Three Irish athletes face wait to see if they will join European Indoor Championships team

ANXIOUS WAIT: Bori Akinola of UCD AC, Dublin, celebrates after winning the men's 60m final during day two of the 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Three Irish athletes must wait for the publication of Tuesday’s updated Road to Apeldoorn rankings to see if they will join the rest of the 16-strong Irish team announced for next month's European Indoor Championships.

Bori Akinola (60m), Cathal Doyle (1500m), and Jodie McCann (3000m) have clocked the B standard over their respective distances and so won’t know of their selection until the final rankings list goes live on Tuesday.

Teenager Conor Kelly (400m) is also in the same boat, but irrespective of whether he gets to compete individually, he will be present in the Dutch city on the second weekend of March given his involvement in the 4x400m mixed relay team.

Doyle, who comfortably defended his 1500m crown at Sunday’s National Indoors, is currently just inside the quota cut-off point. The remaining three, however, would need an 11th hour lift up the rankings ladder to earn a seat on the plane and individual selection.

In the case of Akinola and Kelly, they did their chances no harm at all when recording personal bests on their way to gold at Abbotstown. Akinola’s 6.61 clocking in the 60m final elevated him to joint-second on the Irish all-time list.

As for 17-year-old Conor Kelly, he twice broke the Irish U20 indoor record over the weekend - posting 46.63 in Saturday’s semi-finals and 46.54 24-hours later - to underline his potential.

Sarah Healy, who has lowered her own Irish indoor records over 1500m and 3000m in recent weeks, has opted for the longer distance at the upcoming Europeans. It's an event where the 24-year-old is the third fastest European in 2025.

The 3000m could well throw up two Irish medals in Apeldoorn as Andrew Coscoran and his Irish record of 7:30.35 when winning in Boston earlier this month has him sitting fourth fastest in the men’s event.

The men’s 800m will be another medal target, with Mark English and Cian McPhilips ranked third and sixth respectively. English, who did not compete in Abbotstown because of a niggle, is chasing a third European Indoor medal. He won silver in this event 10 years ago in Prague, adding bronze four years later in Glasgow.

Two 400m relay teams will travel, with Sharlene Mawdsley to lead the women’s quartet. The Newport sprinter said last week that she hadn’t made a final decision on whether she would also line up for the mixed relay final on the opening Thursday night of action given her individual 400m heats are the morning after.

That mixed relay selection does not include Cillín Green, who ran a 46.49 indoor PB three weeks ago to head the list of Irish sprinters over the distance this year. Greene posted on social media last week that he was pulling out of nationals because of a niggle, an injury that has proven serious enough to also rule him out of competing at Apeldoorn.

Greene ran the opening leg when Ireland won World mixed relay bronze last May. Jack Raftery was a sub on that team. He is another not part of the European Indoor mixed relay team after pulling up in Sunday’s 400m final.

Irish team: Sarah Lavin (60m hurdles, Emerald AC), Sharlene Mawdsley (400m, 4x400m relay, 4x400m mixed relay), Phil Healy (4x400m relay, 4x400m mixed relay, Bandon AC), Rachel McCann (4x400m relay, 4x400m mixed relay, North Down AC), Cliodhna Manning (4x400m relay, Kilkenny City Harriers), Lauren Cadden (4x400m relay, Sligo AC), Arlene Crossan (4x400m relay, Finn Valley AC), Sarah Healy (3000m, UCD AC), Kate O’Connor (Heptathlon, Dundalk St Gerard’s AC), Mark English (800m, Finn Valley AC), Cian McPhillips (800m, UCD AC), Andrew Coscoran (3000m, Star of the Sea AC), James Gormley (3000m, Carmen Runners AC), Conor Kelly (4x400m mixed relay, Derry Track Club), David Bosch (4x400m mixed relay, UCD AC), Marcus Lawler (4x400m mixed relay, Clonliffe Harriers).

Provisional selection: Jodie McCann (3000m, Dublin City Harriers), Bori Akinola (60m, UCD AC), Conor Kelly (400m, Derry Track Club), Cathal Doyle (1500m, Clonliffe Harriers).