Conor Kelly and Cormac Dixon will be looking to maintain the Irish athletics medals rush of recent weeks when the European Under-20 Championships get under way in Tampere, Finland on Thursday morning.
It is 50 years since John Treacy claimed Ireland’s first medal in these championships, winning silver in the 5,000m in Athens in 1975. Plenty of other successful names have followed in his footsteps, including Mark Carroll, Ciara Mageean, Sarah Lavin, Sarah Healy, Kate O’Connor and Rhasidat Adeleke.
At the last edition of these championships, two years ago in Jerusalem, Elizabeth Ndudi won gold in the long jump and Nick Griggs won silver in the 3,000m.
There are similarly high expectations for the team of 38 athletes in Tampere. Kelly is the top-ranked Under-20 European in the 400m this season, his 45.85 clocked at the Morton Games last month the only sub-46-second entry. The Finn Valley AC athlete only turned 18 last month, but has considerable experience, winning his first Irish senior title indoors earlier this year.
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Dixon is the top-ranked athlete in the 3,000m, running 7:56.59 indoors in the US earlier this season, where the Tallaght AC athlete is on a running scholarship at Providence College, the same alma mater as Treacy.
Precious Akpe-Moses from Blackrock AC is the top-ranked Irish athlete in the women’s 100m and 200m. She is hoping to emulate her older sister Gina, who won the European Under-20 100m title in 2017.
The Irish men’s 4x400m team are also the top-ranked team in Europe this year. They can draw on individual qualifiers Kelly, Seán Doggett (Athenry AC) and Alex Cullen (Kilkenny City Harriers), along with David Davitt (Clonliffe Harriers), Andrew Hayes (Dundrum South Dublin AC) and Christopher Lynch (Clonliffe Harriers).
In the field events, 2024 European Under-18 medallist Cian Crampton (Edenderry AC) competes in the discus, after throwing a national Under-20 record of 58.32m at the start of June.
Tampere has played host to Irish success before. In 2018 it was the venue when the Irish women’s 4x100m relay team of Adeleke, Molly Scott, Ciara Neville, Gina Akpe-Moses and Patience Jumbo-Gula won the silver medal in the World Under-20 Championships.
Enya Silkena (Ratoath AC) will have been inspired by the success of Kate O’Connor in the heptathlon in recent times, achieving a personal best to qualify for the championships.
Pia Langton (Kilkenny City Harriers) and Saoirse Fitzgerald (Lucan Harriers) will both race the 800m, with Gemma Galvin (Ennis Track AC), who made the national senior 800m final last weekend, opting to focus on the women’s 1,500m.
The men’s 400m heats are part of the opening session on Thursday morning.
Irish team
Men
Dubem Amah (Tallaght AC) 200m & 4x100m; Conor Kelly (Finn Valley AC) 400m & 4x400m; Seán Doggett (Athenry AC) 400m & 4x400m; Alex Cullen (Kilkenny City Harriers) 400m & 4x400m; Ethan Dewhirst (Tir Chonaill AC) 400mH & 4x400m; Oisín Lynch (Killarney Valley AC) 800m; Seán Cronin (Clonliffe Harriers) 1,500m; Frank Buchanan (St Michael’s, Enniskillen) 1,500m; Cormac Dixon (Tallaght AC) 3,000m & 5,000m; Cillian Gleeson (Celbridge AC) 3,000m & 5,000m; Séamus Clarke (Moy Valley AC) 10km walk; Cian Crampton (Edenderry AC) Discus; Theo Hanlon (Suncroft AC) Shot Put; Jesse Osas (Ratoath AC) 4x100m; Luke Timlin (Crusaders AC) 4x100m; Joe Burke (Templemore AC) 4x100m; Ben Sykes (Orangegrove AC) 4x100m; Cillian Doherty (Crusaders AC) 4x100m non-travelling reserve; David Davitt (Clonliffe Harriers) 4x400m; Andrew Hayes (Dundrum South Dublin AC) 4x400m; Christopher Lynch (Clonliffe Harriers) 4x400m.
Women
Precious Akpe-Moses (Blackrock AC, Louth) 100m, 200m & 4x100m; Gemma Galvin (Ennis Track AC) 800m & 1500m; Pia Langton (Kilkenny City Harriers) 800m; Saoirse Fitzgerald (Lucan Harriers) 800m & 4x400m; Dearbhla Allen (St Peter’s AC) 3,000m SC; Caoimhe Flannery (Skibbereen AC) 3,000m SC; Enya Silkena (Ratoath AC) Heptathlon; Destiny Lawal (Dooneen AC) 4x100m; Molly Daly (Kilkenny City Harriers) 4x100m; Leila Colfer (St Laurence O’Toole AC) 4x100m; Fatima Amusan (Leevale AC) 4x100m; Uche Disu (Tallaght AC) 4x100m non-travelling reserve; Erin Friel (Letterkenny AC) 4x400m; Daisy Walker (Monaghan Phoenix AC) 4x400m; Maria Zakharenko (Kilcoole AC) 4x400m; Róisín Murray (Bray Runners AC) 4x400m; Emer Brennan (Clonmel AC) 4x400m non-travelling reserve.
