Anika Thompson

With Irish athletes in flying form over every distance, there were numerous magical moments throughout the 2025 track season.

World Championship silver for Kate O'Connor, record-breaking runs from Cian McPhillips in Tokyo, and Sarah Healy’s European Indoor title are obvious highlights, but we’ve delved a little deeper to bring you ten races well worth a re-watch.

From cracking indoor battles to record-breaking relay runs, here are some of our favourite noteworthy track performances by Irish athletes, at home and overseas, during the past year.

1. Everyone wanted the national 5000m title

They were all there, with their feet, and their necks, on the start line. Ok, so Darragh McElhinney and Nick Griggs were in the 1500m instead, arguably a tougher race for athletes who would one week later run 13:02 and 13:05 respectively, but there was still depth we’re not accustomed to seeing at this level. Nobody was dodging a challenge this particular weekend.

Efrem Gidey had become Ireland’s first European 10,000m Cup medallist (and champion) in May. Brian Fay is the Irish record holder at the distance. Andrew Coscoran had spent the indoor season breaking national records.

Cormac Dalton, in finishing eighth in Brussels in 2023, was Ireland’s highest finishing senior man at European Cross Country Championships since Joe Sweeney’s 4th place in 2011. Jack O’Leary had showed a return to form when running 13:22 at the Morton Games a few weeks previously. John Travers, Michael Murphy, Mark Hanrahan and Niall Murphy might well have been battling for a medal any other year.

And here they all were, ready to battle it out for a title.

There were still seven athletes in contention with four laps to go, before it was whittled down to five 3800m in. Then, with 350m remaining, it became a battle between the two fastest athletes in the field (both over 5000m and in their typical last-lap speed). But who would it be? Fay, looking for a third consecutive title, or Coscoran seeking a tough double?

Watch the closing stages here!

2. Morton magic from McPhillips

After a mediocre start to a redemption year, Cian McPhillips announced his return to the Irish consciousness when he dropped 1:45.33 at an indoor meeting in Boston on 14th February. A fall at European Indoors, and another injury, halted the progress, and despite having the Athletics Ireland B standard, the route to Tokyo looked a steep one for the Longford man.

McPhillips was back by European Team Champs, where he finished third, and he left it late when getting up for second place at the Cork City Sports. But it was at the Morton Games just two days later that he announced himself in emphatic style: win, personal best, meeting record, stadium record, and, most crucially, the automatic qualification standard for Tokyo.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Watch the race here!

3. Blanket finish to National Senior 800m final

While the men were going head-to-head over 1500m and the 5000m, it was over 800m that the best of Irish female middle distance running were tearing strips off each other at this year's national seniors. And that was just the heats.

Two athletes – Jenna Bromell and Sarah Healy – had already run 2:00 earlier in the summer, Alex O’Neill was making steady progress and had run 2:01.70 to finish third at the Morton Games, and Maeve O’Neill had been sublimely consistent all summer, running a PB 2:02.66 and just missing out on the final at the European U23 Championships.

It was those four at the front of a tightly packed and talent-filled field through 200m and 400m. As the pace quickened, Maddison Mooney (the bronze medallist over 1500m in 2024) and Hannah Seagrave (fourth at the British Championships over this distance in 2024), put themselves in contention; there were still six in it with 100m to run.

The title, and the medals, were only decided in the final stride.

What a race.

Watch the race here!

4. Another National Indoor battle too close to call

Every now and again we’re treated to two well-matched athletes equally determined to clinch a national title, neither willing to give an inch. And the result is enthralling to watch.

Indoors this year, over 15 laps, it was the turn of Seán Tobin - not a stranger to the tight domestic head-to-head - and James Gormley, who was bound for World Indoors.

Just 0.01 in it in the end.

Watch the full race here!

5. Olatunde at the season’s death

Bori Akinola had been the Irish sprinter in form all season. He took the indoor 60m title in February ahead of national record holder Israel Olatunde and won a first outdoor title over 100m after his more accomplished counterpart missed the final through injury. He even ran the fastest all-conditions 100m by an Irish man when he clocked a windy 10.10 (+2.9) in London in June.

But even after the domestic season had wound down, and with little but Tokyo left on the calendar, there was still time for a final twist in the Irish sprinting storyline. Recovered from the abdominal muscle tear which had halted his season, Olatunde appeared on the startlist for the final Be Fast Today Track Academy (BFTTA) Outdoor Series at Lee Valley Athletics Centre in London on 30th August.

This doesn’t sound like one of the more glamorous meetings on the circuit – and it isn’t – but sprint meetings in London attract many top British athletes and usually return fast times.

Olatunde clocked 10.27 (+1.3) in the first round. Nothing to write home about, but a solid performance none the less.

Then, with a perfect 2.0 m/s following wind, the magic happened.

Irish sprinting had just taken another leap towards world class.

Olatunde was now a 10.08 sprinter.

Watch Olatunde run 10.08 here!

6. Raftery’s breakthrough run

You could see what it meant to him. Forty-four-point-nine-eight. His first time under 45 seconds. Not the win that the team might have appreciated, but the fourth place finish by Jack Raftery in the 400m at the European Team Championships was probably the most celebrated performance of the weekend.

Raftery battled for every place beside the 2024 World Indoor and European Champion Alexander Doom (BEL), Balkan Champion Rok Ferlan (SLO) and 2023 World University Games bronze medallist Mihai Sorin Dringo (ROU), as he became only the second Irish athlete to run under 45 seconds for the distance.

Next stop? David Gillick’s Irish record, perhaps?

Watch Raftery break 45 seconds 3:57:14 into this recording!

7. You wait 25 years for a bus…

Marcus Lawler was just five years old when an Irish team – through John McAdorey, Gary Ryan, Tom Comyns and Paul Brizzel - last broke the national 4x100m record. None of his relay teammates were even born.

