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Irish Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Anika Thompson and Nicola Tuthill medal for Ireland at European Under-23 Championships
Anika Thompson and Nicola Tuthill made it an evening to remember for Irish athletes at the European Under-23 Championships in Bergen, Norway, winning gold and silver in the 10,000m and hammer respectively. Thompson, from the Leevale club in Cork, became Ireland's second European Under-23 gold medallist following Sophie O'Sullivan's 1,500m win in 2023, winning the 10,000m in an Irish Under-23 record of 32:31.47. Kira Weis from Germany was second in 32:36.47, but was no match for Thompson in the last lap burn up. Then came Tuthill in the hammer to make it a Cork medal double, as the 21-year-old from Bandon threw a best of 70.90m to win silver, the gold medal there going to Aileen Kuhn from Germany with her best of 72.53m. READ MORE Tuthill had thrown 71.33m in qualifying, just couldn't quite reproduce that form. Together they claim just the 12th and 13th medals for Ireland at European Under-23 level.
Irish Independent
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Nicola Tuthill throws career second, and Reece Ademola ‘delighted' with long jump display at Cork City Sports
That was behind only her Irish U-23 record of 71.71m, which the UCD student threw in Finland last month, and it tees her up perfectly for next week's European U-23 Championships in Norway, with the World University Games to follow the week after. Tuthill also defeated some quality opponents in the process, with Norway's Beatrice Llano second with 68.14m and Finland's Suvi Koskinen third with 68.02m. 'I'm happy with that, but of course I'm always looking for more,' said Tuthill. 'It's a brilliant home crowd which makes it extra special. I'm happy with the consistency of two throws over 70 and I hope I can build on that as the summer goes on.' Elsewhere in the field events, Reece Ademola underlined his outstanding talent with a huge leap of 7.82m in the long jump, the Leevale athlete bouncing back to form in spectacular fashion following a prolonged layoff with injury. Ademola underwent knee surgery last August and was thrilled to be back competing, having only started back jumping three weeks ago. Victory went to Britain's Stephen Mackenzie with 7.89m ahead of compatriot Alessandro Schenni (7.88m). 'I'm delighted with that, I didn't know what to expect,' said Ademola. 'Last year I had a lateral meniscus tear so I took some personal time for myself to get over things, but I'm back now so I'm looking to get out there. I'm going to shoot for Worlds, give myself a goal. I do tend to do well if I have something ahead of me.' Israel Olatunde put in a bold bid for victory in the men's 100m but came up second best, clocking 10.36 (0.5m/s) behind USA's Coby Hilton (10.30). 'I'll take it, it's all progress,' said Olatunde. 'Next up is Morton Games and then I'll get ready for nationals.' The Dundalk athlete has been training in Florida since last autumn under the guidance of coach Lance Brauman, alongside Olympic champion Noah Lyles, and he feels things are starting to click after an initial adjustment period. 'It's been great, a dream come true being out there, training with the best,' he said. 'I feel like I'm really improving as an athlete. You think the best do crazy stuff but it's simple things, day on day, putting in the work, that leads to greatness over time. It's all a process but I'm getting there bit by bit.' In the men's 800m, Cian McPhillips left himself with too much to do despite producing a flying finish. The Longford athlete had to circle the field over the closing 200m and came up just short of victory, finishing second in 1:45.51 to British 20-year-old Henry Jonas, who clocked a meeting record of 1:45.25. Cathal Doyle produced a strong run to finish third in 1:46.36, the Paris Olympian sharpening up for Friday's Morton Mile in Dublin, where he should be a huge contender for victory. In the men's 3000m, rising star Nick Griggs made a bold bid to challenge his Irish U-23 3000m record but fell a few seconds short, the Tyrone athlete clocking 7:40.38 to finish fifth, with Britain's Henry McLuckie setting a meeting record of 7:36.81 to take victory. Eric Favors threw a best of 19.81m in the men's shot put, but the Paris Olympian had to settle for second behind New Zealand's Nick Palmer (19.91m). Britain's Mabel Akande was best in the women's 100m, powering to victory in 11.36 (2.2m/s) ahead of Mexico's Cecilia Tamayo-Garza (11.47), with Limerick's Ciara Neville producing a strong run back in third of 11.50. Phil Healy came home seventh in 11.77, but the former Irish record holder had a better showing later in the evening over 200m, finishing third in 24.05. 'It's a rust buster for me,' said Healy. 'I haven't raced since [the World Relays in] China which was almost two months ago so it's great to race and take that on to the rest of the season.' There was a thrilling finale in the men's mile where USA's Marco Langon powered to victory in 3:54.59, beginning his celebration halfway up the home straight, with Uruguay's Santiago Catrofe second in 3:55.51 and UCD's Lughaidh Mallon smashing the four-minute barrier for the first time in third, clocking 3:56.09.
