle took part in, also specified that the pacers didn't tell Kipyegon the exact time per lap, allowing her to focus only on the task. "She didn't actually know the paces either. We were strictly told 'don't tell her'. "No talk of splits on the warm-up - zero talk, do not mention splits. She hadn't a clue so all she had to do was hold on for dear life." The stadium had a sizeable crowd, not full, but not bad for realistically four minutes of entertainment. The Irish Olympian explained he wasn't sure how a visibly nervous Kipyegon kept it together, knowing that it would be a rare scenario in which all eyes are exclusively on her. "I don't even know how she could pull it together. You walked out and a couple of thousand people there and they're all cheering for just her on the line." "I don't even know how she could pull it together. You walked out and a couple of thousand people there and they're all cheering for just her on the line." Doyle is now excited to get back racing after six days in the French capital working towards something "crazy" which has changed his perspective on his own goals. Which is exactly why Kipyegon attempted the near-impossible feat in the first place. "I'm actually pretty buzzing now to race again and train, even though I was just among the 10 others, it's just being around really good people and really successful people. It does rub off on you and then you kind of feel like, 'oh, I want to be that as well now'."
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Liam Doyle and 6 other 2025 MLB Draft prospects who might reach the majors fastest
Last year's draft has already produced six big leaguers in less than 12 months, with five first-round picks already debuting and one second-rounder (Ryan Johnson) taking the Angels Express from the draft to the majors. We'll probably see a few more before the 2025 season is out, as there are several others in Double A or Triple A right now who could at least get a September callup, all as teams are more anxious than ever to show off the fruits of their labors and also find cheaper reinforcements from within rather than having to pay the high cost of in-season trades. Advertisement With that in mind, here are the players in this year's draft class who I think have the best chances to debut within a year of draft day, health permitting. Doyle's fastball may be the best in the class this year in terms of how it plays, which should, at the very least, let him get through the minors quickly. He finished second in the NCAA Division I in strikeouts, thanks in large part to hitters whiffing on the fastball 40 percent of the time they swung at it, higher than Chase Burns' whiff rate on his fastball in his draft spring (36 percent). A team could take him in July and either try to call him up as a reliever in September if they're contending, given the way the fastball played when he was starting, or more likely (and maybe more responsibly) put him on the same path that Burns or Paul Skenes took, eyeing a June-ish callup next year. Anderson ended up leading Division I in strikeouts as he got an additional two starts due to LSU's College World Series-winning run, and he might have the most complete arsenal of any pitcher in the draft class. That's not always the ticket to move quickly through the minors, but given how well he pitched against the best competition in the country — the only knock is that he didn't have to face the LSU lineup — I expect him to start in Double A whenever he makes his pro debut. Because he pitched into late June, and ended up with 119 innings (23 more than Doyle), I don't think Anderson will throw at all this year after the draft — nor should he — but he should see the majors inside of a year if he's healthy. (He worked harder than any of the other top pitchers in this draft, with two starts of 130 pitches or more.) Arnold threw the fewest innings (84 2/3) of the big three lefties in this draft, and he utilizes the lowest-effort delivery of the trio, as well. He gets some comparisons to Chris Sale because of their similar (but not identical) mechanics and hard-to-hit fastballs. Advertisement Sale was drafted in a different world entirely, but he was selected in June 2010. He threw 10 1/3 innings in High A and Double A and debuted in the majors on Aug. 6, 2010, out of the bullpen. The White Sox kept him as a reliever through 2011 and moved him to the rotation in 2012 — a much more conservative development arc than almost any team uses today with its top pitching prospects. Maybe that's part of why Sale stayed healthy for so long before his first significant arm injury. Wood is an interesting case, as his fastball/slider combo would play in a major-league bullpen right now, and he only threw 37 2/3 innings this spring, nine of them in the no-hitter against Murray State. He missed half the spring with a shoulder impingement and then mainly worked shorter starts, with his top two pitch counts in any outing at 89 and 76 pitches. Assuming his medical is clean enough for someone to take him high, could he have more left in the tank for 2025 than any of his peers? I wouldn't argue for him to reach the big leagues faster than the big three lefties, but they'll be gone inside of the top 10 picks. Perhaps at that point, someone will take Wood with the intention of using him this fall — maybe even in October — because he's now available, and it's unclear what his long-term outlook is anyway. Shores lost his rotation spot in mid-April after giving up 22 runs in his nine starts for a 5.12 ERA, and his results weren't necessarily better when he moved to relief, but his stuff was, as he hit 100 mph 47 times in the NCAA Tournament. His main fastball is a two-seamer with significant tailing action, and his slider is at least a 55 on the 20-80 scouting scale, with a potential velocity of up to 91 mph, exhibiting solid tilt. He can't start as is, as lefties had a .412 OBP against him this spring, but several of his postseason outings — including the one that closed out LSU's national championship — showed his upside in relief as a sinker/slider guy. Someone might select him and try to start him, so this only applies if someone takes him and immediately puts him in the bullpen with the specific goal of having him get to the majors quickly. Advertisement I'm including one hitter on the list, even though this is probably the worst year for a so-called 'quick-to-the-majors' college bat. (I say so-called even though I use that phrase myself because sometimes those guys are very much not quick to the majors, or don't deserve to be, and we don't find that out until they reach Double A or so.) The industry perception of Irish has changed throughout the spring. He was a potential everyday catcher who could hit, and now, after a fractured shoulder blade moved him to the outfield for most of the season, I think more teams view him as a guy who can really hit, so much so that maybe he should stay in right field and get to the majors faster for his bat. He might not be the quickest to the majors, but when he gets there, he'll be Quick in the majors.
