Athletics 2024 (Mod note #869)

deisedude

Great interview with Ciara Mageean on the Indo Sport podcast this week with Joe Molloy.

Some interesting nuggets from it:

• She talks about the injury that ruled her out of the Olympics and how she has been running through the pain barrier for years

• While she doesn't bad mouth former coach Helen Clitheroe directly the fact she doesn't even mention her name tells you all you need to know. Ciara talking about her reasons of moving from that training group was interesting listening

• She is starting up her own training group in Belfast and will have advisors but will essentially be coaching herself

https://m.independent.ie/podcasts/indo-sport-podcast/indo-sport-podcast-ciara-mageean-interview-the-heartbreak-of-missing-the-olympics-after-glory-in-rome/a2131479348.html

Murph_D

What do people feel about this World Athletics “Ultimate Championship”, now that more details are emerging?

https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-ultimate-championship

Seems like an attempt to blend a long form championships with a Diamond League style approach?. Big prizes. Spectacle. Cherry picking events. No heats! 😯

More athletics is always good, I suppose, but this seems like more dumbing down to me.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122873743#Comment_122873743

I listened to the full interview too. As you say, excellent and very insightful discussion.

However, I disagree a little on your interpretation of her relationship with Helen Clitheroe. I recall her mentioning Helen a couple of times. I got the sense it was more the departure of her team mates like Jip Vastenburg that prompted the move away. I could be wrong though.

In other coaching changes, it looks like Sharlene Mawdsley is also now training with Laviai Nielsen under Tony Lester in London. I think that’s a good move for her. Nielsen is a bit better, running sub-50 last season. This change could push Mawdsley into legitimate world class territory as an individual athlete. She also mentioned giving the 400m hurdles a try this season, which is an interesting change of direction.

Wottle

https://m.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/athletics/you-just-dont-get-downtime-jeremy-lyons-is-driven-by-his-love-of-athletics/a1558403549.html

Good article here, a great servant to Irish athletics. Also a former moderator from these parts and put on a workshop for boardsies out in Alsaa, showing us dynamic warmup routines and finishing with a competitive Parlauf.

High performance athletics will miss him.

EagererBeaver

Gout Gout runs a 20.04 200m at 16 to break the legendary Peter Norman's 56 year old Australian record. What a talent.

Krusty_Clown

European cross-country champs tomorrow, 7:50am from Antalya, Türkiye. Live on the RTE Player, or https://eurovisionsport.com/explore/sport?id=EBU-Home-Athletics

Preview here: https://www.athleticsireland.ie/european-cross-country-champs-preview-where-to-watch/

Nick Griggs moves up to u23 after securing bronze in u20 last year, and will be interesting to see how well Keelan Kilrehil places in seniors, after storming to victory in the nationals a few weeks back. Ingebrigtsen is back, so will be good to see if he can still translate his moderately successful year to the mud. Speaking of mud, Cathal Dennehy mentions the course is 'flat, dry and fast', though there's some rain forecast for today, so will hopefully make for muddier conditions, which will suit the Irish team.

Dr. Bre

great effort from Griggs

Krusty_Clown

Phenomenal run for Griggs for second in the u23 (still only 19yo), only a pace behind gold. What an outstanding runner he is.

Ceepo

Great run from Griggs, seriously talented young man. Nice to see him running well after a sub par performance in the national championships.

Great running from Niamh Allen to finish in 11th after moving through the field. Hopefully inspire the mens senior team.

I think the team could be close if everyone runs to form. Places will be hard fought for the team and could easily be 3rd as 7th.

Speak Now

Unreal run from Niamh Allen, fair play to her.

Ceepo

Jakob was a class above the rest of the field.

Disappointing from the Irish team. I would have expected at least one in the top 15/20.

