The eleven strong Irish Track and Field team will depart for the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Moscow, Russia this week. The championships take place from the 10th-18th of August with the best athletes in the world vying for the world titles.
High Performance Director, Kevin Ankrom has said “Moscow is a good opportunity for a generation of talented young athletes as they start to emerge at senior competitions while on the next cycle to 2016. Its part of a transition for a young generation of athletes that should use these championships as an experience to build on, while not having to maintain a sole focus or expectation of being in a final the first time out
Athletics Ireland is committed to selections and performance standards which align with our High Performance Plans – this is where our long term successes rest – and it is good to see athletes with such promise coming through our system representing Ireland here at the 2013 World Championships. Rob Heffernan after placing 4th in the 2012 Olympic Games and having a good 2013 build-up comes into these championships as an athlete with medal opportunities.
Overall our 2013 Irish Team is young and looking for championship experience. Most of the athletes are coming off a previous championship event and this meet is an added bonus for them this year.”
Irish Team
Robert Heffernan-50km Walk (Togher AC), Coach Marian Heffernan
Brian Gregan- 400m (Clonliffe Harriers) Coach:John Shields
Mark English – 800m (UCD AC) Coach: Teresa McDaid
Paul Robinson- 800m (St Cocas AC) coach: Robert Denmead
Brendan Boyce- 50km Walk (Letterkenny AC) Coach: Robert Heffernan
Paul Pollock- Marathon (Annadale Striders) Coach: Andy Hobdell
Jennifer Carey- 400m (Dundrum South Dublin) Coach: Travis Anderson
Rose-Anne Galligan – 800m (Newbridge) Coach:David Farrow
Tori Pena – Pole Vault (Finn Valley) Coach: Greg Hull
Laura Reynolds- 20km Walk (Mohill and District) Coach: Colin Griffin
Maria McCambridge- Marathon (Dundrum South Dublin AC) Coach: Dick Hooper
AAI’s Ireland Team Preview .
Athletics Ireland are delighted to announce the 11 athletes that will represent Ireland at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Moscow, Russia from the 10th-18th of August.
Ireland will be represented in both male and female categories in the 400m, with Brian Gregan (Clonliffe Harriers) and Jennifer Carey (DSD AC) lining up in the one-lap events. Gregan, at 23, is by no means a stranger to major international competition, having been a finalist at the World Juniors in 2008, a silver medalist at the European U/23’s in 2011, a 6th place finisher at the European Championships in 2012 and a 5th place finisher at the 2013 World University Games. His personal best of 45.53 seconds came this season, on June 12th in Huelva, Spain and Gregan has shown encouraging consistency around the mid-45 seconds mark since, suggesting he is ready to make another breakthrough this season. Gregan is one of Europe’s best 400m runners and will look to make his mark on the world stage in Moscow.
Carey, also 23, who made her international debut for Ireland this summer at the European Team Track and Field Championships when she competed in the women’s 4x400m relay, will take to the track in Moscow for her first major international competition having burst onto the Irish athletics scene in May. Carey ran an Irish leading time of 52.29 seconds in California at the Big West Conference Championships that time and has broken the 53 seconds barrier three times this season, her latest at the Morton Games in July. Carey will look to make the most of her first World Championships and it will no doubt be an important stepping stone for her as she develops as an international athlete.
One of Ireland’s greatest middle-distance talents of recent times, Mark English (UCD AC), will toe the line in Moscow in the men’s 800m for his first major senior international competition. English, at just 20 years of age, produced a phenomenal 1:44.84 minutes A-Standard performance when finishing 6th at the recent London Anniversary Games, fractionally missing out on David Matthews long-standing National Record and becoming the second fastest Irish man of all time in the event. Although young, English has competed on a global scale a number of times at major competitions since he was 17, the highlights of which include a 5th place finish at the World Junior Championships in 2012.
Joining him on the line in the 800m will be another great emerging middle-distance talent, Paul Robinson (St. Coca’s AC). Robinson has had a break-through year with great success coming in both 800m and 1,500m, having achieved the B-Standard in his first 800m of the season at the Morton Games this month when he ran a well-executed 1:45.86 seconds. Robinson has competed at two European Junior Championships, the World Juniors Championships (where he finished 9th in the 1,500m), the European Senior Championships and this season finished a remarkable 4th place at the European U/23’s in the 1,500m. Robinson is a real competitor and will look do everything in his power to advance through the rounds in Moscow.
Fresh off the back of her remarkable 2:00.58 National Record in the 800m at the London Anniversary Games, Rose-Anne Galligan (Newbridge AC) will line up for Ireland in her favoured distance in Moscow. Galligan has represented Ireland in three European Team Championships, one European Championships, one World Indoor Championships and was a semi-finalist at the 2013 European Indoor Championships in the 800m. Clearly in the form of her life, Galligan will be confident going into the championships and will look to call upon her major championship experiences to advance through the rounds.
Ireland’s lone field event athlete selected for the World Championships is Finn Valley AC’s Pole Vaulter, Tori Pena. Pena is the current National Record holder in the event, having cleared an impressive 4.60m in California this June, demonstrating the kind of form she’s in leading into the championships. Pena won’t be shaken by the prospect of a World Championships, having competed at the 2011 World Championships as well as 2 European Indoor Championships and 2 European Outdoor Championships. With six of her top ten vaults ever coming this season and her 4.60m clearance ranking her 15th in the IAAF World Rankings for 2013, Pena will have her eyes on qualifying for a spot in a major final – something that has eluded her in her career to date.
Ireland’s most prolific race-walker, Rob Heffernan (Togher AC) – holder of 8 National Senior Race-Walking records – goes in the Men’s 50km Walk in Moscow. Heffernan, who finished a remarkable 4th place in this event at the 2012 London Olympics, has already broken the 3,000m Walk National Record this July at the Cork City Sports (11:11.94), indicating the kind of form he is in heading into the World Championships. Heffernan is a real medal hope for Ireland and will have his eyes set firmly on a much deserved podium spot after finishing 4th place twice in previous European Championships and once at last Summer’s Olympic Games.
Heffernan will be joined in the 50km Walk by Brendan Boyce (Letterkenny AC). Boyce also competed in the 50km Walk at last year’s Olympic Games and finished a respectable 29th place. Boyce placed 15th in the World University Games in 2011, so is no stranger to major global competition and will look to make his mark on the world stage following a series of personal bests in four different race-walking distances this season.
Laura Reynolds (Mohill & District AC) competes in the 20km Walk for Ireland. Reynolds, who came 20th in the London Olympics last year, has a personal best of 1:31:02 for the event, set at the Games. Reynold’s season’s best in the 20km Walk came at the World University Games in July, where she finished a brilliant 6th place in a time of 1:33.31. This came just over a week after she annihilated her 10km Walk personal best with a time of 44:50, taking exactly 5 minutes off her previous best, which will give her confidence heading into Moscow.
Ireland will have two representatives in the Marathon in Moscow. Paul Pollock (Annadale Striders) competed in the Half-Marathon World Championships in 2012, where he finished a respectable 34th and will look to improve on his finishing mark in 2012 when he takes on the full 26.2 miles in Moscow. Maria McCambridge (DSD AC) is one of the longest serving Irish Internationals, having competed in her first World Championships in 2001 and she will line up in the Women’s Marathon for Ireland some 12 years later at the age of 38. McCambridge set her Marathon personal best last October with a 2:35:28 performance and she will be hoping to take a cut out of this come Moscow.