Daily Record
4 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Hamilton Accies' Broadwood arrival causes Cumbernauld Colts a headache as boss blasts 'farcical' fixture situation
John Doyle says Hamilton's move to the Cumbernauld venue has caused them a fixture headache Cumbernauld Colts boss John Doyle insists Hamilton Accies' arrival at Broadwood has caused them a headache with their fixtures and branded the situation 'farcical'. Colts have been the primary tenants at North Lanarkshire council owned Broadwood for the past two seasons and parts of the stadium are emblazoned with the club branding. However, since Hamilton's move to the Cumbernauld venue was rubber-stamped by the SPFL last week, Doyle claims Colts appear to have been treated as 'secondary'. Doyle says the club are frustrated that they will need to work around Hamilton Accies' fixture list, and the potential that brings for more Friday night games this season will prove problematic for them. Doyle, whose side will learn their Lowland League fixtures on July 1, said: "It has been a bit of a farce, to be honest. "There has been a bit of an issue with the fixtures because there should be an agreement with the SPFL and the Lowland League about the dates before they are announced. "Our club is not happy that the SPFL have produced fixtures for Hamilton and made us secondary. It's been the case that the SPFL have organised their fixtures and the Lowland League are having to work around that. "If anything, I think it will mean more Friday night games for us, which will have its own challenges because one of our committee members - who is also our club doctor and an under-20s coach - is with the U20s on a Friday night, so he couldn't be at both games. "We have an issue there where we need to look at another staff member coming in for the under-20s. "Last week, we got the announcement that everything was good to go with Hamilton and then, by Friday night, we found out their fixtures when we haven't even learned ours yet. "The [Lowland] fixtures are out next week and the league needs to work around Hamilton. "If it means we have to play our first game of the season away from home or on a Friday, then so be it." Both sides train on the pitch and will be due to play games there this season, along with SWPL1 side Rangers Women, who normally play on Sundays. Complicating Colts' preparations further this pre-season is the fact the Broadwood pitch is being ripped up in the coming days to be relayed. And Colts - who are hoping to play their Cumbernauld Cup match with Cumbernauld United at Broadwood on July 19 - claim they have not had a completion date for the pitch. Doyle added: "My main hope was that we would be able to play on the new Broadwood surface for a game or two before the season starts, but that looks like that might be a bit of a challenge. "The pitch is being ripped up either this week or next, we haven't had an exact date yet, and we haven't got a date yet for the work being finished, so our last pre-season fixture that we aim to play there, might be a bit of an issue."
