There has been a notable shift and resurgence in the expectations of Irish athletes competing on the international stage. They are no longer travelling in hope, and more in the expectation and belief that they certainly belong in finals, and, given the right opportunity, can deliver a medal-winning performance.
It is also timely and fitting that as International Women’s Day is celebrated on Saturday, with a focus on women’s participation in sport throughout the week, women have been the real headliners in the Irish athletics team in recent times.
That is the case again this weekend at the European Indoor Championships now under way in the Dutch city of Apeldoorn, the team of 19 Irish athletes made up of 10 women and nine men. Even without Rhasidat Adeleke, who is focused firmly on the summer ahead, those women have real medal-winning potential.
This is also the level of competition where Irish athletes should be winning medals, especially after coming home empty-handed from the last two editions in 2021 and 2023. These championships have been growing in stature, and no medals will be easily won. I never competed at a European Indoors back in my time, simply because they weren’t really on my radar, but some of the world’s very best athletes are in Apeldoorn, including of course Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
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The final event of these championships will be the women’s 4x400m relay, and you can only expect one result here with Dutch star Femke Bol solely focused on the relays, but even without Sharlene Mawdsley the Irish women can be in that medal mix too.
Individually, the greatest weight of expectation for Ireland is on the shoulders of Sarah Healy, who has shown her ability throughout the indoor season to compete with the best athletes in the world over 1,500m and 3,000m. She’s running the 3,000m here, ranked second among the entries, and fresh off breaking two Irish national championship records in both the heat and final of the 1,500m, and is clearly in the best shape of her life.
Championship running is all about tactics and less about fast times, but Healy has plenty of experience now. Some eyebrows were raised this week when European Athletics announced that Wavelight technology would be used in Apeldoorn, for the first time in any championships, which could take some of the emphasis away from the tactics part.
However, this LED pacing system, which sees lights on the inside of a track help athletes target a specific time, will not be used as a direct aid to athletes, according to European Athletics.
In the 1,500m and 3,000m heats, Wavelight will act as a guide, providing a reference pace that remains the same across all heats. The system will switch on after the first third of the race and switch off before the final lap, offering spectators a clearer comparison of how different races unfold. For the finals, Wavelight technology will display European, world and championship records, but only when an athlete is within five metres of surpassing one.
For me, this still takes something away from championship-style racing, where the athletes are required to think on their feet and react within the race, and we may lose the championship drama that comes with the uncertainty of how a race will pan out.
The second-best medal chance also comes on the women’s side with Kate O’Connor, who is having a clear run this indoor season and currently ranked second in the pentathlon, after breaking her own Irish record recently in the event that includes the 60m hurdles, long jump, high jump, shot put and 800m over the course of one day.
The accumulation of points she posted was 4,683, and if she can replicate this on the European Championship stage should put her in a medal position. But she will have to be at her best, as the Netherlands also have a chance with Sophie Dokter, who will really want to get a result on the final day in front of her home crowd.
On the men’s side, Mark English has been in scintillating form this indoor season, breaking his own Irish record over 800m when running 1:45.15, but he may not have it all his own way in terms of the Irish medal hopes, with Cian McPhillips showing more consistent form this season and also advance from Friday morning’s heats despite taking a tumble.
English has been a dominant force in Irish 800m running for more than a decade, and this may just be the shake-up he needs, to have his fellow countryman breathing down his neck on a stage where English has delivered a bronze medal on two occasions, most recently in 2019, when Ciara Mageean also brought home a bronze medal in the 1,500m.
Andrew Coscoran hasn’t run a race since his record-breaking run over the mile at the Millrose Games exactly a month ago. That came shortly after he also broke the Irish 3,000m record in Boston, and places him third on the European list this season in the 3,000m, where he will line up against Ingebrigtsen.
Ingebrigtsen never shies away from chasing any championship title and also plans to line up over 1,500m, and there’s no doubt he will be ready for any race tactic, with or without any pacing lights to help him run away from the field.
