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Irish athletes have arrived in Scotland ahead of the World Athletics Championships which take place at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow from 1-3 March.

The Irish team will join over 600 athletes from 130 nations, which includes a star-studded entry list containing twenty reigning world champions and seven gold medallists from the Tokyo Olympics.

Leading out the Irish on day 1 of these championships, which will be broadcast live on Virgin Media 2, will be Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) who was one of Ireland’s standout performers at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

Mawdsley goes into tomorrow’s 400m ranked 13th based on her season’s best and will very much have sights set on progressing to the evening’s semi-finals. World record-holder Femke Bol heads a stacked field which will likely result in Mawdsley having to threaten her PB of 51.91 to progress.

Mawdsley also looks set to play a leading role on the women’s 4x400m relay team who will take to the heats on Sunday morning with eyes once again set on making another global final. There are nine countries entered in the women’s 4x400m relay which includes teams from leading medal favourites Jamaica, USA, and the Netherlands.

The women’s 4x400m relay team has proved to be one of Ireland’s most consistent performers at major championships however and another huge showing can be expected from the team of Mawdsley, Sophie Becker (Raheny Shamrock AC), Phil Healy (Bandon AC), Roisin Harrison (Emerald AC), Rachel McCann (North Down AC), and Lauren Cadden (Sligo AC). The final is set for 8.30pm on Sunday.

21-year-old Israel Olatunde (Tallaght AC) will take to the blocks in the opening session of day 1, with the three-time national 60m champion taking to another major championship in the heats of the 60m from 1.10pm on Friday.

The 2022 European 100m finalist has raced sparingly this season, but Olatunde is proven at saving his best for championship racing. Ranked outside the top 30 on his season’s best, it’s likely Olatunde will need a mid 6.6 to make the evening’s semi-final.

Sarah Healy (UCD AC) will lead out Ireland in tomorrow’s evening session as she takes to the heats of the 1500m from 7.05pm.  Healy broke the Irish senior indoor 1500m record with a stunning 4.03.83 earlier this month and it’s reported that her team feel she is capable of going even faster should race conditions allow.

Healy is ranked 5th on her season’s best, and should she safely negotiate the tricky heats, the UCD athlete can expect to face a tactically run race in the final on Sunday which looks set to be dominated by Ethiopia who boast the top three ranked athletes in the field.

Irish fans will have to wait until the evening session on day 2 to cheer on Roisin Flanagan (Finn Valley AC) who is set to take her place in a stacked women’s 3,000m final.

Flanagan, who is based in Colorado in the United States, recently set an Irish record over 2 Miles (9:36.70) when competing at the Millrose Games on February 11th in New York.

Her previous major track championship experience came at the 2022 European Championships in Munich where she finished 14th in the 5000m, a position that she looks well capable of bettering on Saturday.

Sunday morning will see the return of Limerick’s Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) who travels to Glasgow on the back of a string of outstanding performances, most recently clocking an equal PB of 7.91 on her way to claiming her sixth national indoor 60m hurdles title.

Lavin once again will face a world class field but will undoubtably be looking to replicate her appearance in the 60m hurdles final at the 2022 World Indoor Championships.

The national 100m hurdles record holder has already set a personal best over the shorter distance this indoor season. In recent years Lavin has improved 0.14 from opener to her season’s best which bodes well for another huge weekend for one of Ireland’s most consistent championships performers.

Live coverage on Virgin Media 2 across all three days.

Team Ireland Schedule:

Friday March 1st

• 10.20am Women’s 400m Heats – Sharlene Mawdsley
• 13.10pm Men’s 60m Heats – Israel Olatunde
• 19.05pm Women’s 1500m Heats – Sarah Healy
• 19.45pm Men’s 60m Semi-Final
• 20.50pm Women’s 400m Semi-Final
• 21.45 Men’s 60m Final

Saturday March 2nd

• 20.15pm Women’s 3,000m Final – Roisin Flanagan
• 21.00pm Women’s 400m Final

Sunday March 3rd

• 10.25am Women’s 60m Hurdles Heats – Sarah Lavin
• 11.38am Women’s 4x400m Relay Heats
• 19.40pm Women’s 60m Hurdles Semi-Final
• 20.30pm Women’s 4x400m Final
• 21.00pm Women’s 60m Hurdles Final
• 21.45pm Women’s 1500m Final

Selections: