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.”
Nick Griggs (Candour Track Club) secured a superb ninth-place finish in the final of a stacked men’s 3000m at the World Indoor Championships in Poland this evening, with teammate Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC) following him home in thirteenth place.
Both Irish athletes raced conservatively over the opening 1000m of a tactical race, with Griggs shadowing eventual winner Josh Kerr until the midway point, before an injection of pace saw the field stretch out.
Griggs held on bravely, picking off several athletes to finish just over three seconds adrift of the leaders in a time of 7:39.03 (9th), with Andrew Coscoran just behind in 7:43.89 (13th).
Speaking after the race, Griggs said, “Ninth in the world is not too bad, but I’m a bit disappointed. I gave it all I had on the day, and it was a quality race, but it’s frustrating because I feel it’s only a solid run. I’m not satisfied, but if your mediocre day is ninth in the world, I think that’s something to build on.
“You just have to take it as a learning experience, and I’m excited to go away and build on it for the outdoor season. It’s been a great indoor season for me overall, and I’m in a much better position than I was this time last year. I’ve lots to look forward to later in the year.”
The men’s 3000m medals went to Josh Kerr (GBR) in 7:35.56, Cole Hocker (USA) in 7:35.70, and Yann Schrub (FRA) in 7:35.71.
Lauren Roy (Fast Twitch AC) signed off her time in Poland with a 7.23 (6th) in the women’s 60m semi-final, rounding out a hugely positive championship appearance for the Fast Twitch AC athlete, who brings her breakthrough indoor season to a fitting close.
Spearheading the Irish team on the third and final day of these championships will be Kate O’Connor (Dundalk St. Gerard’s AC). O’Connor won silver in the women’s pentathlon last year, making history by claiming Ireland’s first medal at the event since 2006. The 25-year-old went on to win silver in the heptathlon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September and will have her sights set on continuing her remarkable global medal-winning run tomorrow evening. The Dundalk athlete will get underway in the 60m hurdles from 9:05am.
O’Connor will be joined on the final day by Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC), who is a consistent championship performer and finished fifth in the final of her event, the women’s 60m hurdles, at these championships in Glasgow two years ago. The Limerick woman, who has clocked a best of 7.98 seconds this season, will look to deliver another strong performance when it matters most. All three rounds of her event take place on Sunday, with Lavin making her opening appearance in the heats at 11:55am.
*Subject to advancing
Full results from the championships are available HERE.