Irish Independent
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Andrew Coscoran and Sharlene Mawdsley turn in strong performances at Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia
Andrew Coscoran and Sharlene Mawdsley turned in strong performances at the third edition of Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia on Sunday evening, with Coscoran finishing fourth in the 3000m in 8:02.17 and Mawdsley finishing seventh over 200m in 23.24, leaving her with a sixth-place finish overall in the long sprints category. In a slow race in the men's 3000m, where 2000m was reached in just 5:40, the gears began to shift on the penultimate lap and Coscoran positioned himself perfectly, poised to strike, but simply didn't have the gears down the home straight to match the surge of USA's Nico Young, who took victory in 8:01.03 after a 53-second last lap. Coscoran had pocketed $50,000 at the last Grand Slam Track meeting in Miami after finishing second overall in the long-distance category, which comprised the 3000m and 5000m. But the 5000m was dropped from the programme for the Philadelphia meeting, the event shortened from three days to two. With the prize money also halved, he earned $12,500 for his fourth-place finish. Mawdsley earned $15,000 for her sixth-place finish in the long sprints category, with victory going to Olympic 400m champion Marileidy Paulino. On Saturday, Mawdsley finished fifth in the 400m in a season's best of 51.12, a race won by Paulino in 49.12, with Olympic silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain crossing the line second but later disqualified for a lane infringement. Meanwhile, Chris Jeuken and Evelyn Twomey claimed decisive victories at the Cork City Marathon on Sunday morning, clocking 2:18:55 and 2:54:30 respectively to both win by several minutes. Leevale's Niamh Allen turned in the performance of the day to win the women's half marathon, the 30-year-old clocking a big personal best of 1:10:06, which brought her home almost 10 minutes clear of the runner-up. Jake O'Regan of St. John's AC won the men's half marathon in 1:06:51. Fearghal Curtin turned in a commanding display to win the men's 10K, the Youghal athlete dominating the race from the outset and winning in 29:46. There was a podium sweep for Leevale AC in the women's 10K, where Hannah Steeds won in 34:51 with 2016 Olympian Lizzie Lee second in 35:30. The day was marred by tragedy, however, after it was confirmed that a woman in her 20s, who had participated in the half marathon, died after becoming unwell at the finishing line on Patrick's Street at around 1pm. At the VHI Women's Mini Marathon in Dublin, Kilkenny's Grace Richardson followed in the footsteps of her older sister Aoibhe – a winner in 2018 – and led home the 28,000-strong field, hitting the finish in 34:17 with Claire Fagan of Mullingar second in 34:25 and Jessica Craig third in 34:55. At the All Ireland Schools Championships in Tullamore on Saturday, Seán Doggett of Coláiste an Éachréidh underlined his vast potential when clocking a superb championship record of 47.22 to win the senior boys' 400m, breaking Brian Gregan's mark of 47.66 which had stood since 2008. The best race of the championships was likely the intermediate girls' 3000m, which involved a last-lap duel between Emma Hickey (St. Marys New Ross) and Freya Renton (Sacred Heart Westport). ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Hickey struck for home with half a lap left and clocked a blazing 9:28.14 to take 21 seconds off the championship record, with Renton clocking 9:33.87 in second. Later in the day, they clashed over 1500m, with Renton turning the tables and winning in 4:30.59. The senior 100m titles went to Cillian Doherty (Belvedere College) in 10.86 and Elena O'Sullivan (Regina Mundi Cork) in 11.96, while Ben Skyes (Grosvenor GS Belfast) was an especially impressive winner of the intermediate boys' 100m in 10.72. European U18 champion Thomas Williams (Colaiste Dun an Ri Kingscourt) dominated the senior boys' hammer throw with a best of 62.30m. On Friday night, Séamus Clarke (St. Muredach's College Ballina) broke Colin Griffin's 25-year-old record in the senior