On 21 June in Geneva, Lawler, together with Michael Farrelly, Bori Akinola and Israel Olatunde, however, broke an almost 25-year deadlock when they clocked 38.92, and just six days later, with Sean Aigboboh standing in for Bori Akinola sustained a niggle in the warm-up, they went even faster, winning their heat at the European Team Championships.

Watch the men's 4x100m relay team run 38.88 at 5:14:20 into this recording!

8. Thompson’s 10,000m triumph

European U23 titles don’t come around very often for Irish athletes. In fact, in the 14 editions of the event prior to 2025, there has been just one: Sophie O’Sullivan (1500m, 2023). But the Irish athletics tide is rising, and on 18th July, Anika Thompson added a second when she took victory over 25 laps in Bergen, Norway.

Two Germans – Kira Weis and Carolina Shäfer made a break on the first lap, and Thompson quickly covered the gap and joined them 400m in. These three gradually pulled away, with Thompson tucked in conserving as much energy as possible.

Before halfway it was down to just two, with Weis setting a metronomic pace, and Thompson keeping cool and keeping her cool just behind her. With two laps to go Thompson took the lead for the first time, and tried to break Weis.

Both were trying to muster a sprint, and with 250m to go, there was still very little between them. The harder Thompson tried to pull away, the harder Weis tried to stick with her.

Finally, with just half a lap remaining, the German cracked, and Thompson pulled away for a dogged victory in 32:31.47, just over 23 seconds faster than she’d ever run before.

Watch the entire race from 4:22:10 or the final 1200m from 4:53:12

9. Maher's Masterclass

Thompson and Nicola Tuthill – who won silver in the hammer while Thompson was racing her 10,000m –  set the ball rolling for the Irish team. But there was still more to come, as athlete after athlete stepped up and performed, none more so than Eimear Maher.

The DSD athlete came into 2025 with a PB of 4:22.01 over 1500m, and had already enjoyed a breakthrough season with a win at the Irish U23 Championships, and a PB 4:08.67 at the Morton Games. But the composure with which she ran the final in Bergen demonstrated that she doesn’t just have speed, but a great racing brain too.

Watch the entire race here

10. Efrem’s European Cup win

Ireland had never before won a medal at the European 10,000m Cup, but with the fastest time in the field, Efrem Gidey stood on the start line with a shot. He’d run 27:26.95 in California in March, a performance which earned him enough world ranking points to eventually make the quota for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, and a time which saw him fastest European on the track in 2025.

Gidey had just missed out on a medal in the half marathon at the European Road Running championships earlier in the spring. He had the speed, he now just needed to get the tactics right.

And that he did in style, making a decisive move with 650m to go, and never looking like he was going to be beaten from that point.

Watch the entire race here

Watch last 700m here

Five bonus watches

Niamh Allen versus Anika Thompson, 5000m at National Senior Championships: Watch here

Sarah Healy’s European Indoor 3000m win: Watch here

Conor Kelly becoming the European U20 400m champion: Watch here

Another classic Morton Mile: Watch here

Sophie O'Sullivan winning the NCAA 1500m title: Watch here

The focus here has been on track events; we’ll cover momentous field event moments in a separate upcoming article.

Registration will be needed to watch the Eurovision Sport recordings above.

To say that 2025 has been a record-breaking year for Irish athletics is an understatement. With several Irish records broken, World and European medals won indoors and out, and curses broken, it was a memorable year for many.

Irish athletes won 25 International medals, from European Youth Olympics right up to World Senior Championships, this year. While there have never been as many international events at which athletes can win medals, this still makes 2019 (14 medals) and 2005 (13 medals) look mediocre years. As recently as 2016, Irish athletes won just three medals on the international stage. There were no international medals at all for Irish athletes in 1996.

Years, too, have passed in which no national senior records were broken. This year, the record books have been comprehensively rewritten.

Here we share some of the data and quirky statistics behind the 2025 season of dreams.

Championship success

After hitting the crossbar at the previous two editions, Irish athletes won not one, but three medals at the European Indoor Championships, courtesy of Sarah Healy (gold, 3000m), Mark English (bronze, 800m) and Kate O’Connor (bronze, Pentathlon).

Irish athletes have twice before won three medals at a European Indoor Championships (2009 and 2013), but on both occasions, all three medals were bronze. Healy is Ireland’s first female champion at this event. English’s medal took his European championship haul to five (a silver and two bronze indoors, two bronze outdoors).

Just two weeks later, O’Connor won Ireland’s first World Indoor medal in 18 years when she finished second in the pentathlon in Nanjing.

If the European Indoors didn’t indicate that 2025 was going to be a very good one for Irish athletes, then a small event in Nicosia a week later provided additional evidence that at least the nerdiest of athletics enthusiasts will have taken notice of. Five athletes travelled to the Cypriot capital for the European Throwing Cup, and three won medals.

After two consecutive silvers in the U23 Hammer, Nicola Tuthill won gold, Anna Gavigan took silver in the U23 Discus, while 2024 World U20 medallist Oisín Joyce won bronze in the U23 Javelin, placing Ireland equal third on the medal table, behind Germany and Italy. The five aforementioned medals are the only ones ever won by Irish athletes at an event held annually since 2001.

Sophie O’Sullivan (1500m) became the fifth Irish female to win an NCAA Track and Field title. Herself and Sonia O’Sullivan became the first Irish mother/daughter pairing to do so. And speaking of mother-daughter duos, NCAA 800m champion Roisin Willis (USA) is the daughter of 2000 Irish Olympian Breda Dennehy-Willis.

Efrem Gidey became not just the first Irish athlete to win a European 10,000m cup title, but the first to win a medal of any colour at this event. 

