World indoor and outdoor silver medallist Kate O’Connor (Dundalk St. Gerard’s AC) and five-time European medallist Mark English (Finn Valley AC) will headline a strong Irish team for the upcoming World Indoor Championships.

Both athletes were named by Athletics Ireland today in an initial squad selection for the event which takes place in Toruń, Kujawy Pomorze, Poland from March 20^th-22^nd.

The announcement confirms the selection of athletes with A standards, while athletes qualifying via ranking position and having achieved the Athletics Ireland ‘B’ Standard will be confirmed after World Athletics produces its final list of qualifiers on March 11th.

O’Connor made history at these championships last year in Nanjing, China, by winning Ireland’s first medal since 2006, claiming silver in the Women’s Pentathlon. The 25-year-old went onto win silver in the Heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September.

The Dundalk star returned to competitive action at the recent 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships setting two new personal bests in the 60m Hurdles (8.21) and Long Jump (6.50m) indicating that she is in strong form ahead of her first multi-event competition of the year in Poland.

English has also been in excellent form this season lowering his own Irish indoor 800m record on two occasions. The 32-year-old from Donegal ran 1:44.23 at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava, Czechia in early February before returning to altitude for a training camp. He also ran an Irish indoor 600m record in January, clocking 1:15.80 at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena in Dublin.

Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC) and Nick Griggs (Candour Track Club) are both ranked highly in the Men’s 3000m, with the pair having ran the third and fifth fastest times in the world for the event this year. At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in January, Coscoran ran a time of 7:30.97, with recently crowned national champion Griggs crossing the line just behind him in 7:32.79, a huge Irish U23 record. The duo will compete in a straight 15-man final in Toruń.

Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) is a consistent championship performer who finished fifth in the final of her event, the Women’s 60m Hurdles, at these championships in Glasgow two years ago. The Limerick woman, who has clocked a best of 7.98 seconds this season, will look to deliver a strong performance when it matters most.

Bori Akinola (UCD AC) and Lauren Roy (Fast Twitch AC) will race over 60m. Akinola broke Israel Olatunde’s national record for the event last month at the World Indoor Tour Gold meet in Belgrade, Serbia, with a 6.54 second clocking, illustrating that he’s in the form of this life travelling to Poland. Roy has also had a breakthrough season in America where she has been racing on the NCAA collegiate circuit for Tarleton State University. The Ballymena woman recorded a personal best of 7.19 seconds recently to move equal second on the Irish all-time list for the event.

Maeve O’Neill (Doheny AC) will make her senior Irish international debut in Poland. The 22-year-old who is studying at Providence College in Rhode Island broke the national indoor record over 800m recently, running a time of 2:00.33 at Boston University.

Ciara Neville (Emerald AC, Women’s 60m), Emma Moore (Galway City Harriers, Women’s 800m), James Gormley (Carmen Runners, Men’s 1500m) and Elizabeth Ndudi (Dundrum South Dublin AC, Women’s Long Jump), have achieved the Athletics Ireland ‘B’ Standard and are provisionally selected pending confirmation of their qualification status by World Athletics.

Commenting on the team selection, Athletics Ireland High Performance Director, Paul McNamara said:

“This is an exciting team with real prospects for medal success. Kate’s achievement in Nanjing last year has set a bar for what Irish athletes can achieve at these championships, and we travel to Poland with real intent. Along with our seasoned performers it’s great to see emerging talent make an impact this season and earn the opportunity to compete against the best in the world.”

SELECTIONS:

World Athletics are set to publish the final list of qualifiers on March 11th. An updated team selection will be published to include athletes who are awaiting confirmation of qualification by World Athletics. All athletes who have achieved a B standard, can potentially qualify by rank, and have been provisionally selected pending confirmation of qualification status by World Athletics are listed below.

Provisional Selections (pending confirmation from World Athletics) *:

• Athletics Ireland World Indoor Championship selection policy is HERE
• World Athletics ‘Road to Kujawy Pomorze’ is HERE
• World Indoor Championships official website is HERE

PUBLISHED @ 8:30PM 09.03.2026