The stars of Irish athletics will take to national competition this weekend as the 123.ie National Senior Indoor Championships take centre stage at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena across February 22nd & 23rd.
The action gets underway from 12pm on Saturday, with a second helping also taking place on Sunday from 12pm.
Tickets for Sunday are already sold out and spectators should not travel to the venue on Sunday without a ‘Sunday ticket’. A limited number of tickets for Saturday are still available and both days of competition will be streamed live on the Athletics Ireland YouTube Channel.
A host of Olympic stars from Paris 2024 are scheduled to return to competition on home soil across the two days, including Sarah Lavin (60m hurdles), Sharlene Mawdsley (200m/400m), Cathal Doyle (1500m), and recent record-breakers Andrew Coscoran (1500m/3000m) and Sarah Healy (800m/1500m).
Saturday’s track action will be headlined by finals in the 200m and 60m hurdles, while attention in the field events will be firmly focused on competitive looking high jump and triple jump competitions.
Day 2 of these championships will see a flurry of finals which look set to include Ireland’s fastest man Israel Olatunde (60m) who will bid to make it four senior indoor titles in a row. The highly anticipated men’s and women’s 400m boast entries from Sharlene Mawdsley, Phil Healy, Lauren Cadden, Kelly McGrory, Rachel McCann, Cillin Greene, and Jack Raftery to name but a few.
Further spice will be added to this weekend’s proceeding with selection for the upcoming European Indoor Championships, which take place in Apeldoorn from Mar 6th – 9th, also up for grabs.
The heats of the 400m and 1500m will get the track action underway on Saturday, with the first track final (200m) set to take place at 3.50pm (heats 1.30pm).
The men’s 200m race should make a compelling watch with defending champion Robert McDonnell (Galway City Harriers) likely to come up against a resurgent Marcus Lawler (Conliffe Harriers) who has already been in flying form this season, clocking a season leading 20.80 earlier this month.
Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) holds entries in the 200m and 400m, with the Newport athlete likely to be favourite in either event on the back of her recent 51.69 indoor PB over 400m in Glasgow. Lauren Cadden (Sligo AC), Kate O’Connell (Lucan Harriers), and Katie Bergin (Moyne AC) will all fancy their chances of getting amongst the 200m medals come Saturday afternoon.
The finals of the 60m hurdles will follow at 4.10pm where Sarah Lavin will look to claim her seventh national indoor 60m hurdles title. The Emerald AC star picked up gold last year with a world class 7.91 (=PB) which is sure to be in her sights once more with another major championships on the horizon.
Molly Scott (St Laurence O’Toole AC) looks to be the chief challenger once again, while strong runs can be expected from Backari Okwu (Leevale AC) and Arabella Adekoya (St Laurence O’Toole AC).
The men’s 60m hurdles will see Adam Nolan (St. L. O’Toole AC) out to defend his 2024 title which marked the first senior indoor gold of his fledgling career. An 8.02 performance was enough to see him pick up gold last year and having gone faster this year already (8.00), another bold bid for top spot on the podium can be expected in the final.
Away from Saturday’s track finals, the heats of the 800m should attract plenty of attention at 3.10pm with Cian McPhillips (UCD AC) and Louise Shanahan (Leevale AC) looking two of the standout entries. Sarah Healy (UCD AC) also holds a 800m entry but could likely opt for the 1500m, while Mark English (Finn Valley) may be a doubt for the start line.
The early afternoon session is not to be missed with the heats of the 1500m sure to provide plenty of pointers as to where the 2025 national titles will go.
The 4x200m relays will round out the track action on day 1 from 4.55pm.
The women’s high jump competition gets underway from 1.15pm and it has the potential to be one of the closest competitions of the weekend with Sommer Lecky (1.78SB), Siun Quinn (1.75SB) and Aoife O’Sullivan (1.85SB) all coming into the weekend in great form.
