Le Chéile International Saturday 8th June
This year's Le Chéile International will take place on Saturday 8th June and promises to be one of the highlights of the year on the Irish athletics calendar. Run in association with our meet partners, the Irish Milers Club, events will begin at 2pm and build up to the main International competitions across the afternoon. All track events from 100m to 3000m will feature on the programme, including for the first time the Women's 100m Hurdles and Men's 110m Hurdles, while the Long Jump and Shot Putt will be featured in the field.
For the first time in 2019, all of the sprint events at the Le Chéile International will be run as wind sprints, which guarantees following winds, and consequent fast times. As a result, the sprint entries are very strong and track records are certainly under threat. On the Men's side, double defending champion Andrew Robertson (GB, 10.10, 20.76) returns to defend his titles, but will face stiff competition from Steven Muller (GER, 10.33, 20.46) and current Irish Champion, Marcus Lawler (10.30, 20.40). In the Women's sprint events, rising Irish star and European Junior Champion Gina Akpe Moses (11.46, 23.86) will fancy her chances of securing a home victory, but she will be hard pushed by Hannah Brier (GB, 11.39, 23.59).
In the middle distance events, the Men's and Women's 800m will take centre stage and we are once again expecting fireworks. For the second year running, the Le Chéile International is very proud to be hosting the Noel Carroll Men's 800m, with last year's runner up and European Junior medallist John Fitzsimons (1.48.09) hoping to go one better this year. He will face off against British University Champion indoors and outdoors this year, Alex Botterill (GB, 1.47.95), as well as Machmach Abdessalam (ITA, 1.48.39). Similarly, the Women's 800m promises to be a closely fought affair, and will feature Scottish international Philippa Millage (GB, 2.05.19), while the Irish charge will be led by last year's runner up, Alanna Lally (2.04.79) and Amy O'Donoghue (2.05.79).
The highlight of the field events promises to be the Men's Long Jump, which has consistently delivered big performances over the last three years. Leading the entries is Ireland's Sam Healy (7.63m), and he will be joined by two Le Chéile regulars, Jack Roach (GB, 7.71m) and David John Martin (GB, 7.40m). With such closely matched athletes, this has all the hallmarks of a cracking competition.
For the second time, the event will also feature the Le Chéile International Team Trophy, which this year sees Team Ireland face off against Team GB and Team World. Having won the Team Trophy in convincing fashion last year, Team Ireland will be keen to defend their title and stake their claim as the dominant team. The final events counting towards the Team Trophy will be the ever-popular 4x100m Relays, with the three international teams squaring off for one final time.
Entries for all events (100m to 3000m, 100m/110mH, Long Jump, Shot Putt) are now open through the Irish Milers Club website (www.irishmilersclub.org). Races will be run on a graded basis so all levels of athlete will be catered for, but entries are filling up fast so don't miss out. Get your entry in before next Wednesday, 5th June.
On the day, entry to the event will be free of charge for all spectators and there will be a live stream with nTrai and a live outside broadcast with KFM Radio, so there's no excuse to miss out on what promises to be a super day of world class athletics! For more details, see www.lecheileac.com/international, and don't forget to follow us on twitter for all updates: @lecheileintl