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
8 players Rangers could target for loan amid imminent arrival of Max Aarons - from £8m striker to 17 y/o whizzkid
2 . Callum Doyle - Manchester City Still just 21-years-old, the versatile defender won promotion on loan at both Sunderland and Leicester City as a centre-back, but flourished at Norwich City last season at left-back. An imposing figure at 6ft, Doyle has a fantastic range of passing, and is capable of building attacks from defence. Still has two years left on his deal at the Etihad Stadium, but has already admitted he would prefer a permanent move away from the club this summer. A loan with a view to a permanent deal could be tempting for Doyle, especially with European football on offer. | Getty Images
The National
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Scotland has a rich history of music composers
Back in the 1940s and 50s, Muir Mathieson (1911-73) won the Boult and Leverhulme scholarships, was music director to the government Army, Navy and Air Force film units in the Second World War, and was later music director to J Arthur Rank Organisation and responsible for music for Odd Man Out and The Woman in the Hall. Mathieson often returned to Scotland and in 1961 became director of Grampian TV. Marcus Dods (1918-84) was assistant to Mathieson, working on Laurence Olivier's seminal film versions of Henry V and Hamlet and moving on to Far From the Madding Crowd and Death on the Nile. More recently, Kathleen Wallfisch supervised music for Napoleon and Gladiator 2. As a composer, Craig Armstrong's many awards include a Bafta for Romeo + Juliet; a Golden Globe for Moulin Rouge, which also won a Bafta; a Grammy for Love Actually; and an Ivor Novello Award for The Quiet American. His atmospheric track Escape has been widely used as entrance music for a variety of teams and sports. Craig Armstrong Patrick Doyle is another leading Scottish composer of film music. He has worked with Kenneth Branagh on many occasions, notably for Henry V and Hamlet, as well as for the outstanding 1995 film of Sense and Sensibility for which Doyle received Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. Patrick Doyle His music for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is impressive for its variety, ranging from the sombre Black Lake to the almost ridiculous but absolutely disarming Hogwarts March. Scottish idiom influenced Doyle's music for Brave, the first Disney film to feature music lyrics in Gaelic, including Doyle's setting of A' Mhadainn Bhan Uasal. Lorne Balfe has made a name for himself as a film composer, with Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. Much of Balfe's work has been in collaboration with other composers and includes a number of scores for short films and video games. Balfe also composes under the name Oswin Mackintosh. Not being a film music composer, all I can add to this hall of fame are a few anecdotes from behind the recording scenes. READ MORE: 'One to remember': Glasgow Jazz Festival showcases more than 200 artists The nearest I got to composing a complete original score for a film was for a 'permanent' exhibition at Bannockburn, commemorating the victorious battle of 1314 during Scotland's Wars of Independence. I was commissioned by the National Trust for Scotland to compose an orchestral evocation for an exhibition which opened on the site in 1972. For the exhibition itself, there was commentary to which the music was timed, read by the splendid Tom Fleming with whom I was to work many years later. The room had at its centre a circular relief plan of the battle site highlighting the various actions with red and blue lights representing the opposing armies, plus images projected onto the walls. It was designed by Paterson Associates and they did a fine job. Of course, it has all long since been superseded. The recording itself was a historic one. It was made in Abbey Road Studio One with Geoff Emerick of Beatles fame as producer/sound engineer, with The London Session Orchestra – a gathering of the top session players, many of them soloists in their own right, all under the eagle eye of the fixer, the redoubtable Sidney Sax, who led. The leader of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hugh Bean, was on the second desk – that's how high the standard was. My brother-in-law, Peter Lloyd, principal flute in the LSO, was principal flute for the recording and had helped me get in contact with Sid. I had had very little time in which to write the music – less than a month to compose and record 18 minutes of orchestral music, so I came into the studio with full score and parts, not having slept for three days. Geoff Emerick introduced himself, explained the microphone layout in the studio and the sound desk with more faders than you could count and, while the orchestra was trying out sections, asked was the balance alright? I remember tentatively wondering, 'Might we have a bit more ...'But I never finished the sentence because he turned on me and said: 'You don't ask me can I do something.' I had never been in a situation like this before and I was dismayed – that is until he chose to break his artfully timed pause with: 'You tell me what you want and I do it.' And so he did. Brilliantly. That same recording, though derived from a 7.5ips copy of the master is still of outstanding quality. The orchestra played out of its skins, the brass risking all, and it was all rehearsed and recorded in six hours, under the energetic and efficient baton of 'the bionic carrot', as he was affectionately known, the red-headed Christopher Seaman. Many taunting comments about the Scots came my way from the mostly English and almost entirely male musicians. I can't remember whether Chris Seaman explained what Bannockburn was about but they got the message. They also came back to