Four Irish athletes won five medals at the European U23 Championships, the most ever won by an Irish team at this event (two was the previous best return). In winning the 10,000m, Anika Thompson became only the second Irish athlete to win gold at this level (after O’Sullivan’s 1500m win in 2023), and she became the first Irish athlete to win more than one European U23 medal at a single edition when she added bronze in the 5000m three days later.

In winning silver in the 5000m, Nick Griggs brought his tally of individual European underage medals (track and field and cross country) to six (at the time). He also has three European Cross Country team medals.

O’Connor won Ireland’s fifth World University title in Germany (the previous champions are Ronnie Delaney, Sonia O’Sullivan, Niall Bruton and Thomas Barr). None of the eight athletes who competed for Ireland in 2025 finished outside the top 12.

Twenty athletes competed in individual events at the World Championships in Tokyo. They, along with two relay teams, made a total team of 27, the largest ever to represent the country at a World Championships (the athletics team for the Sydney Olympics, where 32 athletes competed, is the largest Ireland has ever sent to a global Championships).

The silver medal won by O’Connor in Tokyo is only the seventh ever won by an Irish athlete, and is the first in an event that isn’t either a middle distance race or a racewalk. O’Connor’s medal was also Ireland’s first global senior outdoor medal (World Championships or Olympics) since 2013.

In winning bronze in Lagoa, Emma Hickey became Ireland's first ever U20 medallist - team or individual - at the European Cross Country Championships (Linda Byrne, the only Irish athlete to have ever finished top 10 in all three age categories, finished 4th U20 in 2005, and the team finished 4th in both 2025 and 2008).

Nick Griggs became Ireland's most successful athlete at this Championship when he added U23 Individual and Team titles to the six medals (three individual and three team) he'd won at the previous four editions. He became Ireland's first male individual champion, and the first Irish athlete to win an underage title (the other three individual titles have all come in the senior women's race via Catriona McKiernan in 1994 and Fionnuala McCormack in 2011 and 2012). Griggs, Callum Morgan, Niall Murphy, Jonas Stafford and Loughaidh Mallon, won Ireland's third Men's U23 team title.

The senior men ended a twenty-five-year drought when they won team silver. Brian Fay and Cormac Dalton, who were both on the teams that finished fourth in Dublin (2021) and Brussels (2023), were joined by Jack O'Leary (Ireland's second-highest ever finisher in the senior men's race), Darragh McElhinney and Efrem Gidey.

Breaking actual records

O’Connor broke the national indoor Pentathlon record twice and the Heptathlon record twice. She has added 899 points to the latter since it was last held by someone else (Elizabeth Morland, 5815, 2018). Morland and O’Connor both competed at the European Junior Championships in Grosseto in 2017, where Morland finished fifth, in a then National senior record of 5801, and O’Connor, then just 16, finished eighth.

English broke the indoor 800m record twice and the outdoor record three times, before Cian McPhillips went on to break the latter twice in Tokyo. Together, they knocked 2.38 seconds off English’s previous mark from 2024, with English becoming the first Irish athlete to break 1:44 and McPhillips the first to break 1:43.

The Irish marathon record, previously held by Stephen Scullion, was broken three times in 12 months (Hiko Tonosa, 27 Oct 2024; Peter Lynch, April 2025; Fearghal Curtin, 18 October). Curtin’s time, subject to ratification, also betters John Treacy’s 1988 performance of 2:09:15 in Boston (no longer a record-eligible course), as the fastest time all conditions by an Irish man.

The Half Marathon record also received multiple revisions in the past 12 months. The record set by Gidey in September 2024 (1:00:51) was equalled by Tonosa in January, before being broken by Curtin in September (1:00:22).

Bori Akinola ran the fastest all-conditions 100m by an Irish man in London in June (10.10w; +2.9), before Israel Olatunde bettered that with a wind-legal 10.08, also in London, in September.

The men’s 4x100m squad of Michael Farrelly, Akinola, Marcus Lawler & Olatunde bettered the 25-year-old national record in Geneva in mid-June, before a slightly altered squad (Sean Aigboboh in for Akinola) went on to better it at the European Team Championships just a week later.

Niamh Fogarty broke one of the longest-standing records in the books (only Marita Walton-Lanigan’s shot put record from 1982 has stood for longer on the women’s side) when she launched the discus 58.40 metres in Romona, Oklahoma on 27th April, bettering Patricia Walsh’s mark from 1984.

Healy and Coscoran were on record-breaking rampages early in the Indoor season. Healy set new marks at 1500m before twice bettering her own 3000m record, while Coscoran ran new marks at 1500m, mile and 3000m. His mile time from the Millrose Games was also faster than the outright mile record.

Gidey broke both the 10,000m and 10km records. He knocked more than 12 seconds off Alistair Cragg’s 2007 mark in the former. In the latter, he shaved 3 seconds off Treacy’s mark from 1985.

In addition to the above, Diarmuid O’Connor set a new indoor Heptathlon record, while the women’s 4x100m team set a new mark outdoors.

Irish records

On the circuit

Sarah Healy became just the third Irish athlete – after Ciara Mageean and Rhasidat Adeleke - to win a Diamond League race when she won over 1500m in Rome on 6th June. She also finished in the top three in Rabat, where she ran 8:27.02 for 3000m and edged closer to Sonia O’Sullivan’s 31-year-old national record; in Rome, where she narrowly missed out on another 1500m win, and in London, where she ran 4:16.26 for the mile. She finished eighth in the final in Zurich.

In total, six athletes (Adeleke, Brian Fay, Cathal Doyle, Healy, English and Coscoran), competed in Diamond Disciplines at Diamond League meetings this summer, compared to eight last year. Healy was the only one to qualify for the Diamond League final.