2021 national outdoor champion Ciaran Connolly (Le Cheile AC) is back in action in the men’s high jump and should be tough to outjump if all comes together. Emmanuel Osas (Ratoath AC) was third last year and will have sights set on moving up the podium.
Saragh Buggy (St Abbans) will look to make it NINE indoor triple jump titles in a row on Saturday. Buggy clinched the 2024 indoor title with a best leap of 12.67m and is capable of jumping out even further, albeit this will be her first outing of the season.
The men’s triple jump winner could be a little harder to predict with Michael Alajiki (Dundealgan AC) boasting the best jump of the 2025 indoor season so far, posting a 15.08m PB in Sheffield just last week. Colm Bourke (Raheny Shamrock AC) could push him closest.
Michael Healy (Leevale AC) and Kotryna Pacerinskaite (Fanahan Mc Sweeney AC) both won last year’s WFD golds with championships records and look the ones to beat again in their respective competitions on Saturday.
Olympian David Kenny (Farronfore Main Valley) returns to national championship action in the men’s 5,000m walk (1.00pm) where he will look to make it five indoor titles in a row. Rising stars Matthew Glennon (Mullingar Harriers), Seamus Clarke (Moy Valley AC), and Matthew Newell (Tuam AC) will look to make their mark while Adamstown’s Joe Mooney will set out to make another national podium.
Irish walks is enjoying a resurgence of late and Kate Veale (West Waterford AC) will rank as one of this weekend’s leading favourites for gold as she goes in search of her 8th indoor title in a row (*2021 micro meet).
Aisling Lane (Mullingar Harriers AC) and Ciara Wilson Bowen (Dundrum South Dublin AC) completed last year’s podium and are sure to be tracked closely by rising stars Robin Og Murphy (Longford AC) and Savanagh O’Callaghan (Tuam AC) this weekend.
The men’s 3,000m B/C final is set for a 1.50pm start and has attracted a bumper entry. The A final is set for 3.00pm and much will depend on the direction of athletes who hold multiple entries, but with current entries including Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Seas AC), Darragh McElhinney (Bantry AC), Calum Morgan (CNDR Track), Cormac Dalton (Mullingar Harriers), Sean Tobin (Clonmel AC), Finley Daley (Sligo AC) and James Gormley (Carmen Runners) to name but a few, the race is going to take some winning.
The women’s 3,000m doesn’t hold as many entries as the men’s race, but the quality is very much on par, even in the absence of last year’s champion Claire Fagan who claimed the gold in dramatic fashion.
Niamh Kearney (Rahen Shamrock AC) ran a stormer last year to just be piped at the finish and looks one of the main contenders once more. Ide Ni Dhomhaill (West Limerick AC) will look to transition her form from the roads to the track and could get amongst the medals, while Finn Valley look to have an exceptionally strong hand with Roisin and Eilish Flanagan entered alongside Amy Greene.
Ciara Wilson (DMP AC) and Amy O’Donoghue (Dundrum South Dublin) know where the winning line is at nationals, but both may have to get past Tullamore’s Danielle Donegan if all opt for the 3,000m this weekend.
3.15pm will see the finalists in the 1500m take to the track and we can expect more fireworks if the 2024 editions were anything to go by. Carla Sweeney will not be home to defend her title, but Irish record holder Sarah Healy (UCD AC) looks set to take to the 1500m as she continues her remarkable start to 2025 having already broken Irish records on three occasions this indoor season.
The men’s 1500m race looks hard to call with Andrew Coscoran holding multiple entries this weekend. Clonliffe’s Cathal Doyle is unlikely to relinquish his title easily no matter the opposition. Doyle claimed gold last year in arguably the race of the weekend which resulted in a dramatic dive for the line alongside rival Nick Griggs who misses this year’s championships through injury.
Many fans will be hoping for more of the same with a potential clash between two 1500m heavyweights sure to be the most anticipated of the weekend if both take their places in Saturday’s heats.
