Akinola, English and O’Neill advance to semi-finals in Torun
Bori Akinola got the Irish off to a strong start. Pic: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Bori Akinola, Mark English and Maeve O’Neill got the Irish off to a strong start at the World Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland this morning, the trio advancing to their respective semi-finals with English particularly impressive when winning his 800m heat in 1:46.62.
Akinola was first into action and the national record holder made a flying start with a third-place finish in 6.59, with Jamaica’s Bryan Levell taking victory in 6.53, Hungary’s Dominik Illovszky second in 6.58, and Akinola not far off his Irish record of 6.54 in third.
“Not too bad, sub 6.60 in my quickest round opener all season, so I’m happy out,” he said. “This is quite early so I have the rest of the day to go back, relax, rest, eat, stay hydrated and come back for the semi.”
Akinola had risen at 6.30am to prepare for the race and he will be back on track shortly after 7pm Irish time this evening for his semi-final, where he believes he will need an Irish record to advance.
“I need to lower it,” he said. “Like 6.50, 6.51 should make the final, that’s the hope anyway. And why not sub-6:50?”
English needed a top-two finish to advance automatically from his 800m heat and the 33-year-old Donegal athlete smartly sat just off the leader early in the race, with 200m reached in a swift 25.03 and 400m in 51.94.
Approaching the final lap he eased to the front and from there, he looked to be running well within himself as he coasted to victory in 1:46.62, with Poland’s Filip Ostrowski second in 1:46.61. He will be back in action in the semi-finals on Saturday at 12:08pm Irish time.
“There’s so many good athletes and everyone probably feels they’ve a chance of making it, of winning it, so it’s a lot of depth,” said English. “I’m taking it one round at a time.”
English faced heartbreak at the Tokyo World Championships last September, finishing third in his semi-final and losing the national record to Cian McPhillips in the subsequent heat, but he has bounced back in superb fashion this year, twice breaking his Irish indoor 800m record and shaping up as a potential medal contender here.
“I came in having had a great winter behind me,” he said. “I put the head down after Tokyo last year and wanted to do my form justice. Thankfully I have one round out of the way.”
His 800m semi-final sees him drawn alongside Australia’s Peter Bol, who is the only athlete in the field to have run quicker than English this year, though his 1:43.89 was run on an outdoor track.
If English is to make his first global final, which would require a top-two finish on Saturday, then this looks the best chance he’ll get.
Elsewhere, there were mixed fortunes for Ireland’s two athletes in the women’s 800m, Maeve O’Neill and Emma Moore. O’Neill, the Irish indoor record holder, came home third in her heat in 2:03.20, having required a top-two finish to advance automatically. However, a disqualification of US rival Valery Tobias for a lane infringement saw her soon upgraded to second.
“I’m over the moon,” said O’Neill. “That was the aim – to get in the semi-finals. I made a move after 300m because it was slow and I wanted to give myself a chance to get a fastest (time) qualifier. I gave it a shot, I’m happy with it. I’m really excited (for the semi-final) and I’ll try calm the nerves now and get ready as best I can.”
Moore came home fifth in her heat in 2:02.00, a race won by Italy’s Eloisa Coiro in 1:59.87.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, I came here to make a semi-final,” said Moore. “I tried to make a few moves that cost me in the end, I was tussling with the Spanish girl. I wanted a better position and I couldn’t get it, but that’s experience, which I don’t have a lot of.
“I didn’t really execute the race plan, but I stood on the line and felt like I belonged there and moving forward, I won’t be happy with just making the heats of a World Champs.”
James Gormley: men’s 1500m heats, 6.04pm
Bori Akinola: men’s 60m semi-final, 7.30pm
*Bori Akinola, men’s 60m final, 8:22pm
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