A 38-strong Irish team have arrived in Tampere, Finland for the European Athletics U20 Championships which get underway tomorrow morning (Thursday, August 7th) at the Ratina Stadium.
The venue has played host to memorable Irish athletics moments in the past, most recently in 2018 when the Irish Women’s 4x100m relay team of Molly Scott, Ciara Neville, Gina Akpe-Moses, Patience Jumbo-Gula and Rhasidat Adeleke and Sommer Lecky (High Jump) won World U20 silver medals.
Leading the Irish team out will be one of the leading contenders for silverware, Conor Kelly (Finn Valley AC) who goes in the Men’s 400m heats. Kelly is the European U20 #1 this season in the 400m, having clocked a personal best and national U20 record of 45.85 at the Morton Games in July.
World U20 semi-finalist Sean Doggett (Athenry AC) will also be eyeing progression to the semi-finals of the event, while Alex Cullen (Kilkenny City Harriers) will make his debut at this level of competition in the one-lap event.
In the shorter sprints, Precious Akpe-Moses (Blackrock AC) looks set to double up in the Women’s 100m and 200m, the younger sister of the aforementioned Gina will also be making her major championship debut for Ireland.
Stepping up in distance, Team Ireland will be represented by two athletes in the Women’s 800m, with Pia Langton (Kilkenny City Harriers) and Saoirse Fitzgerald (Lucan Harriers) set to toe the line. Gemma Galvin (Ennis Track AC) who made the national senior 800m final last weekend, has opted to focus on the Women’s 1500m at these championships.
In the Men’s 3000m, Cormac Dixon (Tallaght AC) is the top ranked athlete in the event, being the only man to break the eight-minute barrier this year. He is also entered in the 5000m but is targeting the shorter race. Teammate Cillian Gleeson (Celbridge AC) will go in the Men’s 5000m.
In the field events, 2023 European Youth Olympic Festival and 2024 European U18 medallist Cian Crampton (Edenderry AC) competes in the Men’s Discus Throw. Crampton has been in sensational form in 2025, throwing a national U20 record of 58.32m at the start of June.
Enya Silkena (Ratoath AC) will undoubtedly have been inspired by the success of Kate O’Connor in the Heptathlon in recent times. O’Connor burst onto the scene in 2019 by winning silver at this event. Silkena, who has achieved a personal best to qualify for the championships, will be hoping for a strong performance across the seven events on Saturday and Sunday.
A full compliment of Irish relay teams will also be in action in Finland, with a Men’s and Women’s 4x100m teams and Men’s and Women’s 4x400m teams taking to the track. The Men’s 4x400m team are the top ranked in Europe this year and they can draw on Conor Kelly, Sean Doggett and Alex Cullen, along with David Davitt (Clonliffe Harriers), Andrew Hayes (Dundrum South Dublin AC) and Christopher Lynch (Clonliffe Harriers).
NOTE: Noah Harris (Parnell AC) and Joshua Awujoola (Dromore AC) were initially selected but have since withdrawn.