Shauna Bosquet and Orla Comerford competed in para-athletics events held as part of the Diamond League programmes, with Comerford taking wins in the mixed category 100m in Stockholm and Eugene. It was at the Diamond League in London that the women’s 4x100m relay team broke the national record.

English won Continental Tour Gold meetings in Bydgoszcz, Hengelo and Beijing, and finished 2nd in Budapest.

The other Irish athletes to compete at Continental Tour Gold level this summer were O’Sullivan, Fay, Sharlene Mawdsley, Doyle, Jodie McCann, Coscoran, Sarah Lavin and Darragh McElhinney. In total, 11 athletes competed across the two top divisions of circuit meetings.

There was a World Indoor Tour Gold win for Coscoran (3000m, New Balance Boston), who also won the 3000m and finished 2nd overall in the Men’s Long-Distance category at the Miami Grand Slam Track meeting.

Top lists

With so many national records being set, and numerous athletes achieving number two all-time status, the national leads look mightily impressive at the end of the season, especially when, as we’ve done, indoor and outdoor performances are combined.

While many of those holding the national leads at the end of the season are unsurprising, a couple are less obvious.

Adeyemi Talabi was the fastest Irish woman over 100m this season, and Lucy-May Sleeman was the second fastest. With both calling an end to their season in June after a busy NCAA season, neither featured on the team which broke the 4x100m record in July.

The Irish women’s 100m all-time list had a major update in the space of just 24 hours in May as Talabi moved to 5th, Sleeman to 6th and Lauren Roy to equal 10th.

Doyle’s 3:32.15 is the national leader over 1500m, as World Championship finalist Andrew Coscoran never bettered the 3:33.40 national indoor record he set in February. Doyle and Coscoran are among the few top Irish athletes who have not yet achieved the automatic standard for the European Championships in Birmingham next year.

National leads

Where they stand at the end of the day

McPhillips (800m), O'Connor (Heptathlon) and Gidey (10,000m) all end the 2025 season at the top of the European performance lists. Healy is second for both 1500m and 3000m. Based on World Rankings, both Healy (1500m) and O'Connor (Heptathlon) are top-ranked Europeans right now.

At World level, O’Connor is second on both the rankings and the performance (top) list. Others in the top 20 on the World Rankings are Healy (6th 1500m), English (12th 800m), McPhillips (14th 800m), Adeleke (15th 400m) and Tuthill (20th Hammer).

On the performance lists, Healy is 14th at 1500m, 3rd at the mile and 11th over 3000m. McPhillips was the 5th fastest in the world over 800m, while English was 20th. Coscoran was 11th fastest over 3000m.

National Championship statistics

At 153 consecutive editions, the Irish Senior Track and Field Championships continues to be the longest-running national championships in the world.

Kate Veale (5000m Walk) won her sixth consecutive title (and 11th in total). There was a fifth consecutive title for Lavin (her 10th national 100m hurdles title in total), Sean Mockler (Hammer), and Michael Healy (Weight for Distance). English also won his 10th Senior 800m title. Saragh Buggy, who has been peerless in the triple jump for nearly a decade, had her nine-year-win streak broken, reinforcing just how incredible Terry McHugh’s 21 consecutive javelin titles (1984-2004) are.

Indoors, Buggy won her ninth Triple Jump title, Michaela Walsh (Shot Put) and Veale (3000m Walk) each won an eight consecutive title, while David Kenny picked up a fifth consecutive title in the 5000m Walk. At the other end of the scale, 2005 is the last time someone successfully defended a pentathlon title, with 10 different winners in the last 10 editions.

The Men’s Cross Country championship has had a different winner in each of the last ten editions.

More fourths

The most shocking thing about the Irish success at the European U23 Championships was less that they won 5 medals, and more that nobody finished fourth.

Those who did finish 4th this year: Lavin (60m hurdles, European Indoors); Gidey (Half Marathon, European Road Running Championships); Matthew Newell (5000m Walk), Thomas Williams (Hammer) and the Women’s Sprint Medley Relay at European Youth Olympics; Jack Raftery (400m, World University Games), Precious Akpe-Moses (200m, European U20 Championships) and McPhillips (800m, World Championships).

Other random facts and figures

In finishing 9th in the Marathon in Tokyo, five-time Olympian Fionnuala McCormack achieved her highest ever placing at a global event. Her second highest, 11th place in the steeplechase in Osaka, came 18 years ago. McCormack has now represented Ireland 46 times at senior championships. She only needs two more appearances to draw level with Terry McHugh, Ireland’s most capped athlete.

Five Irish athletes (Healy, English, Lavin, Becker and Coscoran) completed the Tokyo-to-Tokyo track and field streak (i.e. competed in the two Olympic Games, three World Championships and two European Championships from Tokyo 2020 to Tokyo 2025, inclusive).

After the fifth round of the hammer final at the World University Games in Germany, Tuthill was in the silver medal position with a best of 68.46m. Eighteen years earlier, Eileen O’Keefe won World University Games silver in the hammer with a best of 68.46m. Tuthill improved to 69.98m in the final round, securing the silver medal but undoing what would have been the stat of the year.

McPhillips’ 800m run in the World Championship final earned him 1532 World Ranking points (1262 for the time and 270 for placing 4th), the most achieved by an Irish athlete since the World Rankings were introduced in 2020. However, Coscoran’s indoor mile time, worth 1273 points on the World Athletics tables, is the best scoring performance ever by an Irish athlete.

English has competed at seven consecutive World Championships (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2025); all at 800m. Phil Healy has competed at five consecutive European indoor Championships. Cormac Dalton and Danielle Donegan completed the Portugal to Portugal Euro Cross Country streak, having completed in all six editions from Lisbon 2019 to Lagoa in 2025.

