Laverty lays down record-breaking performance on day one in Rieti

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Laverty lays down record-breaking performance on day one in Rieti

16 July 2026

With temperatures reaching the mid-30s in Italy, Tara Laverty (Carrick Aces AC) got Ireland’s European U18 Championships off to a positive start by breaking her own national U18 record in the women’s discus in Rieti on Thursday afternoon.

Laverty qualified automatically, surpassing the mark set to progress to Saturday’s final with a massive 49.46m throw in the first round.

The Monaghan native feels the pressure is now off.

“I think it just eases the pressure for Saturday too. Very happy with the national record too,” Laverty told Athletics Ireland.

“I was just trying to stay as relaxed as possible and I guess it worked… I probably might have a few throws tomorrow and mainly relax,” she added.

Earlier in the session, Lucie Cawley (Sligo AC) and Ally Duffy (Tullamore Harriers) both qualified safely for the women’s 2000m steeplechase final.

Cawley, the Irish U18 2000m Steeplechase record holder, finished sixth in heat one in 6:50.84 and Duffy was third in heat two in 6:52.32. The final of the event will take place on Saturday morning to avoid the worst of the Italian heat.

Ethan Carr (Ballymena and Antrim AC) was rewarded for a gutsy run in the men’s 400m heats with non-automatic qualification to the semi-finals.

Carr finished fifth in the final heat, the fastest of the day, won by Jakub Marek of the Czech Republic in 47.67 seconds.

Carr went out hard in the opening 200m but held on well in the home straight to clock 48.89 seconds and claim the final non-automatic qualification spot. He will compete in the semi-finals in Friday’s evening session.

There was further success in the one-lap event with Evelyn Kwik securing automatic qualification to the semi-finals in the women’s event. Kwik finished third in heat four in a time of 55.58 seconds, which was won by Eleni Iakovaki of Greece in 55.01 seconds.

Aisling Shevlin had a nervy wait to see if she would claim one of the non-automatic qualification spots after clocking 55.87 to finish fifth in heat two and was within the next 6 fastest qualifier spots after the six heats concluded.

Kwik and Shevlin will go again in the semi-finals on Friday afternoon.

Jack Collins (Tralee AC) just missed out on qualifying for the 800m semi-finals, finishing fourth in heat four with a 1:55.57 clocking. Collins was just outside of the top three automatic places that progressed to the next round.

Emer Purtill (Dooneen AC) sits in 14th position after day one in the heptathlon on 3208 points.

Purtill opened her competition with a personal best of 15.19 seconds in the 100m hurdles and backed it up with a 1.60m clearance in the high jump.

The 16-year-old then had an impressive outing in the shot put, throwing 15.26m, ten centimetres further than any other athlete.

Purtill finished the day with a personal best, clocking in the 200m (26.23) and sits in 14th position with three events left to complete on day two.

Day Two Irish in Action Schedule

Morning Session – Friday July 17th

Emer Purtill – Girls Heptathlon – Long Jump – 07:35 (08:35)
Isabelle Gaffney – Girls 800m – Round One – 08:20 (09:20)
Tara-Rose Smith – Girls 800m – Round One – 08:20 (09:20)
Daniel Downey – Boys 400m Hurdles – Round One – 09:00 (10:00)
Arron Whelan – Boys 400m Hurdles – Round One – 09:00 (10:00)
Elle-Kate McRae – Girls 400m Hurdles – Round One – 09:40 (10:40)
Emer Purtill – Girls Heptathlon – Javelin – Group A – 10:20 (11:20) OR Group B – 11:30 (12:30)
Tiffany Nwaedozie – Girls 200m – Round One – 10:25 (11:25)
Christopher Olatunde – Boys 200m – Round One – 11:15 (12:15)

Evening Session – Friday July 17th