Mageean a late withdrawal as Akeleke and Lavin to take centre stage at National Championships

SHINING STARS: Rhasidat Adeleke and Sarah Lavin take to home track this weekend at the National Senior Outdoor Championships at Morton Stadium. 

On the 150th birthday of the Irish Athletics Championships, it’s fitting that two athletes will take centre stage in Santry tomorrow who typify just how things have changed for the sport – and the nation itself – in recent times.

Two sprinters – two female sprinters – will headline the opening day at Morton Stadium, and while Rhasidat Adeleke and Sarah Lavin should have little trouble blasting to gold in their respective events, the hardest work they’ll face is obliging the droves of selfie-seeking, autograph-hunting youngsters at the finish.

There was a time when Irish athletics was a man’s world, from the summiting of Mount Olympus by Pat O’Callaghan, Bob Tisdall and Ronnie Delany in the early-to-mid-20th century to the world-beating exploits of John Treacy and Eamonn Coghlan in the 1970s and ’80s. Sonia and Catherina, of course, flipped that on its head in the ’90s, with Derval O’Rourke, David Gillick and Paul Hession showing everyone in the 2000s that Irish sprinters could, in fact, run with the world’s best.

And now there’s Adeleke, the 20-year-old Dubliner whose parents came to Ireland from Nigeria, teaching the world with every 49-second display of dazzling speed that Irish athletics, and Ireland itself, is a far more diverse place than it once was.

Adeleke said this week that her favourite Irish athletics memory was Thomas Barr’s fourth-place finish in the 2016 Olympic 400m hurdles final, when the Waterford athlete became the first Irish sprinter to make an Olympic final in 84 years. You get the impression it won’t be that long a wait again. Adeleke was 13 during those Rio Games and she’s been a student of her sport ever since. She knows that, today, she’s a part of a swiftly rising tide.

“There are a load of athletes competing at a really good level, collectively we’re all creating a buzz,” she says. “Ciara (Mageean), Andrew (Coscoran), Sarah Healy, Sophie (O’Sullivan), Sarah Lavin, Israel (Olatunde) – everyone is doing so well. I feel like we’re all bringing more attention to athletics.” 

Having once been one of those kids, Adeleke is aware of the role she now occupies. One of her favourite Irish Olympians is Kellie Harrington, who she befriended during their time overlapping at the Sport Ireland Institute. Having seen the effect of her boxing gold in Tokyo, Adeleke knows what a global medal would do for athletics.

“I’d love if there were (Irish athletes) getting medals, even getting finals, and the fact the current generation is going to make a change is really inspiring.” 

The Tallaght star races the 200m heats at 1pm tomorrow, with the final at 2.55, all the action live on Athletics Ireland’s YouTube channel, with Sunday’s events live on RTÉ 2 from 6pm. Lavin will race the 100m hurdles final at 2.30pm tomorrow, where the Limerick sprinter should win her eighth national outdoor title. Conditions may not allow an attack on Derval O’Rourke’s Irish record of 12.65, but Lavin’s outstanding form of late suggests that mark is on borrowed time.

The men’s 800m on Sunday could provide an intriguing clash as Irish 1500m record holder Andrew Coscoran drops down to take on two-lap specialists Mark English and John Fitzsimons, with European U20 1500m champion Cian McPhillips also in the mix. Ciara Mageean was a late withdrawal, with her manager releasing a statement saying it was a “precautionary measure as she had a niggle” after her Irish mile record in Monaco last week. In her absence, the women’s 1500m should still serve up a riveting rematch between Sophie O’Sullivan and Sarah Healy, who went 1-2 at the recent European U23 Championships.