Irish athletics round up from the weekend...Sat 18th & Sun 19th Jan 2014

Sun 19th...At the Reykjavik International Games in Iceland, Rose-Anne Galligan of Ireland finished in second place in the womens indoor 800m in a time of 2:03:69. This was just outside the 2:03:00 needed to qualify for the World Indoor Track and Field Championships which takes place in Sopot Poland in March.

Rose-Anne has a personal best of 2:00.58 for 800m outdoors which she set in London last July.

800 m   
Athletes    Nationality    Date    Time   
1    Aníta Hinriksdóttir    ISL    13 Jan 96    2:01.81
2    Rose-Anne Galligan    IRL    9 Dec 87    2:03.69
3    Aline Krebs    GER    5 Sep 88    2:06.24

Video of the race HERE

Sun 19th...At the Munster Indoor Athletic Championships in Nenagh, Co.Tipperary, Sinead O'Connor of Leevale AC won the womens 3000m in a time of 10:18.10. James Grufferty of Leevale AC won the mens 3000m title in a time of 9:04.93.

The track results are HERE and the field results are HERE

Sat 18th Jan...At the Hunter Track Classic in Glendale, Australia, several Irish athletes were in action.

In the mens 3,000m, Paul Robinson of St.Coca's AC finished second while Mark Hanrahan of Leevale AC finished fourth.

Hunter Track Classic 2014 - 18/01/2014. Athletics Australia National Series. Hunter Sports Centre, Glendale                    
Men 3000 Metre Run
  1 Batt, Kevin               23 Nsw                    7:57.11       
  2 Robinson, Paul            23 Ireland                7:58.56       
  3 Wright, Joshua            23 Nswis                  8:05.13       
  4 Hanrahan, Mark            29 Ireland                8:05.73       
  5 Saunders, Philo           38 Act                    8:09.40       
  6 Hansen, James             21 Nsw                    8:11.38       
  7 Fawthorpe, Tom            24 Vic                    8:17.78       
  8 McDonald, Morgan          18 Nsw                    8:20.21       
  9 Hunter, Charlie           18 Nswis                  8:20.34       
 10 Connor, James             22 Nsw                    8:21.46       
 11 Cox, Matthew              24 Nsw                    8:22.42       
 12 Roeger, Michael           26 Sasi                   8:24.53       
 13 Gebreselassie, Dejen      21 Nsw                    8:39.20       
 14 Walters, Guy              20 Nsw                    8:40.49       
 15 Williams, Hugh            22 Nsw                    8:40.85  

In the womens 1500m, Laura Crowe of An Riocht AC finished in third spot in a time of 4:11.49, an improvement on her previous personal best of 4:12.06 which was set in Italy last September.
Women 1500 Metre Run
  1 McKnight, Kaila     28 Vis                    4:09.87 CGB         
  2 Duncan, Melissa     24 Vic                    4:09.98 CGB         
  3 Crowe, Laura        27 Ireland                4:11.49             
  4 Hetherington, Kell  25 Vis                    4:14.11             
  5 Laman, Anna         19 Nsw                    4:19.55             
  6 Wellings, Eliose    32 Nsw                    4:22.23             
  7 Delaney, Bridey     25 Nsw                    4:22.81             
  8 Powell, Courtney    19 Vic                    4:23.39             
  9 Powell, Laura       15 Vic                    4:24.99             
 10 Davies, Rose        15 Nsw                    4:31.52             
 11 Lord, Arianna       17 Nzl                    4:31.68             
 12 Augustine, Emily    17 Nsw                    4:33.17             
 13 Witchard, Melinda   28 Nsw                    4:36.42

Sat 18th Jan...At the guest mile at the Athlone indoor track, John Travers of Donore Harriers can close to the 4 minute mark.

Place Heat Posn Elite Mile Club Time
1 F 1 John Travers Donore Harriers AC / AIT AC 4:01.47
2 F 2 Danny Mooney Letterkenny AC 4:02.88
3 F 3 Joe Warne Doheny AC / DCU AC 4:04.06
4 F 4 John Coghlan MSB AC / DCU AC 4:10.65
5 F 5 Emmet Dunleavy Sligo AC 4:12.10
6 F 6 Richard Owens Sli Cualainn AC / UCD AC 4:13.97
7 F 7 Kevin Kelly St. Coca’s 4:26.46

Race video...

Sat 18th Jan...At the Scottish Open Athletics indoor meet in Glasgow, Kelly Proper of Ferrybank AC ran 24:01 in the 200m, not far outside her PB of 23:58. In the Long Jump, Kelly jumped 6.26 metres.

200m...2 24.01 Kelly Proper SEN    W Ferrybank/Ireland 23.58

LJ...1 6.26 Kelly Proper     SEN    W Ferrybank/Ireland 6.48

David McCarthy of West Waterford AC finishes 3rd in 1500m at Manchester Grand Prix

At the BMC Grand Prix meet in Stretford, Manchester yesterday (17 Aug 2013), David McCarthy of West Waterford AC finished 3rd in the mens 1500m in a time of 3:43.31

Interview with Ciarán Ó Lionáird on NewsTalk radio...Sat 4th Aug 2012

In this 17 minutes interview on NewsTalk radio, Ciarán Ó Lionáird talks about his performance in the heats of the mens 1500m in London, how his injury has hampered his performance and talks about his future in the sport.

The interview starts at 14:25 and lasts until 31:40.

Newstalk radio interview with Ciarán Ó Lionáird...Wed 23rd May 2012

On the 23rd of May, there was an interview on the Off the Ball programme on Newstalk Radio with Cork and Irish athlete Ciarán Ó Lionáird. He talks about the 1500m, his achilles injury, his change of coach and his preparation for the London Olympics.

The interview starts at 43:50 and lasts until 54:40...

Ciara Mageean wins 1500m race and sets new Irish Junior record...

On Saturday (20th Aug 2011), Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn AC) won the IMC Grand Prix Final in Birmingham in a time of 4.07.45, beating Jessica Simpson who was second in 04:07.53. Not only did she win but she also improved on her own Irish Junior 1500m record  of 4:09.51 which she set last year in Canada when finishing 2nd at the World Junior Championships.

IMC Birmingham GP Final - 20 Aug - Results
 1 184 10 04:07.45 Ciara Mageean U20 City Of Lisburn / Ireland
2 188 14 04:07.53 Jemma Simpson Newquay & Par
3 186 12 04:11.74 Jennifer Wenth U23 Austria

In fact that time was so fast that she is now the 4th fastest woman in the Irish All Time list for 1500 metres and she is still only 19 years old.

To put that in context, here are the only Irish women to have run 1500 metres faster than 4:10...
1) 3.58.85...Sonya O'Sullivan
2) 4.04.22...Sinead Delahunty
3) 4.06.69...Monica Joyce
4) 4.07.45...Ciara Mageean (New)
5) 4.07.56...Freda Davoren
6) 4.08.63...Mary Purcell
7) 4.08.89...Deirdre Byrne
8) 4.09.12...Elaine Ftzgerald
9) 4.09.51...Ciara Mageean (Old)

When you plot those times as a graph, you can see how they compare. Obviously, Sonya O'Sullivan is in a league of her own with no one else getting close.
However, when you look at the numbers in white...this is their age when they ran their fastest times. The best times seem to have been produced when most were around 25-27 years old. Considering that Ciara Mageean is just 19 years old and is already 4th fastest woman, she must be a name to watch in the years ahead.

Video clip of the race HERE