Lauren Roy disappointed more than angry about missing Commonwealth Games
Lauren Roy missed out on selection for the Commonwealth Games due to not competing at the 2025 or 2026 editions of the Northern Ireland Championships. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
If things had gone as she’d hoped, Lauren Roy would be in Glasgow this week, preparing to represent Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games. But instead, the Ballymena sprinter is back home, targeting her first Irish senior title at the 123.ie National Track and Field Championships in Santry.
The 25-year-old recently completed her final season in the NCAA, competing for Tarleton University in Texas, and it was a breakthrough one. Roy smashed her personal bests with 11.23 for 100m and 22.83 for 200m, which make her the favourite for both events at the nationals.
“I always set myself huge goals,” she says. “And I think that double gold is definitely on the cards this weekend.”
Plan A, of course, was to be in Glasgow, but Roy wasn’t selected due to her not competing at the 2025 or 2026 editions of the Northern Ireland Championships. She missed it last year due to already being back in Texas ahead of her final year. She missed it this year due to it clashing with the NCAA Championships.
Roy had asked Athletics Northern Ireland for an exemption, but they refused to budge on the criteria. And so the fastest Irish female sprinter of 2026 will watch the Games from afar.
“I definitely wouldn't use the word anger, I’d just say more disappointed because I would have loved to be able to [compete],” she says. “I also totally understand their side of things.”
On the upside, it has allowed her to pour her full self into the Europeans, with Roy already qualified over 200m and likely to earn a spot in the 100m via her ranking.
“It’s definitely a blessing in disguise,” she says. “To fit both of those meets into such a short time period was always going to be a challenge. It was definitely a challenge that I was capable of, that I’d have been more than willing to accept. But I’m super excited that I’m able to be in Ireland and compete at the national championships and then set my sights on Birmingham.”
The 200m on Saturday could serve up a riveting clash between Roy, Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley.
“It's always a delight to line up against the fastest girls in the country, some of the fastest girls in the world,” she says. “It'll be a good one for the spectators and for the athletes to be able to put on show.”
Roy has yet to win a national senior title, finishing second and third previously, but this looks a golden chance. “My goal isn't to beat anyone specifically, it’s to go out there and execute my own race, and hopefully for me the outcome of that will be a national title.”
Roy has been based in Texas since 2022 and has “loved” her time there.
“Everything from the facilities to the positivity,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong, you can definitely get that here in Ireland as well, but I just found that was a really good fit for me.”
She will return to Texas later this summer and hopes to finish her master’s degree by Christmas. She plans to continue training at the university after graduation.
What’s led to her breakthrough this year?
“Staying consistent, trusting the process,” she says, and that’s what she plans to do on the road to the Europeans, where she’s setting herself a very high bar.
“I definitely have my sights set on medalling, particularly in the 200m,” she says. “I’m very highly ranked and I know I have much more to come in that this year, so I’m super excited to see how nationals goes and to keep working from there.”
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