me with a lot of appreciation, outstanding musicianship, and encouragement to write more. The orchestra was so good that all my top trumpet Cs and orchestral imaginings were brought vibrantly to life. When it came to the actual exhibition, the music did its job but was soon forgotten. However, 2014 was the 700th anniversary of the battle and also the year of the Scottish independence referendum. I issued the piece on CD and one reviewer wrote that I'd 'bnockburne bloody good at writing film music'. I'm glad I didn't go down that road. I've seen just enough of the Hollywood musical sausage machine, hugely impressive as it is, to realise that innovation and personality are liable to be subsumed by commercial imperatives and technology. The composer has a dedicated studio, sound desk, sound library, assistant with adjacent studio, and both studios furnished with grand pianos and anything relevant you might think of – but of the real world, a bunch of flowers might be the only evidence. Real? What has reality got to do with it? When I was paid £300 for musical advice for Braveheart all – yes, all – of my recommendations were ignored. I was told, 'The Japanese expect bagpipes', despite there being no evidence of their use in Scotland in the days of Wallace. Mel Gibson in Braveheart Braveheart Braveheart's wife is buried to the sound of 19th-century Irish uilleann pipes, the equivalent of bringing on Wallace in a tuxedo. Jesus wept. I hope I was not credited. I asked not to be. It was a different matter with The Eagle. The composer was the delightful Atli Örvasson and he took all my recommendations seriously, attended the recording sessions in Edinburgh and made good use of some remarkable work by Allan MacDonald (voice and pipes), Simon O'Dwyer (voice and Bronze Age horns), and Bill Taylor (clàrsach). I added my two bits worth of throat singing and Bronze Age horn playing and Atli integrated our disparate efforts into his score with both skill and respect. We all attended the pre-release cast showing in London at which we realised the truth of cinema credits – namely that the musicians are kept to the last. Simon's wife, Maria, leant over to me after some 10 minutes of credits including drivers, tea ladies and runners, to bet that they would credit the rat eaten halfway through the film, before they got to us. The music was excellent, and we thought well of the film, though it never hit the big time. My son-in-law, Tommy Gormley, was first assistant director and was never more impressive than when in the depths of a red sandstone gorge, the sides of which were draped with natural mosses and overhung by mature trees. READ MORE: Scottish island at centre of campaign to tackle ocean plastic pollution The river was flowing fast and the Seal People, mostly stuntmen from Hungary and wonderfully made up in blue woad, assaulted the Scots Highland stuntmen, all dressed as beleaguered Romans, in mid-stream. Both sides, after some initial thrusts and parries, ended up with great respect for each other, and some hair-raising feats were performed – men leaping over shield walls, and swords and spears flashing and stabbing in a thoroughly confined and very slippy rocky river bed, as the rain filtered down through the leaves in a fine mist, and the light from a vast overhead lantern, strung across the gorge some 50ft up, cast a surreal glow over what was already a wildly surreal scene. Actors lay dead in cold water for another take, cables were concealed under damp leaves, and Tommy stood in the middle of it all as people spent an endless amount of time getting everything ready. 'Does anybody here want to make a film?' he shouted, and somehow the preparations were complete and shooting could begin. My contribution as music adviser to Outlander was brief but significant. They were looking for a Gaelic song for the start of the 1745 Rising, a song brimming with confidence, even militaristic. Still from Outlander I suggested Moch Sa Mhadainn and An Fhideag Airgid. They chose the former, having already used the latter. The background was perfect historically, especially in a Highland setting. I sent them a transcription and an old recording of James Campbell of Kintail, native Gaelic singer but classically trained as well. Campbell sings Moch Sa Mhadainn quite slowly, but the song can certainly be delivered faster. 'Early in the morning as I awaken Great is my joy and hearty laughter Since I've heard of the Prince's coming To the land of Clanranald.' There are chorus and solo sections and it would have been natural for mounted or marching Highlanders to join in the chorus at the very least. Griogair Labhruidh recorded it for the film, with a group of male Gaelic singers picked by my colleague at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Decker Forrest. Griogair LabhruidhGriogair was powerful and, being also profoundly engaged with the tradition, helped the other singers with niceties of regional Gaelic pronunciation. Bear McCreary produced down the line from LA, with myself as intermediary with the performers at Nick Turner and Mary Ann Kennedy's Watercolour studios in Ardgour, where you only had to look out of the window and you were in the set for real. David Cameron asked for, and was granted, the postponement of the screening of Outlander until after the 2014 referendum, fearful of a Braveheart effect. Jesus wept again. Bear's music based on Moch Sa Mhadainn features in season two and he has built it up imaginatively; Griogair's singing is spine-chilling, and the male voices were excellent. As with The Eagle, I'm proud to be in the credits and don't resent the mission creep for which Bear graciously upped my fee. Nor do I resent the long, long drive home to Skye in the dark, having missed the last ferry at Corran. This is the Highlands: real enough, but they were never meant to come easy.
