Lavin and Healy lead nine-strong Irish team for World Indoor Athletics Championships
FORM OF HER LIFE: Sarah Lavin competing in the senior women's 60m hurdles final during day one of the 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships. Picture: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Sarah Lavin and Sarah Healy will spearhead the Irish team at next week’s World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, where the in-form duo will be hoping to reach the finals in their respective events.
Athletics Ireland has announced a team of nine for the three-day event, which gets under way on Friday, March 1, with four individual athletes plus a women’s 4x400m relay.
Lavin will race the 60m hurdles and the 29-year-old will be keen to emulate her performance at the last edition in Belgrade, where she reached the final and finished seventh. She equalled her personal best to win the national title last Sunday with 7.91, which ranks her 15th of those eligible for Glasgow.
Healy will line up in the 1500m after an indoor season that’s been highly impressive, the 23-year-old Dubliner breaking the 1500m and 3000m national indoor records in her two outings to date. Her 1500m best this season of 4:03.83 ranks her 12th of those eligible for the event.
Israel Olatunde will line up in the 60m and while the 21-year-old has had a mediocre season to date, he showed signs of progression when winning the national title on Sunday in 6.71.
Sharlene Mawdsley is selected for the relay and the individual 400m, the latter dependent on an invite arriving from World Athletics in the days ahead. The Newport sprinter is 28th on the qualification rankings, with 30 athletes eligible to compete. Mawdsley will be joined in the relay pool by Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Roisin Harrison, Rachel McCann and Lauren Cadden.
“This is an exceptionally accomplished group of athletes that head to Glasgow,” said Paul McNamara, Athletics Ireland’s High-Performance Director.
“They will be looking to make an impact at this highly competitive championships and are well positioned to do so. Several athletes have opted to skip indoors or end their season early to focus preparation on the summer months ahead with Ciara Mageean, Rhasidat Adeleke and Andrew Coscoran amongst them. It’s a strong reflection of the strength in depth in Irish athletics currently that we have several potential finalists or better in this squad.”
Irish team for World Indoor Athletics Championships:
Sarah Healy (UCD AC) - 1500m
Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) - 60m hurdles
Israel Olatunde (Tallaght AC) - 60m
Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) - 400m (pending confirmation of qualification status by World Athletics)
Women's 4x400m relay team - Sharlene Mawdsley, Sophie Becker (Raheny Shamrock AC), Phil Healy (Bandon AC), Roisin Harrison (Emerald AC), Rachael McCann (North Down AC), Laura Cadden (Sligo AC, selection subject to proving form and fitness)
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