Athletics
Introduction to Athletics
From the very first Olympic Games in 776BC to the revival of the modern Games in 1896, Athletics has always been part of the Olympic Games. It is identified with Greece’s centuries-old history and it is no accident that the Greeks list Athletics as a ‘classical sport’. In 776 BC, races were run in a 28.5 m wide stadium and distances such as the 192.27m race were the forerunners of the 200m event of the modern Olympic Games. For contact details of the National Federation in Ireland please click Full story
O’Lionaird’s Boston win
Ciaran O’ Lionaird (Leevale AC) and Mark English (Letterkenny AC) made it a memorable night on the US indoor tracks with big wins last night in Boston and New York respectively. O’ Lionaird won a top quality Mile race at the New Balance Boston Grand Prix in 3:56.01 minutes. He …
Britton's European Gold
Fionnuala Britton, coached by Chris Jones won gold at the 18th European Cross Country Championships in Velenje, Slovenia on Sunday. The Kilcoole AC athlete ran a determined race from the front, shaking off the attention of all her challengers before pulling clear with a couple of laps to go. Maintaining …
Britton leads Irish Team
Fionnuala Britton (Kilcoole AC) has been named in the Irish Team for the 18th SPAR European Cross Country Championships which takes place in Velenje, Slovenia on 11th of December. A European U23 Cross Country silver medallist in 2006, the 27-year-old athlete will be hoping to build on her 2010 achievements …
Britton 6th in Spain
Fionnuala Britton of Kicoole AC ran a very impressive season opener to finish sixth in the very competitive VIII Cross de Atapuerca in Burgos, Spain on Sunday. The race was won by former World 10,000m champion and multiple World Cross medallist Linet Masai, with Britton the first European across the …
Ryan Athlete of 2011
Deirdre Ryan was named as the Athlete of the Year at the National Athletics Awards on Saturday night. Ryan’s sixth place finish at the World Championships was the standout performance by an Irish athlete at major championships this season. Her season best of 1.95m set a new Irish record and …
Byrne's Olympic Standard
The big Irish performance of the day at the Dublin Marathon belonged to Linda Byrne who achieved the London 2012 Olympic standard running 2:36.21 ( standard is 2:37 ) This was the highlight performance of twenty five year old Linda Byrne’s athletic career to date and the DSD runner ran a well-planned …
Kenneally achieves standard
Mark Kenneally (Clonliffe Harriers AC) has achieved the qualification standard for the Olympic Games in London, running a time of 2:13.55 to finish 18th in the Amsterdam Marathon. The Kildare man said: “I am delighted to have achieved the time, I knew I was in shape but it is another thing …
Hession's Dublin training base
Irish 200m Record Holder and Olympian Paul Hession (Athenry AC), has today announced that he will be moving from his current training base in Scotland to Dublin, to work with Coach John Coghlan. Coghlan gained his coaching expertise while working alongside leading speed coaches Loren Seagrave and Paul Doyle …
Boyce and Heffernan OQS
Robert Heffernan (Togher AC) and Brendan Boyce (Letterkenny AC) today achieved the Olympic qualification standard in the 50km walk in Nuamburg, Germany. Heffernan finished second in 3:49.30 and Boyce achieved a personal best of 3:57.58 to finish sixth – just inside the qualification standard of 3:59.00. Colin Griffin (Ballinamore AC) …
Ryan's achievement recognised
Irish High Jumper Deirdre Ryan has been named The Irish Times / Irish Sports Council ‘Sportswoman of the Month’ for the month of August. The Dubliner has had a memorable summer so far, finishing sixth at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea reaching the final by breaking her own …
London 2012