Easy be a hurler in the ditch though

liamooooo

HHeArd interview on rte radio this morning where he said his see s his future as a 5000 metre runner

liamooooo

https://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2024/1209/1485458-i-have-the-speed-sexton-swapping-rugby-for-nfl/ seems a shame he went the rugby route , looked very promising as a junior sprinter

deisedude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122941474#Comment_122941474

Would he not be better trying going back to athletics or would he have no hope for getting to a good level now starting back at 24?

Dodge

I would say there’s no hope. Bulked up for rugby (and now the NFL)

And even if he could, there’s no real reason to do it either. Very little reward for 98% of athletes here (and elsewhere) unless they reach the very, very top

yerwanthere123

Mohamed Katir has had his ban extended from two to four years, now won't be eligible to return until February 2028.

Cathal Dennehy has an article about him here, but I haven't read it yet

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport-columnists/arid-41540882.html

Ceepo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122980166#Comment_122980166

So basically not only did he miss test, but tampered with paperwork that he was using as evidence to defend himself.

Good riddance.

Ceepo

Bit of a suprise this morning in the annual 4 mile race, with none other than Emily Session taking 3rd over all and winning the ladies. The quality in the men's race was way down on other years though.

https://www.premiertimingsystems.ie/2024-results/MSD-4-Mile-Results

yerwanthere123

What have been your personal highlights of the year?

It's been a great year for Irish athletics, but for me the highlight is undoubtedly the mixed 4x400 team in Rome. I expected us to medal that night, but didn't for a second entertain the possibility of a gold. Also had the privilege of being able to watch the race in the stadium itself, so it really was a night I'll never forget!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122998012#Comment_122998012

Mixed relay win is also a highlight for me. However, the women’s 4x400m Olympic final was a very close second for me. Despite finishing just outside the medals, it was a truly astonishing performance from all 4 ladies. I must have watched the race 100 times by now.

Becker’s opening leg of 50.90 is faster than her open PB (51.13). Adeleke ran a sub-49 leg which is insanely fast, albeit not unexpected from her. Phil Healy’s third leg of 50.94 was a full second faster than her leg in the heat. Mawdsley’s anchor of 49.14 was incredible. She was so unlucky to be pitted against two of the best 400m runners in the world.

I really hope all four are healthy and in form next season. A medal is a possibility in Tokyo. Keep an eye on Lauren Cadden too. In her first season running 400m, she improved to a 52.8x PB and ran some 52-low relay legs. If she can kick on next season, she will be an immense addition to the squad.

Hopefully a few of the lads will also step up next season to bolster the mixed relay. Not sure if Tom Barr has retired? It would be great to see Chris O’Donell going after the NR and Cillin Greene & Jack Raftery getting down to 45-low. That would make us very competitive at both European- and world-level.

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123001693#Comment_123001693

I've watched the mixed relay race back dozens of times, but think I've only watched the women's Olympic relay once or twice. The disappointment is still too strong 🥲

Speak Now

Loved the relay win but Ciara in Rome was my highlight.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123002843#Comment_123002843

I hear you. I can’t watch the post-race interview. Very raw for all of them.

Here’s to 2025 and more relay success.

yerwanthere123

Chebet closes out the year in style! Runs 13:54 on the roads in Barcelona for a new world record, and the first ever woman under 14 minutes. Probably won't belong until she does it on the track too.

With everything coming out of Kenya inside the last couple of year's it's very difficult to believe this is being done clean, but for now I guess we'll go along with it.

EagererBeaver

The Cursa dels Nassos is a huge event over here. Pretty flat the whole way. Slight, gentle incline coming up off the beach and then a slope down to the finish. Huge to have the likes of Chebet at it and what a performance.

yerwanthere123

Just gonna have a look back upon some of thoughts/predictions at the beginning of this thread and see what transpired

Hoping to see continued improvements for Irish athletes this year, and that Mageean and Adeleke make the Olympic final. Thinking Adeleke is our best shot at a medal, but it's a tough event.

Mageean was having a terrific year until the Summer. Opened with an 800m PB in Manchester, finally won the elusive European gold in Rome.. and then disaster struck. Personally I think the Olympic final would've been too fast for her anyway, couldn't see her running a 3:52 to get in the medals, but we'll obviously never know. Hope she can get back to where she was in 2023, Tokyo may be her last shot to win a major medal.

