They didn’t exist when Sonia O’Sullivan was at the grade, which neatly presents her daughter Sophie with the rare chance to win something she never did: a medal at the European Under-23 Athletics Championships.
Indeed the Irish medal haul at this grade has been relatively light – nine in all, beginning with James Nolan’s silver over 800 metres back in 1999.
Now there’s the real prospect of two medals in the same event as the 2023 Championships get under way in Espoo, Finland.
O’Sullivan and Sarah Healy are currently first and second in the 1,500m on the European under-23 rankings for this season, the 4:01.75 Healy clocked in Ostrava last month third on the Irish all-time, at age 22.
Improved structure for domestic game means Fiji more potent than ever
Lara Gillespie climbing the cycling ranks and finding that extra gear despite adversity
Wembley a happy hunting ground for Irish teams – just not football ones . . .
Dual in Tipp’s crown: Love of both codes makes Loughmore double trouble
O’Sullivan, still only 21, is also moving fast up the Irish all-time ranking, the 4:08.06 she clocked in Sacramento in May the eighth-best on that list.
They won’t have it all their way in Espoo, with Poland’s Klaudia Kazimierska and Britain’s Shannon Flockhart likely to be in the mix come Sunday’s final, although both Irish runners are certainly rounding into form.
O’Sullivan recently secured maximum points for Ireland at the European Team Championships, with Healy’s experience also sure to tell, a victory already secured in Finland last month at the Paavo Nurmi Games.
Healy also switched coaches this season, training now with the Trevor Painter group in Wigan, which includes rising British 800m star Keely Hodgkinson, who is running the 400m in Espoo – and incidentally beat O’Sullivan to gold at the European Under-18 Championships back in 2018. Healy also won a 1,500m-3,000m double at under-18 in 2018, silver at under-20 in 2019.
Rhasidat Adeleke was considering these championships, before her startling series of record-breaking runs over 400 metres at the University of Texas, including victory in the NCAA’s in an Irish record of 49.20 seconds, shifted her priority to Budapest, and the World Athletics Championships at the end of August.
Adeleke will also make her Diamond League debut in Monaco on Friday week, getting a lane in a stellar 400m field which includes the fastest women in the world this year, the American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who clocked 48.74 at her national championships last weekend.
There’s further medal prospects among the Irish team in Espoo, including Israel Olatunde, coming back into the sort of form which saw him make the European senior final in Munich last August, running an Irish record of 10.17 seconds.
There’s strong representation in the field events too, UCD’s Nicola Tuthill recently breaking the under-23 championship record in the hammer with a best of 64.89, while Reece Ademola will look to make an impact in the long jump.
