It will be a busy start for Irish in action on day 1 of the European Indoor Athletics Championships with 12 athletes competing in Glasgow tomorrow (March 1).
Action gets underway with Cillin Greene (Galway City Harriers) and Thomas Barr (Ferrybank) in action in the men’s 400m heats. Both athletes go in lane 2 in their respective heats. The first two in each heat advance along with the next fastest four qualifiers to the semi-final stage in the evening session. First 2 in each heat and next fastest four advance to semi-finals.
Cillin Greene is one of seven Irish athletes making their senior individual debut at a major championship while it is Thomas Barr’s first major indoor championship.
Siofra Cleirigh Buttner (DSD) is next up for the Irish in the women’s 800m heats followed by Sophie Becker (St Joseph’s) and Phil Healy (Bandon) in the women’s 400m heats.
Rounding out the first session in Glasgow will be John Travers (Donore Harriers) and Sean Tobin (Clonmel) in the men’s 3,000m heats – they will be the first Irish athletes looking to try and make the final.
In the evening session, Sommer Lecky (Finn Valley) transitions from the U20 ranks in her first senior international in Group A of the women’s high jump qualification.
Ciara Mageean (UCD) will then be looking to make the final of the women’s 1500m in heat 2 of qualification.
Then there is a trio of Irish men in the 800m heats which includes Mark English (UCD), European indoor silver medallist from Prague 2015, Zak Curran (DSD) and Conall Kirk (Annadale Striders) making his Irish debut.
Rounding out potential Irish action in the evening session will be the men’s and women’s 400m semi-finals where Greene, Barr, Becker and Healy will hopefully be in action.
The championships are being broadcasted throughout on RTE along with BBC and Eurosport.
Irish senior individual track debuts
Cillin Greene (Galway City Harriers)
Sean Tobin (Clonmel)
Sophie Becker (St Joseph’s)
Sommer Lecky (Finn Valley)
Conall Kirk (Annadale Striders)
Molly Scott (St Laurence O’Toole)
Lauren Roy (City of Lisburn)
Day 1 timetable: https://www.european-athletics.org/competitions/european-athletics-indoor-championships/2019/schedules-results/
TV coverage
Live, BBC Two, 9:30am; British Eurosport 2, 9:55am; RTE Two, 6:30pm
Day 1 Irish timetable
First session
Cillin Greene (Galway City Harriers), men’s 400m heat 3, 10:36
Thomas Barr (Ferrybank), men’s 400m heat 4, 10:44
First 2 in each heat and next fastest four advance to semi-finals – session 2, 20:55
Siofra Cleirigh Buttner (DSD), women’s 800m heat 3, 11:26
First 2 in each heat and next fastest four advance to semi-finals
Sophie Becker (St Joseph’s), women’s 400m heat 2, 12:33
Phil Healy (Bandon), women’s 400m heat 3, 12:41
First 2 in each heat and next fastest four advance to semi-finals – session 2, 20:36
John Travers (Donore Harriers), men’s 3,000m heat 1, 13:20
Sean Tobin (Clonmel), men’s 3,000m heat 2, 13:33
First 4 in each heat and next 4 fastest advance to the final
Session 2
Sommer Lecky (Finn Valley), women’s high jump Group A, 19:00
1.96m automatic qualification or at least best 8 performers advance to final
Ciara Mageean (UCD), women’s 1500m heat 2, 19:20
First 2 in each heat and next 3 fastest advance to the final
Conall Kirk (Annadale Striders), men’s 800m heat 2, 19:56
Mark English (UCD), men’s 800m heat 3, 20:04
Zak Curran (DSD), men’s 800m heat 4, 20:12
European Indoor Championships medallists
1966 400m Maeve Kyle BRONZE 57.3
1966 800m Noel Carroll GOLD 1.49.7
1967 800m Noel Carroll GOLD 1.49.6
1968 800m Noel Carroll GOLD 1.56.66
1969 800m Noel Carroll BRONZE 1.47.6
1970 1500m Frank Murphy SILVER 3.49.0
1979 1500m Eamonn Coghlan GOLD 3.41.8
1980 1500m Ray Flynn SILVER 3.38.5
1980 1500m Mary Purcell BRONZE 4.14.2
1985 1500m Marcus O’Sullivan SILVER 3.39.75
2000 1500m James Nolan SILVER 3.41.59
2000 3,000m Mark Carroll GOLD 7.49.24
2002 400m Karen Shinkins BRONZE 52.17
2005 400m David Gillick GOLD 46.30
2005 3,000m Alistair Cragg GOLD 7.46.32
2007 400m David Gillick GOLD 45.52
2009 60m Hurdles Derval O’Rourke BRONZE 7.97
2009 1500m Roisin McGettigan BRONZE 4.11.58
2009 3,000m Mary Cullen BRONZE 8.48.47
2013 3,000m Ciarán Ó Lionáird BRONZE 7.50.26
2013 3,000m Fionnuala Britton BRONZE 9.00.54
2013 60m Hurdles Derval O’Rourke BRONZE 7.95
2015 800m Mark English SILVER 1.47.20