Adeleke was indeed our best shot at a medal, two 4th place finishes must be sickening for her. Obviously being so young she has time on her side, but seeing how gassed she is in the final 100m leaves me wondering if Beijing might be a more realistic time for her to medal at world level than Tokyo. She had an incredible European campaign though, gold in the mixed relay and silver in the individual, she's our brightest prospect for a very long time.

Looking forward to seeing what Sifan Hassan has in store for us this year. My guess at this stage is it'll be the 5k/10k/marathon Olympic triple, but she'll likely keep us guessing until the last minute.

I got this right, Hassan was indeed crazy enough to try yet another triple. She's without a doubt my favourite athlete to watch, the marathon gold and sprint finish with Assefa will go down as a classic. To win marathon gold after winning two bronze in the 5k and 10k is just phenomenal, and I can't wait to see what she does in 2025.

I'm also very excited about the distinct possibility of a first ever sub 14 women's 5k, hopefully one of Kipyegon, Tsegay or even Chebet go for it at some stage. I'm also wondering if someone will make a sub 29 10k attempt at some stage this year, Tsegay or Gidey might be the best bet for that.

We didn't see a sub-14 on the track, but Chebet did it in on the roads in Barcelona just a couple of days ago. It's only a matter of time before she does it on the track too. How low she can take the record is the question though. I'm even wondering if she'd be able to take a crack at the infamous 3000m world record.

Chebet did indeed get the first ever sub 29 10k, although Agnes Ngetich did it on the roads before her in January. Emmaculate Anyango did too but she's already been caught doping.

Tsegay unexpectedly had a disaster of a year. Opened with an amazing 3:50 1500m, then attempted the Sifan Hassan 1500/5k/10k triple and didn't medal in a single one of them. Her dirty racing tactics almost got Kipyegon stripped of a medal in the 5k final too. A year to forget for her!

Gidey raced once in 2024 and then took a break from the sport, though the rumour right now is she's pregnant and due in February, so we possibly won't see her back until 2026.

yerwanthere123

On a personal note, I hope I have a successful year running myself. I've been sidelined for the past 5 weeks with suspected tendonitis, so hopefully I'll be back on my feet soon

My 'tendonitis' actually turned out to be a fibula stress fracture which put me in a walking boot for a month. Wasn't able to run for four months, and as soon as I got back on my feet I was sidelined again due to hamstring issues. I'm on the right track now though and ran 10k on Sunday completely pain free, so hopefully 2025 will be a year to set some PB's after the disaster that was 2024!

Will be going to my first ever Olympics in Paris in August, and hope to go to the European Championships in Rome too if money allows

The Olympics was an unforgettable experience, and everything about Paris was perfect. Watched three days of athletics in the Stade De France and two days of tennis at Roland-Garros. Also went to the Europeans in Rome and was fortunate enough to see both of Ireland's gold medals in person. Amazing experience!

Anyone have any other thoughts on the season we just witnessed! Roll on 2025!

New thread here

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058386267/athletics-2025

Ceepo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122763282#Comment_122763282

Looks like in her case, she was breaking the rules.

🚨 BREAKING - Ruth Chepngetich has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after failing a drug test on March 14, 2025.

Chepngetich shocked the world when she ran 2:09:56 to shatter the World Record and win the 2024 Chicago Marathon. Following her test on March 14, 2025, it was found that she allegedly had an estimated 3800 ng/mL of Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) in her urine.

Chepngetich opted for a provisional suspension on April 19, while the AIU's investigation was ongoing.

🔗 We are still gathering information at this time, more will be available on FloTrack soon.

Pherekydes

HCTZ is a common component of blood pressure medication. (Eh, like mine 🫣)

omicron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123646726#Comment_123646726

Its not normally used directly as a performance enhancer, it's usually used as a diuretic to try mask another substance.