It was both a look back and a glance forward — an appreciation of a past great and the heralding of her successor. And through all of yesterday’s National Athletics Awards in Santry, there was an excited sense of expectancy with an Olympic year starting to loom on the horizon.

A key test, passed with flying colours. For a golden generation of young athletes, Saturday’s National Junior and U-23 Championships proved a low-key but high-intensity examination of their fitness as they prepare to take their talents to a bigger stage.