Close to 50 Irish athletes are set to compete at the IFAM International Flanders Meet in Oordegem Belgium this Saturday night with Indoor 800m record holder, Mark English will making his outdoor season debut.

An Irish men’s and women’s 4×100m team are set to line up and will be vying to achieve top 16 European ranking needed to secure qualification for the European Track and Field Championships that take place in Zurich in August.

At the same meet Sarah Lavin will be looking to edge closer to her target European qualification standard in the 100m Hurdles after running her fastest season opener of 13.49 at the AAI games last weekend. Irish in Action. start-lists. Event Website.

Waterford’s Thomas Barr will be joined by current top Irish ranked athletes, Jason Harvey, Timmy Crowe and Paul Byrne in the 400m Hurdles. Barr had an impressive season opener at the Numur meet last night finishing third in 50.34 less than two tenth off the standard for Europeans. Ciara Everard also opened her season with 2.06.51 to finish second. Kelly Proper time of 23.60 places her top of the Irish Rankings and edges closer to European standard of 23.35. atletissima-namur1

Also in action over the weekend will be Paul Robinson and Ciaran O’Lionaird who are racing the Prefontaine Classic May in Eugene, Oregon. Live Streaming

Laura Reynolds will compete in LA Croruna 20k Walk as part of the IAAF Race Walking challenge series as part of her preparations towards the European Championships in Zurich.

The full Irish Team for the championships be announced on the 21st of July at a Press Conference after the National Track and Field Championships (19th/20th). There is an expectation that this team will be made up of over 25 athletes, making it one of the largest Irish teams ever to compete at the championships.

Athletes competing who have achieved the A qualification standards will be looking to progress through the rounds and achieve a top 8 -12 placing.

Development athletes (those aged 24 and under) are expected to form a large continent of the team. This championship will form an integral part of their performance development towards Rio 2016 and beyond.