The women’s 400m could provide another of this weekend’s highlights with Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC), Phil Healy (Bandon AC), Kelly McGrory (Tir Chonaill), Lauren Cadden (Sligo AC), and Rachel McCann (North Down AC) all holding entries. Mawdsley’s recent 51.69 would make her hard to catch, but a potential appearance in Saturday’s 200m cannot be ruled out.
Jack Raftery (Donore Harriers) and Cillin Greene (Galway City Harriers) could renew rivalries in the men’s 400m, albeit defending champion Green is coming off some hard races in recent weeks. Hugo Magee (Fast Twitch AC) has gone sub 48 this season, while rising star Conor Kelly (Derry Track AC) will look to make an impact on the senior ranks this year on the back of his recent 46.80 which only Cillin Green has bettered this indoor season.
The women’s 60m final is set for a 3.55pm start where Molly Scott (St Laurence O’Toole) will look to defend her title. Sarah Leahy (Killarney Valley AC) looks the chief challenger with the 2023 champion posting the fastest 60m this season (7.35). Scott’s clubmate Sive O’Toole will have eyes on making the final, as will 2020 indoor champion Ciara Neville (Emerald AC) who continues her comeback.
Israel Olatunde (Tallaght AC) will look to make it four senior indoor titles in a row come Sunday afternoon with the Tallaght AC athlete returning from his base in the US for nationals. Olatunde has yet to show his hand this indoor season, but the defending champion is a proven championship performer and is expected to bring his best on Sunday.
Olatunde will face several challengers to his throne with Bori Akinola (UCD AC), Max O’Reilly (Riverstick Kinsale), and Gabriel Kehinde (Ennis Track) all looking sharp this indoor season.
Louise Shanahan (Leevale AC) set a new championship record of 2:03.54 on her way to gold last year and looks a leading favourite to retain her title should Sarah Healy opt for the 1500m.
Mark English (Finn Valley AC) has been involved in some hard races already this indoor season, already resulting in a new national 800m record of 1:45.15 for the Donegal athlete. Cian McPhillips (UCD AC) is another who has been in sparkling early season form, posting a PB of his own with 1:45.33 just last week. Time will tell if both make it to Sunday’s start line, but it is sure to be one of the duals of the weekend should they both toe the line.
The 4x400m relays will sign off this year’s 123.ie National Indoor Championships from 4.35pm.
The men’s pole vault will headline the morning’s action in the field events with not much in the way of recent form to gauge how the field is coming into this weekend. Defending champion Matthew Callinan Keenan (SLOT) could very well be the one as he bids to keep up his winning run of national titles.
The women’s pole vault has a more open feel to it with Meabh Corkery (Midleton AC) sure to be in the reckoning on the back of this season’s indoor PB of 3.35. Kara Morrissey (St. L. O’Toole AC) will be out to defend her title having enjoyed a superb outing at last year’s championships, taking home the gold medal with a personal best (3.15m) at just 16-years of age.
The women’s long jump looks another open affair with Lauren Callaghan (Finn Valley AC) and Saragh Buggy (St Abbans) likely to be to the fore. Callaghan took home silver last year with a best of 6.02m but has already gone 6.16m this indoor season.
Sam Healy (Leevale AC) and Colm Bourke (Raheny Shamrock AC) could duke it out in the men’s long jump with both athletes having gone over 7.20m this season. Bourke took home second last year and in the absence of Reece Ademola he will likely have sights set on turning silver to gold on Sunday.
The women’s shot will see Michaela Walsh (Swinford AC) go in search of her 8th indoor title in a row. The Swinford athlete comes here with a best of 14.11m this season but is capable of throwing over 15 meters, as was demonstrated with last year’s winning throw of 15.03m.
Ciara Sheehy (Emerald AC) is another who can go well beyond 14 meters and will look to improve on her seasons best of 13.18m as Walsh’s chief challenger.
Eric Favors (Raheny Shamrock AC) looks a red-hot favourite in the men’s shot with the Raheny athlete having already thrown 19.30m this season. Favors had an injury interrupted 2024 and will be eager to make up for lost time this indoor season as he looks to regain his national title.
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