Every major championship begins with hope of what will happen if they make it to the finals. At the World Indoor Athletics Championships, competitions are always decided by close margins, so do happen.
For a small Irish team of just 10 athletes competing in six sports, that is also the main hope ahead of the 19th Championship, which opens in Glasgow on Friday morning. And it may come down to the story of the two Sarahs.
With less than 150 days to go until the Paris Olympics, Rashidat Adeleke, Ciara McGeeian, Mark English and Andrew Koscolan would have undoubtedly been aiming for a place in the final in Glasgow had they not decided to avoid the Games. There is no sign of him.
Not all top athletes think like that. Armand Duplantis, Femke Boll, Karsten Warholm, Noah Lyles, Ryan Crouser and Gudav Tsegay are some of those looking to Glasgow as the perfect stepping stone to their Olympic medal ambitions It is. Britain’s medal hopes also rest on 1,500m world champion Josh Kerr and Glaswegian Larua Muir running the 3,000m.
Of the 10 Irish players in Glasgow, Sarah Healy and Sarah Rabin are firmly in the hunt for a place in the final. Healy is ranked fifth in the women’s 1,500m after breaking the Irish record with a time of 4:03.83 earlier this month, while Lavin, who has already broken 60m in seventh place, won the hurdles final two years ago. However, he recently updated his lifetime best to 7.91 seconds.
“If we had targeted Glasgow, we definitely could have gotten more athletes involved,” said Paul McNamara, Athletics Ireland’s director of high performance. “But athletes have to do what’s right for them in the broader, bigger scheme of things. This is an Olympic year, and there’s going to be a big dance.
“The Europeans [in June] It will be a big springboard for many, and for relays, the focus will be on the World Relay Championships in the Bahamas in May, which are crucial to qualifying for the Olympics.
“But we want to see a final between Sarah Rabin and Sarah Healy, and winning a medal is by no means a far-fetched prospect. We don’t have a medal seeding and we’re hoping for a medal. We haven’t, but again, anything can happen in the championship.”
Still, it’s hard to believe it’s been 18 years since Ireland last won a medal at these championships, which was also not widely expected, until Derval O’Rourke won the 60m hurdles at the 2006 Moscow Championships. He was famous for his improvement in the rounds. He won the gold medal with a score of 7.93 in his heat, 7.87 in the semifinals, and 7.84 in the final.
Two years earlier, Ireland’s men’s 4x400m relay won an unprecedented bronze medal, partly because the American team dropped the baton and the Bahamian team fell.
Other Irish individual athletes competing in Glasgow include sprinter Israel Olatunde, 21, from Tara, who won his third consecutive indoor 60m title this season, as well as Charlene Moseley in the 400m and 3000m. Roisin Flanagan of Metre is the only one. Moseley will also manage the women’s 4x400m team, which includes Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Roisin Harrison, Rachel McCann and Lauren Cadden.
McNamara did not expect Adeleke to participate, given that he suffered a minor ankle injury before the season’s only indoor 400-meter run in Albuquerque last month. The indoor season is like candles swaying in the wind. If there is even the slightest problem, the athlete will back off.
“But she [Adeleke] I have decided to participate in the World Relay. [on May 4-5th]If she finishes in the top 14, she will qualify for Paris, and she is currently considering the women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m. ”
Healy’s quest for a medal will not be made easier by the presence of the three Ethiopians. Normally, each country is allowed two matches per tournament, and Hleweini Heil earned Ethiopia’s third wild card spot after winning the World Indoor Tour Series. She joins Birke Heilom, who ran a time of 3:58.43 this season, and Diribe Weltej, who clocked a time of 3:55.47.
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Similarly, Lavin will be competing against two recent world record holders for a medal in the 60m hurdles. Bahamian star Devin Charlton ran a time of 7.67 seconds in New York earlier this month, and Tia Jones matched that record at the U.S. Indoor Championships.
“Sarah Rabin made it to the final two years ago but was nowhere near seeded,” McNamara added. “And she’s a championship performer, she’s going through the rounds and at least trying to get into the finals.
“In the case of Sarah Healy, her 4.03 seconds was also a very positive record and both of her coaches felt there was definitely more. It wasn’t a very deep field, but Sarah was in the final. If you can get it down to 4.00 seconds, anything can happen.”
Just 23 years old, Healy’s 4.03.83 was more than two seconds off the previous record held by Maggie Ann. It also happened just one week after Healy broke Mary Cullen’s indoor senior national record over 3,000 meters with a time of 8.36.06 seconds. Interestingly, her training partner Georgia Bell, who is also coached by Trevor Painter at her Wigan base, is also included in the Great Britain team after clocking a time of 4:03.22 last month.
Team Ireland at the World Athletics Championships to be held in Glasgow from March 1st to 3rd.
Israel Olatunde: 60m (Talaat AC) Coach: Daniel Kilgallon
Sarah Healy: 1500m (UCD AC) Coach: Trevor Painter/Jenny Meadows
Sarah Rabin: 60m Hurdles (Emerald AC) Coach: Noel Morrissey
Roisin Flanagan: 3000m (Finn Valley AC) Coach: Damon Martin
Charlene Maudsley: 4x400m relay, 400m (Newport AC).coach gary ryan
Sophie Becker: 4x400m (Rainey Shamrock AC); Coach Jeremy Lyons/Gerald O’Donnell
Phil Healy: 4x400m (Bandon AC) Coach: Shane McCormack
Roisin Harrison: 4x400m (Emerald AC) Coach: Eoghan McNamara
Rachel McCann: 4x400m (Northdown AC) Coach: Michael Roberts
Lauren Cadden 4x400m (Sligo AC) Coach: Dermot McDermott
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