South African sprinter Richardson set to switch allegiance to represent Ireland 

Cravont Charleston of Team United States, Jan Volko of Team Slovakia and Benjamin Richardson of Team South Africa compete in heat 3 of the Men's 100m during day one of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. Pic: Stephen Pond/Getty Images for World Athletics

South African sprinter Benjamin Richardson is set to switch his allegiance to represent Ireland. 

The 21-year-old, who was born in Ireland and holds an Irish passport, has personal bests of 9.86 for 100m and 19.99 for 200m, significantly quicker than the respective Irish records of 10.08 and 20.30.

His manager, Jelle Broekhuisen, confirmed to South African news site The Citizen that Richardson was hoping to compete for Ireland at the 2027 World Championships in Beijing and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, with athletes currently forced to sit out a lengthy waiting period after changing their allegiance under rules brought in by World Athletics to discourage nation-hopping.

It's understood that Athletics Ireland has submitted an application on behalf of Richardson to the World Athletics Nationality Review Panel and is currently awaiting a decision. 

“The waiting period varies, but we hope it’s no longer than three years,” Broekhuisen said.

Richardson last raced for South Africa at the Paris Olympics last year, where he finished third in the 100m semi-finals, narrowly missing the final after clocking 9.95. He suffered a hamstring injury in the subsequent 200m. 

A waiting period of three years is usually required to compete for a new nation after the last time an athlete represents their old country, which would mean Richardson would be cleared to run for Ireland at the 2027 World Championships, which take place in September.

Having spent significant time in Ireland during his youth and as a holder of dual nationality, Richardson’s switch had been touted for some time. 

He was a standout sprinter in his teenage years, helping South Africa to world U-20 gold in Kenya in the 4x100m in 2021 and winning silver in the 100m, then adding to it with world U-20 100m bronze in Colombia the following year.

He struggled to reproduce his 2024 form this year, clocking a 100m season’s best of 10.01 and 200m best of 20.21, though he did run a wind-aided 19.79 (2.3m/s) in Geneva. 

While his personal bests are quicker than the current Irish records, only marks run after his change of allegiance will be eligible for national records.

If his transfer is approved, he would add significant strength to the Irish 4x100m pool, alongside Israel Olatunde, Bori Akinola and a raft of promising youngsters such as Sean Aigboboh, Jesse Osas, Max O’Reilly and Joshua Awujoola.