Brian Fay became the first Irishman to finish top 10 in the senior men's race at Euro Cross on more than one occasion. He just pipped Cormac Dalton, who finished 11th in Lagoa, to that particular honour. Anna Gardiner competed in the U20 race at Euro Cross for the fourth time, the first Irish athlete, we believe, to do so. Emma Hickey not only won Wexford's first medal at Euro Cross, but we also believe that she is the first Wexford athlete to ever compete at the event (Wexford athletes have competed at World Cross in the past).

The 2:12:11 run by Paul O'Donnell in finishing 3rd (behind David McGlynn 2:11:01 and Ryan Creech 2:11.46) at this year’s Dublin Marathon is the fastest time ever needed to make the men’s national championship podium.

What next?

2025 has been a record-breaking year on many fronts. With World Indoor Championships, European Championships, Commonwealth Games, and many other events due to take place, 2026 could see more silverware coming the way of Irish athletes.

Twenty-five medals in 2025 has a very nice ring to it, and while hoping or expecting 26 in the year ahead might be a bit too optimistic, one can't help but feel that this is just the beginning of a golden era of Irish athletics.

We’ll keep you informed of who has achieved standards and who sits within quota for the various events, who wins medals, and what records are broken. But we also hope to inform you of some of the less obvious achievements and statistics.

References: The information in this article has been compiled using competition results and data from the World Athletics rankings and toplists; the Athletics Ireland toplists and roll of honour documents, and various other online sources.

Original article published 1 Nov 2025; updated 23 Dec to include the European Cross Country Championships results and statistics.

Lagoa in the Algarve is set for what promises to be another classic edition of the European Cross Country Championships. More than 580 athletes are entered in the seven-race programme. Here are just some of the athletes to watch out for.

Senior Men

With just three of the top-10 from 2024 returning, the announcement on Monday that Jimmy Gressier, a three-time winner of the U23 race was a welcome addition to one of Europe’s premier endurance tests, especially once three-time senior champion Jackob Ingebrigtsen announced that he wouldn’t be defending his title. That, however, is not to say that the race lacks quality or big names. Either way, the race is guaranteed a first-time winner

Jimmy Gressier (FRA) waited until he opened his post-Tokyo account at a road race in Switzerland on Sunday before confirming his participation in the event. Gressier, who won the World 10,000m title in Tokyo in September, followed his U23 titles in 2017-19 with third in the senior race in 2021, but has not competed at the event since. He will be many people’s favourite for the title on Sunday.

Ruben Querinjean (LUX) finished 24th in 2024 but has made big strides over the steeplechase this summer, running a PB of 8:09.47 when winning the Brussels Diamond League before making the world final in Tokyo. The twisty course may well suit a steeplechase specialist accustomed to pace changes. Querinjean finished 3rd in the U23 race in 2021.

Spain placed four athletes in the top ten last year, and again look set to dominate the team competition. Their lead runner in 2024 was Thierry Ndikumwenayo, who won individual bronze. The Burundi-born athlete showed his truly world-class ability when he finished ninth at World Cross earlier in the year. Ndikumwenayo recently finished third at the World Cross Country Tour Gold meeting in Atapuerca.

Among the other Spanish hopefuls will be Abdessamad Oukhelfen, who has finished in the top 12 on each of the last four occasions (8th in 2024; 7th in 2023; 10th in 2022; 12th in 2021) and Aarón Las Heras who was 14th last year and 17th at the last World Cross Championships.

European 10,000m Champion and Olympic 5000m 4th placer Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu (SUI) will be making his Euro Cross debut. With personal bests ranging from 7:27.68 (3000m) to 59:12 for the half-marathon, he certainly has the speed and endurance to contend at this level. How he’ll cope with the lumps and turns of the Lagoa course remains to be seen.

Other athletes to potentially watch out for include Magnus Tuv Myhre (NOR), who was second in Brussels two years ago, Italian marathon record holder Yohanes Chiappinelli, who finished eighth in 2022, and Scott Beattie, who looked sublime when winning the British trails three weeks ago.

The Irish team is packed with experience. Brian Fay finished tenth in this race in Dublin, and Cormac Dalton was eighth two years ago. Both will be hoping to repeat those performances. Both Efrem Gidey (U20 bronze, 2019) and Darragh McElhinney (U23 silver, 2021) already have Euro Cross medals to their name. Jack O’Leary, who finished sixth in the U20 race in 2016 completes the team.

Senior Women

Reigning champion Nadia Battocletti, will start Sunday’s race as red-hot favourite, but others, including four-time winner Jasmine Can, home favourite Mariana Machado, former U20 and U23 winner Megan Keith and others will look to challenge.

The 24-year-old Italian Nadia Battocletti hasn’t finished outside the top two at this event since finishing sixth in the U20 race in 2017. Since then she’s taken two U20 titles, two U23 titles, and silver and gold in the senior race, as well as collecting Olympic and World silver and two European titles on the track.

Megan Keith (GBR) has been chasing Battocletti home in World Cross Country Tour meetings across Europe this autumn. The 2023 U23 champion and 2021 U20 champion will be making her first appearance in the senior race alongside compatriot and 2024 U23 champion Phoebie Anderson.

Home favourite Mariana Machado, an age-group rival of Battocletti, finished sixth in Antalya, and will be looking  to utilise course familiarity and local support to add to her bronze medals at U20 (2019) and U23 level (2021).

Jasmine Can (TUR) won four titles between 2016 and 2019, and though she only finished 39th at the European Road Running Championships earlier this year, her bronze in Antalya suggests that she can never be completely ruled out.

Jana van Lent (BEL) was fifth last year, and will again be looking to be in the shake-up for the medals, along with Lisa Rooms who was sixth the year before and recently won the Belgian Championships ahead of van Lent.

