{"id":609416,"date":"2026-07-29T05:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T05:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/609416\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T05:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T05:12:20","slug":"cork-stars-make-irish-team-for-upcoming-european-athletics-championships-in-birmingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/609416\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork stars make Irish team for upcoming European Athletics Championships in Birmingham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several international medallists including Kate O\u2019Connor (Dundalk St. Gerard\u2019s AC), Mark English (Finn Valley AC) and Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght AC) headline a strong Irish team for the upcoming European Athletics Championships.<\/p>\n

All three athletes were named by Athletics Ireland today in an initial team selection for the event which takes place in Birmingham from August 10th-16th.<\/p>\n

The announcement confirms the selection of athletes with \u2018A\u2019 standards, while athletes qualifying via ranking position and having achieved the Athletics Ireland \u2018B\u2019 Standard will be confirmed after European Athletics produces its final list of qualifiers on July 30th.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor had a dream season in 2025, the highlight of which was her silver medal in the Women\u2019s Heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Dundalk woman set a national record of 6714 points to win Ireland\u2019s first medal at the championships since 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NicolaNicola Tuthill wins her 5th Senior title in the Women\u2019s Hammer Throw<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old backed that up by winning bronze in the Women\u2019s Pentathlon at this year\u2019s World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toru\u0144, Poland, setting a national record (4839 points) on her way to the bronze medal.<\/p>\n

English has been in the shape of his life this season and looks poised to contend for a third medal at the European Athletics Championships in the Men\u2019s 800m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Donegal man goes into the event with the fastest time in Europe this year, his 1:42.97 clocking at the London Diamond League shaved 0.4 of a second off his personal best.<\/p>\n

Adeleke made a welcome return to Irish soil at last weekend\u2019s 123.ie National Senior Track and Field Championships needing to run 22.85 seconds to hit the 200m \u2018A\u2019 Standard for Birmingham and despite a stiff headwind managed to do so, winning gold in a championship record of 22.80.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Tallaght sprinter is also selected as part of the Women\u2019s 4x400m relay team.<\/p>\n

There is strong strength in depth in the sprint events. Israel Olatunde (Tallaght AC) and Bori Akinola (UCD AC) are both selected in the Men\u2019s 100m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Olatunde holds the national record of 10.08, while Akinola has progressed this year lowering his best to 10.19. Sean Aigboboh (Tallaght AC) broke the national record over 200m earlier this year by running a time of 20.27 in Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old is selected to run in that event in Birmingham and also in the Men\u2019s 4x100m relay, where he will be joined by Olatunde and Akinola amongst others.<\/p>\n

Lauren Roy (Fast Twitch AC) is the national leader for 2026 in both the 100m and 200m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She is provisionally selected in the 100m but her spot in the 200m is assured following her 22.83 run earlier this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ballymena woman will also be part of an exciting Women\u2019s 4x100m relay which also features back-to-back national champion Ciara Neville (Emerald AC) who will also run in the Women\u2019s 100m should her place be confirmed by European Athletics later this week.<\/p>\n

\"SophieSophie O’Sullivan of Ireland crosses the finish line to win the Fashionflo women’s 1500m during the Morton Games at Morton Stadium in Santry, Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) is selected in the Women\u2019s 400m and relay. The 27-year-old has been in the form of her life this season lowering her personal best to 50.06 on her Diamond League debut in Paris in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Tipperary sprinter pulled up during the Women\u2019s 200m final at the National Championships and her participation in Birmingham will be dependent on full fitness.<\/p>\n

Sprint hurdler Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) won her 20th national senior title last weekend and will compete in the Women\u2019s 100m Hurdles once again at the European Athletics Championships, an event in which she was fifth in back in 2022.<\/p>\n

Cian McPhillips (UCD AC) joins Mark English in the Men\u2019s 800m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Longford native is finding form at the right time of the season, his 1:43.97 run at the London Diamond League recently was his third fastest time ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McPhillips finished fourth at the World Athletics Championships last year in a huge national record of 1:42.15 and will look to go one step further and claim a podium place at these championships.<\/p>\n

Fellow national record holder Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC) made the world final in the Men\u2019s 1500m last year and looked superb in claiming victory in that event at Nationals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Manchester based athlete is selected for the event in Birmingham and will hope for a strong performance.<\/p>\n

European indoor 3000m champion Sarah Healy (UCD AC) is set to double up in the Women\u2019s 1500m and 5000m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old has set personal bests over 3000m (8:25.63) and 5000m (14:48.88) this summer and with a dangerous kick could pose a significant threat in the twelve and a half lap event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Healy is joined in the 1500m by Sophie O\u2019Sullivan (Ballymore Cobh AC) who stormed to her second national senior title last weekend at Morton Stadium last weekend in an impressive season\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

Darragh McElhinney (Bantry AC) and Nick Griggs (Candour Track Club) are assured of their spots in the Men\u2019s 5000m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brian Fay (Raheny Shamrock AC) will join them should his place be confirmed once the final \u2018Road to Birmingham\u2019 rankings update.<\/p>\n

\" Half Marathon winner, Ryan Creech, on the Grand Parade just before the finish line.<\/p>\n

Five-time Olympian Fionnuala McCormack (Kilcoole AC) goes in the Women\u2019s Marathon, while there will be an Irish men\u2019s team for the event as national champion David McGlynn (Waterford AC) will be joined by Ryan Creech (Leevale AC) and Paul O\u2019Donnell (Dundrum South Dublin AC).<\/p>\n

Nicola Tuthill (UCD AC) leads the charge for Team Ireland in the field events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The world finalist competes in the Women\u2019s Hammer Throw, where she has continued to close in on the national record this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old has a personal best of 72.73m set in Poznan, Poland this summer.<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s rich tradition of race walking looks set to continue in Birmingham with David Kenny (Farranfore Maine Valley AC) and Oisin Lane (Mullingar Harriers) both likely to compete in the Men\u2019s Half Marathon Race Walk.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the team announcement Athletics Ireland High-Performance Director, Paul McNamara, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited about the prospects for this cohort of athletes at what is essentially a local championship for athletes and supporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The team includes many seasoned performers who have delivered medals at the highest level, and many others who are hungry to replicate that success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“With a probable final team size of approximately 50 athletes, and no fewer than 20 athletes who have achieved A standards, this will be a week of non-stop action as Irish athletics continues to build on its upward trajectory.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several international medallists including Kate O\u2019Connor (Dundalk St. Gerard\u2019s AC), Mark English (Finn Valley AC) and Rhasidat Adeleke…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[8377,18,19,17,27926,132],"class_list":["post-609416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-athletics","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-other-sports","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117001556370194831","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}