Lauren Roy advanced to the semi-final of the Women’s 60m, while Mark English missed out on a coveted Men’s 800m final place, on Day Two of the World Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland.
Racing in the second of seven heats Roy (Fast Twitch AC) clocked a time of 7.25 seconds to finish fourth. With just three non-fastest automatic qualifier spots available, the 25-year-old had an anxious half hour wait before her qualification was confirmed, squeezing in by the slimmest margin possible, 0.001 of a second.
“I’m super happy. It was a nervous wait out there,” she said. “My goal coming here was to make the semi-finals and I’m delighted to have made it. That race was at 5am Texas time (where she is based) so it’s good to know that my nervous system can get firing that early. 7.25 is absolutely great but I’ve much more in the tank so I know that later is going to be great.”
Ciara Neville (Emerald AC) was also competing in the heats of the Women’s 60m finishing fourth in 7.31 seconds, a strong performance in her first major championship since 2021 but unfortunately not enough to advance to the final.
“I’m disappointed, I know that I’m in better shape than that and I really wanted to show that today, but it wasn’t there,” she told Athletics Ireland afterwards. “It’s an early run; it takes a lot of practice to get fast in the morning. It’s my first major championship in five years, the aim of the season was to be here, but it was also to make the semi-final. I’m proud of myself though for the season I’ve had.”
In the Men’s 800m semi-final English (Finn Valley AC) finished fourth in 1:46.70. The Donegal man made a move with 300m to go but was reeled in during the closing 100 metres and didn’t have enough in the tank to advance.
Maeve O’Neill (Doheny AC) rounded out her debut senior international championships by finishing sixth in her Women’s 800m semi-final. The Cork woman made brave moves throughout but ultimately faded in the final lap.
“I knew I had to get out hard, so that’s what I did,” she said. “I went through 200m faster than I usually would and tried to hang on for as long as I could, but it wasn’t there today. I wouldn’t change it, that was the best chance I had of trying to qualify for the final.”
This evening Roy returns for the semi-final of the Women’s 60m at 7:30pm. Before that Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC) and Nick Griggs (Candour Track Club) race in the final of the Men’s 3000m at 6:22pm.
Team Ireland Results Summary
Day One – Morning Session – Friday March 20th
- Lauren Roy – Women’s 60m – Heat 2/7 – 7.25 q (4th)
- Ciara Neville – Women’s 60m – Heat 5/7 – 7.31 (4th, does not advance)
- Maeve O’Neill – Women’s 800m – SF 1/3 – 2:02.46 (6th, does not advance)
- Mark English – Men’s 800m – SF 1/3 – 1:46.70 (4th, does not advance)
Team Ireland Schedule: Irish Time (Local time in brackets)
Day Two – Evening Session – Saturday March 21st
- Andrew Coscoran – Men’s 3000m – Final – 18:22 (19:22)
- Nick Griggs – Men’s 3000m – Final – 18:22 (19:22)
- Lauren Roy – Women’s 60m – SF 3/3 – 19:30 (20:30)
- Lauren Roy – Women’s 60m – Final – 20:20 (21:20) *
*Subject to advancing
Local times in brackets
Where to watch
Virgin Media TV will bring you live coverage across the three days. See Virgin Media listings for details.
- Results are HERE
- Interviews available on Athletics Ireland social media channels
