Cathal Dennehy: No running away from issue of investment in Irish athletics

After the European Championships just gone, there’s something still so very twisted about the fact that one junior club in the Czech Republic has more professional coaches than all of Irish athletics.

WHAT MORE CAN WE DO? Irish athletes Sophie Becker, left, with her silver medal and Sharlene Mawdsley with her gold and silver medals are greeted by Athletics Ireland Deputy CEO Brid Golden at Dublin Airport. Pic: David Fitzgerald, Sportsfile

LET me tell you about an athletics club: AK Skoda Plzen. It’s based in Pilsen, Czech Republic, and has about 1,100 members. It’s focused mostly on teenagers, and is to Czech athletics what Blackrock College or St Michael’s are to Irish rugby: A production line for future stars.

When promising athletes hit their late teens, they typically move on to one of the country’s sports universities, where academics are fitted around their athletics careers.