boys 3000m walk, clocking 11:57.47. Cillian Gleeson (Coláiste Chíaráin Leixlip) made a bold, brave effort to try to break the most fabled schools record on the books – John Treacy's senior boys' 5000m record of 14:17.0 from 1974 – but came up just short, clocking 14:19.66. Elsewhere, Cian Crampton broke the Irish U-20 discus record at the Pickering Memorial International in Loughborough, throwing 58.32m. Looking ahead, Mark English will be back in action in Quercia, Italy on Monday evening, three days on from breaking his Irish 800m record to win at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bydgoszcz, Poland, where he clocked 1:44.34.
Irish Examiner
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Strong performances from Coscoran and Mawdsley at the Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia
Andrew Coscoran and Sharlene Mawdsley turned in strong performances at the third edition of Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia on Sunday evening, with Coscoran finishing fourth in the 3000m in 8:02.17 and Mawdsley finishing seventh over 200m in 23.24, leaving her with a sixth-place finish overall in the long sprints category. In a slow race in the men's 3000m, where 2000m was reached in just 5:40, the gears began to shift on the penultimate lap and Coscoran positioned himself perfectly, poised to strike, but simply didn't have the gears down the home straight to match the surge of USA's Nico Young, who took victory in 8:01.03 after a 53-second last lap. Coscoran had pocketed $50,000 at the last Grand Slam Track meeting in Miami after finishing second overall in the long-distance category, which comprised the 3000m and 5000m. But the 5000m was dropped from the programme for the Philadelphia meeting, the event shortened from three days to two. With the prize money also halved, he earned $12,500 for his fourth-place finish. Mawdsley earned $15,000 for her sixth-place finish in the long sprints category, with victory going to Olympic 400m champion Marileidy Paulino. On Saturday, Mawdsley finished fifth in the 400m in a season's best of 51.12, a race won by Paulino in 49.12, with Olympic silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain crossing the line second but later disqualified for a lane infringement. CORK MARATHON: Chris Jeuken from Derg AC who was the first man to pass the finish line. Pic. Darragh Kane Meanwhile, Chris Jeuken and Evelyn Twomey claimed decisive victories at the Cork City Marathon on Sunday morning, clocking 2:18:55 and 2:54:30 respectively to both win by several minutes. Leevale's Niamh Allen turned in the performance of the day to win the women's half marathon, the 30-year-old clocking a big personal best of 1:10:06, which brought her home almost 10 minutes clear of the runner-up. Jake O'Regan of St. John's AC won the men's half marathon in 1:06:51. CORK MARATHON: Evelyn Twomey from Dublin who was the first woman to pass the finish line. Pic. Darragh Kane Fearghal Curtin turned in a commanding display to win the men's 10K, the Youghal athlete dominating the race from the outset and winning in 29:46. There was a podium sweep for Leevale AC in the women's 10K, where Hannah Steeds won in 34:51 with 2016 Olympian Lizzie Lee second in 35:30. The day was marred by tragedy, however, after it was confirmed that a woman in her 20s, who had participated in the half marathon, died after becoming unwell at the finishing line on Patrick's Street at around 1pm. At the VHI Women's Mini Marathon in Dublin, Kilkenny's Grace Richardson followed in the footsteps of her older sister Aoibhe – a winner in 2018 – and led home the 28,000-strong field, hitting the finish in 34:17 with Claire Fagan of Mullingar second in 34:25 and Jessica Craig third in 34:55. WOMENS MINI MARATHON: Race winner Grace Richardson from Kilkenny City Harriers, centre, pictured with Claire Fagan of Mullingar Harriers who finished second, left, and Jessica Craig North Down AC who finished third. For further information please log on to At the All Ireland Schools Championships in Tullamore on Saturday, Seán Doggett of Coláiste an Éachréidh underlined his vast potential when clocking a superb championship record