Sarah Lahti (SWE), seventh last year, recently won the Warandecross in Tilburg for the fourth time, while Diane van Es (NED) set a European 5km record on the roads in February.

Niamh Allen was best of the Irish last year in tenth place. While the dry course may not play to the strengths of fellow Cork woman Fiona Everard, the two-time national champion will look to use all her experience from the previous two editions. Danielle Donegan looks to be building on the form that saw her finish eighth in the U23 race in Brussels two years ago.

Mary Muhare has twice been on medal-winning senior teams, and will bring consistency to the team in her fifth appearance in the senior race. Having represented Ireland in both the European Championships and the European Team Championships in the past 18 months, Emily Haggard-Kearney will be looking to make the most of her first Euro Cross experience.

U23 Men

Will Barnicoat (GBR) will be going for a fourth consecutive underage title in his final year as an U23. To do so he will need to again overcome Ireland’s Nick Griggs who he just edged in the U20 race in 2022 and the U23 title last year; European U23 10,000m champion Joel Ibler Lillesø, and Stefan Nillessen who won both the 1500m and steeplechase titles in Bergen and what is set to be the event of the championship.

U23 Women

Ilona Mononen (FIN) who won silver in this race in 2023 and was third last year, will be looking to add another continental U23 title to the steeplechase one she won on the track this summer. But Maria Forero (ESP) who was second last year, fifth the previous year and took 5000m gold at Euro U23s will have other ideas. Among those they’ll be competing against are European U23 10,000m champion Anika Thompson, Bergin 10,000m runner-up Kira Weis (GER), and Lisa Merkel (GER), who was actually the fastest European U23 over 10,000m this summer.

U20 Men

Håkon Moe Berg (NOR) took 1500m and 3000m gold at the European U20 Championships in Tampere earlier this summer and will be battling this one out against, among others, Karl Ottfalk who was fifth last year and fourth in 2023, fellow Norwegian Magnus Øyen who was fourth last year. European U20 steeplechase bronze medallist Andres Lara is among a bunch of talented Spaniards also hoping to put up a challenge. Irish U20 Champion Noah Harris and the experienced Cormac Dixon will be looking to lead the Irish challenge.

U20 Women

It’s difficult to see past the 2023 and 2024 Champion Innes Fitzgerald (GRB), who has been peerless both on the track and on the country in this age-group over the past 12 months, for this title. Just some of those who may challenge include Andrea Nygård Vie (NOR) who won the European U20 steeplechase title this summer, Shirin Kerber (SUI) who was fourth last year, Carmen Cernjul (SWE) who won 1500m & 3000m silver at Euro U20s and Turkey’s Edibe Yağiz who was 14th last year and took 5000m silver in Tampere. Ireland’s Anna Gardiner will be competing in this race for the fourth time and will be hoping to at least match her seventh-place finish in 2023.

Mixed relay

Ireland is just one of a half dozen teams with realistic hopes of mixed relay medals. Hosts Portugal have the World 1500m champion Isaac Nader among their quartet. Italy are the reigning champions, with three of last year’s team starting, along with Gaia Sabbatini who anchored them to the title in 2022. France, Spain and Great Britain are also among the title contenders.

Many of Ireland’s top cross country athletes will be battling for national glory and Euro Cross berths in Templemore, Co Derry, on Sunday, while others will be competing against the best college athletes in the United States on Friday and Saturday.

Even when accounting for athletes whose clubs may have entered them out of hope rather than expectation, both the men’s and women’s fields for Templemore look pretty competitive. The U23 battles within the senior contests should add further spice to the not-to-be-missed races.

Ten in a row, anyone?

Last year’s champion Keelan Kilrehill is the one notable absentee from the men’s entries, meaning that only Darragh McElhinney, the 2022 champion, and Cormac Dalton, the winner in 2023, stand in the way of making it 10 different winners of the men’s National Cross Country title in as many editions.

Neither McElhinney nor Dalton will bow to such a niche statistic when they toe the line on Sunday, and both should be among those contesting the medals.

Among those looking to continue the streak are Nick Griggs, keen to win his first national senior title on any surface; Brian Fay, who, like Dalton, has a Euro Cross Top 10 finish to his name; European 10,000m Cup winner Efrem Gidey; Callum Morgan, who looked sublime when winning the Autumn International in October; and a resurgent Jack O’Leary.

Paul O’Donnell, Pierre Murchan and William Fitzgerald, who have also made the senior men’s team for Euro Cross in recent years, are also entered, as are Tokyo Olympian Stephen Scullion and recent national marathon champion David McGlynn.

Niall Murphy, who had the race of his life to finish second last year, will be back to defend his U23 title, but to do so he will again need to overcome Griggs and Morgan. Cathal O’Reilly, who finished 8th overall last year, is also still under U23 this year.

Wide open women’s race

As in the men’s race, the women’s race has lacked a consistent winner in recent years, with seven different winners in the past seven editions. The two most recent winners - Fiona Everard (2023) and Ann-Marie McGlynn (2024) - will look to change that.

Another previous winner on the startlist is Michelle Finn (2021), one of six Olympians entered, who has missed a year through injury.

Also entered is last year’s runner-up Niamh Allen, who went on to finish 10th in Antalya. Indeed, there’s a chance that all six from last year’s team compete again for places, with Dannielle Donegan, Mary Mulhare and Cheryl Nolan also entered.

Roisin Flanagan and Eilish Flanagan have both made the team on multiple previous occasions, and are also both entered to compete on Sunday.

Jodie McCann, Laura Nicholson and Eimear Maher, all better known as track athletes, will likely be hoping that an Irish mixed relay team is selected after an absence from the last two editions.

