Emma Moore (Galway City Harriers) obliterated her own Irish U23 indoor 800m at the Track and Field live meeting on January 28th.
Held at the National Indoor Arena, Moore produced the star performance of the sold-out event clocking 2:01.21 for 800m. This improves upon her previous best and Irish U23 indoor record of 2:02.34 which she ran at the CMCM Luxembourg Indoor Meeting on January 18th by over one second.
This marks the third time this season the 21-year-old Galwegian, who is coached by Joe Ryan, has improved her 800m personal best and the national U23 indoor record but this latest significant improvement was also well inside the Athletics Ireland ‘B’ Standard for the World Athletics Indoor Championships which will be held in Torun, Poland in late March.
The DCU student also moves to third on the Irish senior indoor all-time list for the event behind only Nadia Power (2:00.98) and national indoor record holder Síofra Cléirigh Büttner (2:00.58).
Elizabeth Ndudi (Dundrum South Dublin AC) leaped to a new Irish senior indoor Long Jump record on January 30th at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The 20-year-old bettered Kelly Proper’s 2010 national record by 1cm, jumping 6.63m in the second round of the competition. It means Ndudi now holds both the senior indoor and outdoor (6.68m, 2024) national records.
The University of Illinois student finished third at the meeting and has now attained the Athletics Ireland ‘B’ Standard for March’s World Indoor Championships which will be held in Toruń, Poland.
Elsewhere on Friday night, Maeve O’Neill (Doheny AC) lowered her own 800m personal best to 2:01.96 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic, which is held at the renowned Boston University track. The 21-year-old moved from last at the bell to take victory in her heat.
The Cork woman’s time sees her move to sixth on the Irish senior indoor all-time list for the event and is also inside the Athletics Ireland ‘B’ Standard for the World Indoor Championships.
Earlier in the programme, Gemma Galvin (Ennis Track AC) lowered the Irish U20 indoor 1000m record, the Providence student crossing the line in a time of 2:44.55.
There was significant Irish interest at the Boston meet last weekend with Brian Fay (Raheny Shamrock AC) and Nick Griggs (Candour Track Club) set to race over 5000m, while Darragh McElhinney (Bantry AC) and Jack O’Leary (Mullingar Harriers) are entered in the 3000m.
On Sunday at the Millrose Games in New York, a World Indoor Tour Gold meet, Cian McPhillips (UCD AC, 800m), Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC, Wannamaker Mile) and Eric Favors (Raheny Shamrock AC, Shot Put) were all in action.
Mark English (Finn Valley AC) has once again broken his own Irish indoor 800m record.
The Donegal man clocked 1:44.23 to finish third at the Czech Indoor Gala in Ostrava, a World Indoor Tour Gold meeting. This takes 0.42 of a second off his previous record (1:44.65) which he set on January 18th in Luxembourg.
English now moves to 11th on the world all-time list for the event indoors and sixth on the European list.
It continues an excellent season for the 32-year-old who also set a national indoor record over 600m in January in Dublin (1:15.80). He will now continue his preparations for the upcoming World Indoor Championships which will be held in Torun, Poland in March.
In the Women’s 800m, Emma Moore (Galway City Harriers) finished sixth in 2:02.19, an impressive debut at this level of competition.
Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) was in action in the Women’s 60m Hurdles heats, finishing fifth in 8.15 which wasn’t enough to advance to the final. The Limerick woman races again on Friday night in Madrid.
Double world champion Orla Comerford delivered another winning performance on the international stage this weekend, claiming victory in the Para 60m at the Scottish Athletics EAP Indoor International in Glasgow.
Comerford crossed the line first in a time of 7.69 seconds, showcasing her speed and consistency early in the indoor season and continuing to build momentum toward a key year of international competition.
Comerford’s win in Glasgow marks another strong early season performance as she continues to build momentum on the indoor circuit.
