TWO National Records at the World Indoor Championships for Team Ireland
Team Ireland secured two National 4x400m Records on the Final Day of the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, breaking both of the previous records set at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Budapest.
Taking to the Men’s 4x400m Relay for Team Ireland, Cillin Greene (Galway City Harriers AC) Cathal Crosbie (Ennis Track AC), Brian Gregan (Clonliffe Harriers AC) and Chris O’Donnell (Galway City Harriers AC).
Coming out of the blocks Greene kept Ireland close to the group at the back heading into his handover to Crosbie. during his World Indoor Championships debur Crosbie maintained the pace and position. Returning to the track after injury Gregan supplied a key handover to O’Donnell for him to break ahead of the Slovakian Miroslav Marcek. Aft Throughout the final leg O’Donnell fought his way to cross the finish line coming third in the heat.
The Team secured a National Indoor Record time of 3:08.63, missing out a final place by a mere margin of 0.33 of a second.
The previous record was from 2004, 3:08.83, was set in Budapest by David McCarthy, currently serving as the relay coach of this championship, David Gillick, Rob Daly, and Gary Ryan.
Representing Women’s 4x400m from Team Ireland was Sophie Becker (Raheny Shamrock AC), Roisin Harrison (Emerald AC), Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) and Phil Healy (Bandon AC).
Becker put Ireland just outside the qualifying second place heading into the break of the first leg. Harrison maintained the position before a break from Polish Aleksandra Gaworska pushed Ireland down to fourth as Gaworska made a dash for the lead. Mawdsley coming into the second last leg for the team, kept the pace up and positioned Ireland for a break. On the final leg Healy seized the break to pass out Canadian Sage Watson crossing the line with Ireland in third place of the heat,
It was the second National Record-breaking performance of the day as the women secured 3:30.97, missing out a final place by 6 hundredths of a second, and breaking the existing record by more than 3 seconds.
The previous record was also set in 2004 Budapest by Karen Shrinkins, Ciara Sheehy, Michelle Carey, and Joanne Cuddihy at 3:41.61.
After an intense three-day World Indoor Championship Team Ireland comes home with a Championship Finalist in Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC), Semi-Finalist in Phil Healy and Molly Scott and two new National records in both the Men’s and Women’s 4x400m. As young Irish talents made their debut on the global stage, this Championship has offered all of team Ireland a steppingstone for more great things to come from Irish athletics for the rest of the season.
High Performance Director Paul McNamara said “There were both highs and lows at these championships. We targeted two national records in the relays and achieved both with outstanding performances, but we certainly would have liked to see those teams progress to finals. Sarah Lavin moved on to a different level and her semi-final performance was superb. We also had strong performances from several of our younger athletes who punched above their weight, but equally had some missed opportunities to progress. In terms of both depth and breadth we have moved on from the 2018 World Championships which affords a platform for greater success going forward.”