Andrew Coscoran leads Irish charge at World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen
FRONT RUNNER: Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran crosses the line to win a bronze medal last month at the European Championships. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy
Eight Irish athletes will take to the streets of Copenhagen this weekend for the second edition of the World Athletics Road Running Championships.
European 1500m bronze medallist Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC) headlines a strong Irish team which will compete across the Mile, 5km and Half Marathon in the Danish capital.
The championships will bring together 496 athletes representing 85 federations, with six individual world titles on offer. Sophie O’Sullivan (Ballymore Cobh AC) and Barry Keane (Waterford AC) were previously selected but have since withdrawn.
Saturday's programme will see the Mile and 5km titles decided before attention turns to the Half Marathon on Sunday morning.
Sarah Healy, Laura Nicholson.
Andrew Coscoran, Cathal Doyle.
Brian Fay, Darragh McElhinney.
Peter Lynch, Hiko Tonosa.
Sarah Healy (UCD AC) will lead the Irish challenge in the Women's Mile following another impressive championship campaign in Birmingham.
Healy finished fifth in the European 1500m final and has continued to show strong form this season, including a 3:57.42 season's best over 1500m at the Silesia Diamond League.
She will be joined by Laura Nicholson (Bandon AC), who brings further international championship experience to a race that is stacked with strong global opposition, including Ethiopia's two-time world indoor champion Freweyni Hailu, American Addison Wiley and Australia's Linden Hall.
The Women's Mile will be the first race of the weekend, beginning at 9.10am Irish time on Saturday.
Fresh from claiming a superb bronze medal over 1500m at last month's European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC) returns to action in the Men's Mile.
The Balbriggan athlete produced a perfectly judged performance in Birmingham to secure his first senior international championship medal and will now look to carry that form onto the roads of Copenhagen.
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The Irish record-holder clocked an outdoor mile PB of 3:49.68 on the track in Oslo back in June and will face another world-class field here, with Portugal's world 1500m champion Isaac Nader, Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Yared Nuguse (USA) and Spain's world indoor 800m bronze medallist Mohamed Attaoui among those entered.
Olympian Cathal Doyle (Clonliffe Harriers) completes the Irish representation in the Men’s Mile and will need no added motivation as he pulls on the Irish singlet for the first time since being brought down in the semi-final of the men’s 1500m at the European Championships in Birmingham.
The Men's Mile gets underway at 9.30am Irish time on Saturday.
The Irish focus switches to the 5km on Saturday afternoon, where Brian Fay (Raheny Shamrock AC) and Darragh McElhinney (Bantry AC) will return to international action following their appearances over 5000m at the European Championships.
They face arguably one of the strongest races of the weekend.
World 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier leads the entries after clocking 12:51 for 5km in Lille earlier this year, while Olympic 5000m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen is also set to line up. Ethiopia's Addisu Yihune, who has run 12:54 this season, adds further quality to the field.
The Men's 5km gets underway at 1.40pm Irish time on Saturday (2.40pm local).
Ireland's involvement will conclude on Sunday morning when Peter Lynch (Kilkenny City Harriers) and Hiko Tonosa (Dundrum South Dublin AC) line up in the Men's Half Marathon.
Hiko Tonosa will look to improve on his 60th-place finish at the inaugural World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga in 2023, as he returns to the event with further international experience under his belt.
The Irish pair will line up alongside some of the biggest names in global distance running, including multiple Olympic and world champion Joshua Cheptegei, Sweden's European half-marathon record holder Andreas Almgren, Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir and world half-marathon silver medallist Daniel Ebenyo among the entries.
The Men's Half Marathon starts at 8.45am Irish time on Sunday.
The championships will form part of a huge weekend of running in Copenhagen, with elite and mass-participation races taking place across all three distances and up to 65,000 runners expected to participate.
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