Photo by Giancarlo Colombo/Sportsfile
With the 2023 World Athletics Championships kicking off this Saturday, August 19, here is a preview of Team Ireland:
The nine-day event, which will end on August 27, will see 23 Irish athletes compete. There are 16 individual entries and two relays: the Women’s 4x400m and the mixed 4x400m, which is relay with both men and women.
Ciara Mageean heads to the competition in Budapest with a new Irish record, after breaking Sonia O’Sullivan’s national mile record set in 1994, last month, with a time of 4.14.58, and becoming the fifth fastest time in the world.
✨ Massive national record 👍🏻
✨ Fifth fastest on the world all-time list 🤯
✨ Paris 2024 Olympic Games - 1500m Q ✅
A night to remember for Ciara Mageean 🤩 pic.twitter.com/d24mUM5bOc— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) July 21, 2023
Mageean is racing in the 1500m with fellow Irish teammates and European U23 medallists Sophie O’Sullivan and Sarah Healy, who went gold and silver in the competition. Sarah Healy currently holds the Irish U23 record of 4:01.75, which she set in June and claimed the third best all-time 1500m time, behind Ciara Mageean and Sonia O'Sullivan.
Sarah Lavin, who recently ran a 12.74 at the Diamond League in Monaco, also set three personal bests at the Irish National Track and Field Championships. The 29-year-old ran a lifetime best in the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.67.
Rhasidat Adeleke will take to the track for her second World Championships. Adeleke recently broke her own Irish 400m record with a time of 49.20 in June when she claimed gold at the NCAA Championships; she became the first Irish sprinter to win an NCAA title. Adeleke announced that she was leaving college athletics at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, to run professional and signed a deal with nike, last month.
Sharlene Mawdsley, who is now ranked 4th on the Irish all-time list when she set a personal best of 51.34 in June, will be competing in the mens and mixed 4x400m relays, as well as the individual 400m race. Mawdsley also became Ireland's senior women's national champion in the 400m, at the competition, in the end of July.
Ireland's crowning moment! 👑
After providing the first Irish win in the 400m, Sharlene Mawdsley 🇮🇪 anchors Ireland to mixed 4x400m victory in #Silesia2023! 🏆#EG2023
(@irishathletics | @TeamIreland) pic.twitter.com/5rc77EAEdM— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) June 22, 2023
Louise Shanahan will be competing in the women's 800m. She is currently ranked in 21st place in the world for the women's 800 and took fifth place in last year's world championships in Eugene, Oregon. Shanahan is looking to take back the 800m Irish record, which she held until it was broken by Ciara Mageean this year, and qualify for Paris 2024.
Here are all the Irish Athletes competing:
Women
| Rhasidat Adeleke | 400m, W4x400m |
| Sharlene Mawdsley | 400m, Mx4x400m, W4x400m |
| Louise Shanahan | 800m |
| Ciara Mageean | 1500m |
| Sophie O’Sullivan | 1500m |
| Sarah Healy | 1500m |
| Sarah Lavin | 100mH |
| Sophie Becker | Mx 4x400m, W4x400m |
| Roisin Harrison | Mx 4x400m, W4x400m |
| Cliodhna Manning* | W4x400m |
| Kelly McGrory | W4x400m |
Chart credit: athletics Ireland
Men
| John Fitzsimons | 800m |
| Mark English | 800m |
| Andrew Coscoran | 1500m |
| Luke McCann | 1500m |
| Brian Fay | 5000m |
| Thomas Barr | 400mH |
| David Kenny | 20km Walk |
| Brendan Boyce | 35km Walk |
| Eric Favors | Shot Put |
| Chris O’Donnell | Mx 4x400m |
| Jack Raftery | Mx 4x400m |
| Callum Baird | Mx 4x400m |
Chart credit: athletics Ireland
Keep an eye on who is racing on Saturday, August 19:
Day 1 Morning: David Kenny Men's 20k Race Walk, 7:50am Irish Standard Time (IST); Eric Favors Men's Shot Put qualification, 9:30am IST; The Mixed 4x400m Relay (heats), 10:05 IST; Ciara Mageean, Sophie O'Sullivan, Sarah Healy Womens 15000m (heats) at 12:15 IST.
Day 1 Afternoon: Andrew Coscoran, Luke McCann Men's 1500m (heats), 18:02 IST; Shot Put (final), 19:35 IST; Mixed 4x400m relay final, 19:55 IST
