AWESOME ADEMOLA 5TH AT WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Reece Ademola has claimed a superb 5th place finish in the men’s long jump final at the World U20 Athletics Championships in Columbia this evening (August 2nd). Ademola produced the jump of his life to set a new national U20 long jump record of 7.83m on his way to the 5th place finish, a record he had broken only yesterday (7.76m) on the way to qualifying for this evening’s final.

The Leevale athlete set the tone for the final with his opening jump, setting the PB of 7.83m on his first attempt in a global final. Ademola followed up with jumps of 7.65m , 7.79m, 7.76m, and 7.49m. It wasn’t until the final round of jumps that he found himself out of the medal places, missing out on bronze by just 7cm.

The medals ultimately went the way of Erwan Konate (FRA) 8.08m WU20L, Alejandro A. Parada (CUB) 7.91m, and Gabriel Luiz Boza (BRA) 7.90m.

There was also an explosive start to day 2 of these championships for Ademola’s clubmate Lucy May Sleeman who secured her place in the semi-finals of the 100m with a brilliant 11.71 performance. Sleeman finished 4th in her heat and had a nervous wait before being confirmed as one of the fastest no-automatic qualifiers. The young Leevale sprint star will return to the blocks for the semi-final tomorrow evening at 10.21pm. Sleeman will also go in the heats of the 200m on Thursday.  

Tir Chonaill’s Lucy McGlynn was first of the Irish to take to the track today, posting a brilliant 1:00.30 in the 400mH. The time saw McGlynn finish 5th in blisteringly fast heat, but ultimately resulting in the Donegal athlete missing out on the semi-finals by the narrowest of margins (0.01).The Tir Chonaill hurdler is sure to be buoyed by her superb performance and will be back on track on Thursday for the heats of the 100m hurdles.

Full results: HERE

Day 3 of the World U20 Championships promised to be another thrilling day for Team Ireland with the exciting pair of Nicolas Griggs and Callum Morgan set to go in the heats of the 3000m, while Nicola Tuthill will take to the throwing cage for the women’s hammer qualification round.

All eyes will then turn to Lucy May Sleeman’s semi-final where the first 2 will automatically qualify for the final, with another 2 fastest non-automatic qualifiers also making it to the final.

Team Ireland Timetable (Irish Time):

Day 3: 3rd August 

• 3.00pm Nicolas Griggs 3000m Heat 1
• 3.15pm Callum Morgan 3000m Heat 2
• 4:30pm Nicola Tuthill Women’s Hammer Throw (Qualifying Group B)
• 10.21pm Lucy May Sleeman Women’s 100m Semi Final 3

Day 4: 4th August 

• 3:05pm Lucy McGlynn Women’s 100mH (Heats) 
• 5:50pm Lucy May Sleeman Women’s 100m (Heats) 

Live Stream: HERE

Results: HERE