Tokyo 2020 August 2nd – Preview

It will be an early Bank Holiday Monday start for Irish athletics fans with the 1500m duo of Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn) and Sarah Healy (UCD AC) making their first appearances at these Games.

Mageean, who made the semi-finals stage in Rio will be first of the Irish in action, going in heat 1 of the 1500m at 1.35am (Irish time).

The City of Lisburn athlete comes here full of confidence having posted a 4.02.48 in early July as part of her preparation for Tokyo.

Mageean made the World Championship final in 2019 (the first Irishwoman to do so since Sonia O’Sullivan in 1997) and will once again be setting her sights on mixing it with the world’s best.

The depth of 1500m running will likely mean that claiming one of the 6 automatic qualifying spots without expending too much energy will be difficult, but Mageean will be focused on doing just that as she bids to make another major final.

The next 6 fastest (q) will also advance from the 3 heats to the semi-finals on Wednesday afternoon.

Current national 1500m champion, Sarah Healy will take to the track shortly after for heat 3 of the 1500m at 1.59am.

Healy has continued to progress from her double European Youth Championship titles (1500m/3000m) in 2018, and her recent performances under the guidance of coach Eoghan Marnell have seen the 20-year-old UCD athlete clock a 4.07.12 personal best last month to move to 6th on the Irish all-time list.

It’s likely that a personal best performance will be required if Healy is to progress to the semi-final stage.

Olympic finalist Phil Healy (Bandon AC) will be back at the Olympic Stadium for her 200m heat from 3.10am.

Healy, who was part of the historic mixed 4 x 400m relay team who competed in the final on Saturday will go in the 6th heat as she looks to continue her superb Tokyo 2020 journey.

The Irish record holder over 100m (11:28, 2018) and ranked second over 200m, was just pipped for a 400m medal at this year’s European Indoors, and coach Shane McCormack will no doubt have the 14-time national champion ready to use all of her big race experience as she bids to make it to the next round.

Qualifying will be exceptionally tough, with the first 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 3 fastest (q) advancing to the Semi-finals.

*Healy will also go in the 400m heats on Tuesday.

Live Results: Click HERE

Where you can watch: Click HERE

Aug 1st Report: Click HERE