Ireland's masters athletes jump from chasing gold medals to coping with cocooning

“All those guys that were competitors with me, sorry to say, are not with us anymore, so all I had to beat was the record.”

John Rice of Grange/Fermoy AC, Cork, competing in the M70 High Jump during the National Masters Indoors Athletics Championships at Athlone IT before the lockdown. John was breaking over-60s records in weightlifting until recent years. 

Just over six weeks ago, before everything changed, Ireland’s best masters athletes were gathering in Athlone for the National Indoor Championships.

In categories from over-35s up to over-90s, athletes came from all corners of the country to compete in the full range of events, from 60m sprints to 3000m walking and running races, from hurdles to high jumps, from relays to weight-throwing. Some continuing athletics careers dating back as many as eight decades.