WSG/ Euro-u23s/WYC - How did we fair?

ecoli

Thought might be a chance to catch some of the more infrequent users who have appeared over the last 24 hour and show them the sport isn't all doom and gloom

So overall how do people reckon we faired in these major championships despite not medalling in any of these championships?

pconn062

Pretty good I think, Robinson was awesome and 4th was a great finish, hopefully the big championship experience will give him the thirst to possibly chase a qualification time for the world championships.

Thomas Barr, another great result, he is really starting to mature now and it's only a matter of time before that record drops.

ecoli

pconn062 wrote: »

Pretty good I think, Robinson was awesome and 4th was a great finish, hopefully the big championship experience will give him the thirst to possibly chase a qualification time for the world championships.

Thomas Barr, another great result, he is really starting to mature now and it's only a matter of time before that record drops.

Agree there was some very strong performances where many athletes showed great maturity. A few disappointing results however the athletes overall seemed to manage the rounds very well which was optimistic. As teams overall we didnt see many 1st round upsets.

Thomas Barr for me was the stand out given his prep this year has been less than ideal he stepped up to the plate and delivered. Was slightly shocked with the depth in the final for this championship

Robinson looked very good and a 4th was a great result. He may not be entirely happy with it himself but overall has had a great season and put himself in the mix

Shane Quinn was a shock performance. Ran very smart and just didnt have the wheels in the last lap to compete but overall exceeded expectations and had his tactics down to a tee

Amy Foster was another one who rose to the occasion and ran consistently well especially with a lightning fast start in the semis which had her first out of the blocks

PB's from Irwin, Morrissey and Everard were great results and definitely bode well

Jessie Barr ran a great semi but I feel the conditions of that race might just have taken a little too much out of her for the final. Still 6th place in a world final can't be dismissed.

Cotter and Finn did well to make the final after such a long season in the US.

Overall despite not medalling and a few disappointments there I think the teams stepped up to the mark generally and the outlook from these championships is one of positivity in my opinion. We will always have the outliers who exceed above and beyond but for me it was a good example of Ireland as a nation being able to compete at these levels as a nation

pconn062

Woops, I read that as U-23's only, missed the other two. Yeah some great results from the WSG as well. Was chatting to Tomás yesterday, the final was just one race too much for him, he was pretty exhausted after the US season, then the European team champs, and then the WSG. Making the final was a great experience for him.

Agree as well about Quinn, that was an awesome performance and really performed beyond his remit in that one. Jessie Barr as well, I think the occasion will really stand to her in the future.

pconn062

* Tumbleweed * :pac:

RayCun

pconn062 wrote: »

* Tumbleweed * :pac:

:pac:
Some good performances overall, but you'd like a medal to feel you have something to show for it

notsofast

Ireland joint 21st in placings table at European U23
http://la.sportresult.com/ajax/eaa2.asp?module=placing&event_id=10013200000006&lang=en

Just about confirms Ireland's place in the second level of euro athletics.

No top 8 placing at the World Youths so didn't feature in placings table.

Couldn't find an athletics placings table for World University games.

Overall, slightly disappointing I would say.

dna_leri

While I would not fault any one of the athlete's individually, it is disappointing that we do not have a medal winner, especially in the Euro U23 which (let's face it) is a narrow enough category. If we can not achieve against europeans in a limited age group, we can't expect to achieve at senior world level. The reality is that we do not have any potential world-class athletes coming through. We have some that could break Irish records or might scrape a Moscow qualifier standard but no up and coming athletes that look like challenging for places in World Championship or Olympic finals. Maybe the EYOF and Euro Juniors will show some exceptional talent but the leap from there to senior (via U23) is one that many falter on.

ecoli

I know people correspond medals with success but I think its not as doom and gloom as people might think

Take the Student Games for example. This is a competition where we have only had 12 medals in the events 50 year history so to have 6 top 8 finishes from a team of nine is very positive

As I said before we all look forward to the prospect of outliers who can challenge for a medal but for me this was a positive step towards depth in teams. The more consistent as a nation we can be in making the finals the better chance we have of pushing on towards medal prospects

I would rather see a solid team performance compared to one athlete expected to win dominate while the rest of the team failed to make it out of the rounds. To me a single performance can be forgotten quicker by the masses than a single talent being relied on to determine the success or failure of a championship. Prevents the scape goat mentality from creeping in also which can damage an athlete mentally and hinder improvement.

ecoli

Similarly we have only ever managed 6 medals in the Euro u-23s so 2 4th places and 5 top 8 finishes has to be viewed as a step in the right direction especially as our top medal prospect was not 100%

Needs to be looked at from a long term perspective in terms of becoming more competitive on the international stage and the development of the sport as a whole

Dan man

Síobhra O'Flaherty has just won a silver medal in the girl's 3,000m at the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF). Her time of 9:42.47 is a massive PB I believe (seasons best which I think was also her PB was well outside 10 minutes) and only a second behind the gold medal winner from Romania. Fantastic performance.

Dan man

Elizabeth Morland has won her heat of the girl's 100m hurdles at the EYOF in 13.77secs (+1.1m/s)...seriously good time that. She is fastest qualifier for the final.
Her previous season's best (also a personal best perhaps??) was 14.44secs so that's a massive improvement. And to put it into perspective, Sarah Lavin's national youth record is 13.62secs so that could be under threat when you take into account how much Elizabeth carved off her season's best there. Fantastic run!

EDIT: Also, Elizabeth was born in 1998, so I think I'm right in saying that she has another 2 years at youth level, incredible!

Also, Cian McBride finished 2nd in his 800m semi-final to qualify safely for Friday's final. Great day for the Irish in Utrecht today.

EDIT: Phoebe Murphy finished 8th in the girl's 100m final in 12.40secs (+0.5m/s)....good achievement to make it into the final in the first place

notsofast

Fantastic talent. She achieved the EYOF qualification standard in the high jump and long jump as well as hurdles.

longjump67

Dan man wrote: »

EDIT: Also, Elizabeth was born in 1998, so I think I'm right in saying that she has another 2 years at youth level, incredible!

No she will be overage in two years time for EYOF as it will be athletes born 1999-2000, but will be for World Youths

Dan man

longjump67 wrote: »

No she will be overage in two years time for EYOF as it will be athletes born 1999-2000, but will be for World Youths

If you read my post again you will see I never mentioned anything about EYOF in 2 years time
I said that she will be eligible for youth level for another 2 years and no doubt she'll have plenty of opportunities to take down Sarah Lavin's national youth record in that time.

shiibata

Anywhere you can watch McBride live in the 800m on the 19th and Crowe on 17/07/2013