The first three in the U20 and Senior races in Derry will gain automatic selection for Lagoa, while the top two in the U23 categories will also be rewarded with Euro Cross selection. The Athletics Ireland selection policy suggests that they will select further athletes, up to a maximum of five in each event (it’s worth noting that the sixth qualifier for both the Senior and U23 men’s teams last year made the scoring three in Antalya!), leaving the door open for some of the athletes racing in the US this weekend to also be selected.

Across the Atlantic…

While the final lineup won’t be confirmed until the race starts, there could be as many as nine Irish athletes competing in the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Columbia, Missouri, on Saturday.

Abdel Laadjel won the Big Ten Conference title three weeks ago, and helped the Oregon men gain an automatic spot for the ‘big dance’ last Friday. European U23 10,000m champion Anika Thompson helped the Oregon women qualify, and should start on Saturday.

Anna Gardiner, Cara Laverty, Niamh O'Mahony and Jane Buckley will all feature on the Providence team, which finished 2nd at the North East Region qualifier. Gardiner and Laverty were particularly impressive that day, finishing sixth and seventh individually. Gardiner is still an U20 for Euro Cross, while Laverty, like Thompson, is eligible for the U23 race.

Twenty-four-year-old Matthew Neill was also seventh at regionals and is likely to start for Syracuse. Dean Casey (Colorado) and Billy Coogan (Iona) may also run.

Eleven Irish athletes raced last year, with Casey (30th) and Thompson (32nd) the top Irish finishers. Keith Kelly was the last Irish individual winner of this prestigious event back in 2000.

Adams State will again be medal contenders at NCAA Division II Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday. European U23 and World University Games steeplechase finalist Ava O’Connor and Wexford woman Claragh Keane are among their likely starters.

On Friday, Heather Murphy (Montreat), who competed in the 10,000m at the European U23 Championships earlier this year, will be among the Irish racing at the NAIA National Cross Country Championships.

And next...

The Irish team for the European Cross Country Championships is due to be selected by Tuesday, 25th November. The event will take place in Lagoa, Portugal, on 14th December. Selections for the World Cross Country Championships - set for Talahassee, Florida on 10th January - will be made following the continental decider.

The IUAA University Cross champions will be decided in Dublin this Saturday, while the World Championships will be held in early January for the very first time. Here’s what we might expect from the three-month-long, action-packed cross country season.

Intervarsity Cross Country Championships, Dublin, Saturday 11th October 2025

In its new October home, entries for the IUAA Intervarsity Cross Country Championships are likely to be affected by an Athletics Ireland endurance camp currently taking place in Font Romeu. That said, universities from across the island will bring colour and enthusiasm to Tymon Park, and up-and-coming athletes will seize the opportunity to shine.

Pierre Murchan (TCD), Callum Morgan (QUB) and Niall Murphy (UL) took the individual honours in the men's race last year while University of Galway won the team title. Fiona Everard (University of Galway), Amy Greene (DCU) and Hannah Gilliland (QUB) won the individual medals in the women's race, while DCU took the team title just two points ahead of UCC.

The women's race on Saturday, which kicks off at 2pm, will be followed shortly after by the men at 2.30pm.

Autumn Cross Country and National Cross Country relays, Dublin, 18 October 2025

While many of the big names will likely skip this one, among the current entries for the senior races at the Autumn International Cross Country - which have not closed at the time of writing - are 2023 National Champion Fiona Everard and Euro Cross Country U23 and Senior representatives Cathal O’Reilly, William Fitzgearld, Micheál Power and Callum Morgan.

Athletes from Loughborough and Cambridge make up the international challenge this year, with last year’s winner Sophie Tarver expected to lead the way.

Entries for the National Senior Cross Country relay, which open the programme, include a host of Irish middle distance talent, including 2024 Olympian Jodie McCann, senior international Pierre Murchan, and European U23 1500m medallist Eimear Maher. There should be an exciting battle between Dublin City Harriers and Dundrum South Dublin for the title.

Competitive trials for the Masters’ Cross Country International and the National Juvenile relays will add to the atmosphere of the event in Abbotstown, which always looks splendid at this time of year.

The NCAA season, various

The US collegiate season is already underway, but the climax of the season very much coincides with the main events on Irish soil. The last big meets before conference championships take place next weekend, with the Nuttycombe Invitational and other events likely to include Irish interest.

The majority of the Division I Conference Championships take place on 31st October and 1st November, with nine Regional qualifiers on 14th November deciding the teams and individuals who will make it to the ‘big dance’ on 22nd November.

Twelve Irish athletes competed in the NCAA Division I Nationals last year, with Dean Casey 30th in the men's race and Anika Thompson 32nd in the women's race. Both are eligible to compete again this year.

A number of Irish athletes compete for Division II schools, and may earn a spot at Euro Cross via their performance at the Division II Nationals, also on 22nd November.

Irish National Cross Country Championships, Derry, 23 November 2025

The National Championships head to Ulster for the third time in four years as Derry plays host to the battle for national titles and the much-coveted spots on the European Cross Country team.

The first three in the U20 and Senior races will gain automatic selection for Lagoa, while the top two in the U23 categories will also be rewarded with Euro Cross selection.

But there are also national titles on the line. Keelan Kilrehill and Ann-Marie McGlynn are reigning senior champions, while Niall Murphy and Emma McEvoy, who took the U23 titles in 2024, are both young enough to defend their titles, as is Lucy Foster in the U20 category. Jonas Stafford, who made the U20 team three years in a row, moves up to what could be a very competitive men’s U23 category.

There have been nine different winners of the Senior men’s title in the past nine editions, Among those trying to make that 10 different winners in a row is Nick Griggs, an U23 in search of his first National senior title on any surfaces. The 2023 champions Cormac and Fiona Everard are others likely to be in contention in the senior races.