of 47.22 to win the senior boys' 400m, breaking Brian Gregan's mark of 47.66 which had stood since 2008. The best race of the championships was likely the intermediate girls' 3000m, which involved a last-lap duel between Emma Hickey (St. Marys New Ross) and Freya Renton (Sacred Heart Westport). Hickey struck for home with half a lap left and clocked a blazing 9:28.14 to take 21 seconds off the championship record, with Renton clocking 9:33.87 in second. Later in the day, they clashed over 1500m, with Renton turning the tables and winning in 4:30.59. The senior 100m titles went to Cillian Doherty (Belvedere College) in 10.86 and Elena O'Sullivan (Regina Mundi Cork) in 11.96, while Ben Skyes (Grosvenor GS Belfast) was an especially impressive winner of the intermediate boys' 100m in 10.72. European U18 champion Thomas Williams (Colaiste Dun an Ri Kingscourt) dominated the senior boys' hammer throw with a best of 62.30m. On Friday night, Séamus Clarke (St. Muredach's College Ballina) broke Colin Griffin's 25-year-old record in the senior boys 3000m walk, clocking 11:57.47. Cillian Gleeson (Coláiste Chíaráin Leixlip) made a bold, brave effort to try to break the most fabled schools record on the books – John Treacy's senior boys' 5000m record of 14:17.0 from 1974 – but came up just short, clocking 14:19.66. Elsewhere, Cian Crampton broke the Irish U-20 discus record at the Pickering Memorial International in Loughborough, throwing 58.32m. Looking ahead, Mark English will be back in action in Quercia, Italy on Monday evening, three days on from breaking his Irish 800m record to win at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bydgoszcz, Poland, where he clocked 1:44.34.
Irish Times
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Ian O'Riordan: Do we need to protect the limits of women's distance running?
These are refreshing and fast-changing times for women's sport, and one Irish athlete swiftly making a name for herself is Niamh Allen. Her outright victory in the Midleton five-mile road race in Cork on Thursday evening, beating all the women and men, was exceptional on several counts, possibly causing some confusion in the prize-giving ceremony afterwards. Allen has already been breaking boundaries in Irish women's distance running, ever since returning from two years in Australia last April. Just three months after giving birth to her first child, Lily, she finished second in the National Cross-Country Championships in November, with that winning her first big international vest. She followed that with a victory in the National 10km road race in March, her 31:44 the fastest Irish women's time recorded on Irish soil. Recently turned 30, Allen now runs with Leevale AC, and Thursday's Midleton race consisted largely of Cork runners, with the usual mixed-race start. In magnificent running conditions, over the latter stages, Allen broke clear of the field, winning by 22 seconds in 25:31, comfortably the best of the 340 finishers, 204 men, and 136 women. Leevale club-mate Michael Walsh was second in 25:53, thus the top men's finisher, ahead of another Leevale runner Donal Coakly, third in 26:24. READ MORE The second-best women's finisher was Siobhán Hoare from Togher, who ran 30:19, and even if Allen's overall victory among the women and men is only a tiny outlier, she is unquestionably an Irish athlete to watch over the next few years. Right now, it seems, there are no limits on her potential. European Cross Country Championships, Antalya, Turkey, December 2024: Niamh Allen in the women's senior race. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho While Allen's victory also pokes gentle fun at the idea of what women can achieve, it doesn't in any way alter the need, as I see it, to protect the entirely separate women's category. The English FA were the latest sporting body to address that this week, banning all transgender women from the women's game from the beginning of next month. This follows last month's UK supreme court ruling that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act refer only to a biological woman and to biological sex. World Athletics has made its stance clear, and other sporting bodies have followed. It also comes at a time when the marketing people at Nike have dreamed up another idea to test the limits of distance running, this time focusing on the women's mile world record. Inspired in part by a study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science in February, which suggested Faith Kipyegon from Kenya could feasibly run a 3:59.37 mile as soon as this summer, they've set up the sub-four record attempt at the Stade Charléty in Paris on June 26th. This will also mean improving Kipyegon's world record of 4:07.64, set in 2023, a time no other woman has come within almost five seconds of, but this won't be your normal, or indeed legal, record attempt. Kipyegon will benefit from reduced aerodynamic drag on the track thanks to improved drafting off male pacemakers, who will be substituted at the halfway point, and will also be racing in whatever new Nike super-spike is being worked on behind closed doors, and therefore not yet legal either. We all appreciate that Kipyegon is arguably the best women's middle-distance runner of all time, certainly the best I've seen. She's the three-time Olympic 1,500m champion, unbeaten at the distance in four years, and at age 31, and mother to a six-year-old daughter, is showing no signs of slowing down. It took 34 years of small steps for the women's mile time to improve by almost eight seconds, to that 4:07.64, and now Faith Kipyegon hopes to do the same in one giant leap. Photograph: Getty Images In the first Diamond League meeting of the season in Xiamen, China last Saturday, she opened with a 1,000m race, clocking a terrific 2:29.21 – just missing the world record of 2:28.98 set by Russia's Svetlana Masterkova back in 1996. If Kipyegon could somehow have managed to keep going at that 2:29.21 pace for another 609m (to complete the mile distance) she'd have clocked a 4:00.08 mile, still just short of sub-four. But it simply does not work that way: in reality, Kipyegon will need to improve by two seconds per lap, or almost eight seconds overall, compared with the 4:07.64 mile she ran in Monaco in July 2023. It took 34 years of small steps for the women's mile time to improve by almost eight seconds, to that 4:07.64, and now Kipyegon hopes to do the same in one giant leap. In that same race in Monaco, incidentally, Ciara Mageean broke the Irish women's mile record when running 4:14.58 – the previous mark of 4:17.26 had stood to Sonia O'Sullivan since 1994. Nike are calling it Breaking4, a sort of sequel to their Breaking2 project, which in 2019 enabled another Kenyan, Eliud Kipchoge, to eclipse the two-hour barrier in the men's marathon, running 1:59:40 – only again that didn't count for record purposes due to the rotation of pacemakers and other such gimmicks. In a publicity statement for Breaking4, Nike said: 'How do you make the impossible possible? You start by calling your moon shot, and as moonshots go, Faith Kipyegon's is as audacious as they come.' For Kipyegon, the mile-record attempt is also about inspiring women runners everywhere: 'I want this attempt to say to women, 'you can dream and make your dreams valid',' she said. 'This is the way to go as women, to push boundaries and dream big.' It's coming up on 71 years since Roger Bannister became the first man to run a sub-four-minute mile, his 3:59.4, on May 6th, 1954, also considered by many to be an impossible task at the time. Once that barrier was broken, many more soon followed. Or as Bannister said, 'Après moi, le déluge.' Perhaps that's part of Nike's thinking: that if the men have been doing it for more than 70 years, why not the women now, too? But the sub-four mile is one of the last great frontiers of women's running for good reason, and it would be silly and even reckless to suggest it can be broken anytime soon, if at all. All such records should only be allowed to progress organically, albeit with whatever technological advances are permitted. Otherwise, the boundaries will be pushed beyond what can be achieved under normal circumstances. And what might that encourage, more athletes resorting to doping perhaps? Sometimes these limits, as with women's sport, need careful protection.
