Athletics Ireland have announced the 50 strong Irish team for the European Athletics Team Championships 1st League, Dublin, June 22/23rd.
Over 650 athletes, from twelve European Countries, will be competing in twenty events for Men and Women over the two days in Santry, and the excitement and anticipation is building daily.
The Irish team is a mix of experienced international athletes and young upcoming talent, and will be ready to perform to the best of their ability on June 22/23rd.
On the Irish Women’s Team, there are a number of athletes with strong international experience and success who should really help build momentum in the team’s performances over the weekend.
Ireland’s Derval O’Rourke (Leevale AC) will be in action in the 100m Hurdles and will be no doubt be as competitive as ever in the hunt for top points for Ireland.
2012 European Cross Country Champion Fionnuala Britton (Kilcoole AC) will have high expectations in the 5000m to keep her plans on track for the World Championships in August.
Tori Pena (Finn Valley AC) has been in excellent form recently in the Pole Vault, breaking her own national record with a vault of last 4m.60 in California last week.
Kelly Proper (Ferrybank AC) will be looking to perform well and aim for a season’s best in the Long Jump.
There are also a number of younger athletes who have shown good early season form like Rose-Anne Galligan (Newbridge AC) in the 800m, who recently ran her second fastest time of 2:01.83 in Italy (a B standard for the World Championships later this year) and Jessie Barr (Ferrybank AC) in the 400m Hurdles, who clocked 56.93 in Morocco last week, just outside the B World Championships standard.
Irish Javelin Record holder Anita Fitzgibbons (Dundrum South Dublin AC) will compete in the javelin while Claire Fitzgerald (Tralee Harriers AC) goes in both the Shot Putt and Discus events.
The women’s 4 x 100m relay team of Phil Healy (Bandon AC), Niamh Whelan (Ferrybank AC), Ailis McSweeney (Leevale AC) and Steph Creaner (Celtic DCH) will be gunning for a solid run and have all been in good form in early season events.
On the Men’s Team, there is also a healthy combination of established international names and raw talent on the up.
Fresh from his PB over 200m, Brian Gregan (Clonliffe Harriers AC) 400m will spearhead the challenge on the men’s side. Gregan has a season’s best of 45.82 in the 400m and will target a top points score for Ireland.
Shane Quinn (Ferrybank AC) 5000m, Jason Harvey (Crusaders AC) 400m Hurdles , Mark English (UCD AC) 800m and young schools record holder Marcus Lawlor (St L O’Toole AC) in the 200m will all be looking to maintain their early good season performances with competitive performances in their events for Ireland.
Colin Quirke (Crusaders AC) will double up in both the Shot Putt and Discus events and national record holder Brian McGovern (Ballinamore AC) competes in the Pole Vault for Ireland.
Please find attached The Irish Team for European Athletics Team Championships 1st League, Dublin, June 22/23rd.
The Irish Team will be aiming to perform against stiff European competition and retain Ireland’s 1st league status.
Kevin Ankrom, Director of High Performance commented “The European Athletics Team Championships will be a showcase event for Athletics Ireland and I look forward in seeing the spirit of the Irish team come together. We have an opportunity to expose our athletes to a high caliber international competition on our own home soil and we will take full advantage of this opportunity.”
The Irish Team will be competing against teams from eleven European countries in Santry in just over 9 days time. These teams are:
Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.
Dublin has hosted this prestigious event on five previous occasions, the last being in 1997.