Club champions will also be decided, with the top two teams in U20 and Senior categories earning the right to represent Ireland at the European Clubs Cross Country in February.

Other domestic championships, various

Dublin Championships, Leinster and Munster Senior Championships, plus the Connaught Senior League will take place between the Autumn Cross Country and the National Cross Country Championships. The Ulster and Northern Ireland Senior Championships will be held in early February. Athletes with eligibility will also have the opportunity to race Novice and Intermediate championships, the later which will be held alongside the National Masters Championships in February.

European Cross Country Championships, Lagoa (Portugal), 14th December 2025

Having finished 4th in Dublin in 2021 and in Brussels in 2023, could 2025 finally be the year that the current generation of Irish senior men win Euro Cross team medals? Having finished second in both the U20 race (2022) and the U23 race (2024), is it time for Nick Griggs to finally win a European Cross Country title? These are just some of the questions that will be answered in the Algarve on Sunday 14th December.

The European Cross Country Championships is the pinnacle of the cross country season for most of the continent’s athletes. Indeed, for some, it will be their only cross country race of the year. The event has become a happy hunting ground for Irish athletes, and silverware has been brought home every edition since Portugal last hosted the event in 2019.

While Griggs, second in the U23 race, was the only Irish medallist in Antalya two years ago, the U23 men's team finished 4th, with all three scorers young enough to compete again this year, and the U23 women weren't a million miles from a medal either.

It appears that Ireland will send teams in all the individual races. Depending on who is available, there is also the possibility of an Irish mixed relay team. The team will be announced after the final selections are made on 25 November.

World Cross Country Championships, Talahassee FL (USA), 10th January 2026

The World Cross Country Championships will be held in January for the first time. In what seems like an attempt to maintain some interest in World Athletics’ once flagship endurance event, the global event will fall just four weeks after the continental championships.

While the Athletics Ireland selection policy has not yet been published, it’s expected that results at the National Championships in November and the European Championships in December will determine the size and composition of Ireland’s team for Tallahassee.

Eight athletes, including Fiona Everard, Danielle Donegan, Keelan Kilrehill and Hugh Armstrong in the senior races, made the journey to Belgrade for the last edition in 2024. The timing in the calendar, plus the location of the event, may mean enough athletes available to justify full senior teams.

World Cross Country Tour and other international competitions

World Cross Country Tour events take place across Europe - with a few races also in Africa - right throughout the season. Efrem Gidey and Cormac Dalton are among the Irish who have used World Tour events to sharpen up for Euro Cross in recent seasons.

The European Clubs Cross Country Championship will be held in February.

While most of the events fall too close to National and European Championships for Irish athletes, some may appear at the Cardiff Cross Challenge on 8th November and one or two other events across the winter.

A small number of Irish athletes have eligibility to compete in English (and other home nation) championships and the British University (BUCS) Championships, thereby extending their cross country seasons well into the spring.

English National is always worth a watch, especially the start of the Senior Men’s race, which sometimes includes as many as 2000 starters, and the British University championships does its best to replicate the colour and team rivalry of its US equivalent, albeit usually on a muddier course!

There’s plenty to look forward to over the next few months. Expect mud, sweat, tears, and a few surprises.

Another significant week of athletics lies ahead. The U23 athletes will have the opportunity to win European medals in Bergen, while some of the seniors will be in action at the London Diamond League.

Closer to home, the AAI Games and National 10,000m and Multi-Event Championships will be held in Carlow. A number of athletes will also be in action in Continental Tour events in Spain, Belgium and Germany.

European U23 Championships

Nicola Tuthill (Hammer) and Nick Griggs (5000m) will lead the medal hopes of a strong Irish team at the European U23 Championships which will run from Thursday 17th to Sunday 20th July.

Medals, however, won’t come easy, and with some of the world’s top eligible athletes due to compete, this could be one of the greatest editions of the biannual event to date.

Among the entries in the men’s 5000m, for example, are Olympic 1500m finalist Niels Laros (NED), European U23 Cross Country Champion Will Barnicoat (GBR), World U20 3000m Champion Andreas Fjeld Halvorsen (NOR) and the 2021 European U20 5000m champion Joel Ibler Lilleso and Jonathan Grahn (SWE) who beat Griggs to the European U20 3000m title in 2023.

Tuthill is ranked third in the field on personal best and one of just three athletes to have thrown beyond 70 metres. She will look to utilise the championships experience she gained in Rome and Paris last year to turn her fourth place finish in 2023 to a place on the podium this time around.

Other Irish athletes to watch out for include Ava O’Connor, ranked fourth on time in the women’s steeplechase, Abdel Laadjel who will be desperate to improve on his 4th place from 2023, Eimear Maher in the 1500m, and Anika Thompson who is highly ranked in both the 5000m and 10,000m.

The event will be streamed on EuroVision Sport across all sessions, including dedicated streams for field events.

London Diamond League

The London Diamond League always tends to be the busiest for Irish athletes, and this year is no different, with three individual athletes and a relay team on the startlist.

Mark English is set to race in a star-studded men’s 800m; a race that includes 3 of the top 4 from last year’s Olympic final, and 6 of the 20 fastest 800m athletes of all time.

Sarah Healy is set to compete in the rarely-run women’s mile. She’ll be up against Jessica Hull and Gudaf Tsegay, among others. The Irish record stands at 4:14.58 (Ciara Mageean, 2023).

Rhasidat Adeleke is on the 200m startlist, alongside her training partners Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred and 2019 World 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith.

The women’s 4x100m relay team will compete in the pre-programme against teams from Great Britian, Australia, Canada, France and Jamaica.

The event will be broadcast Virgin Media Two from 2-4pm on Saturday. The relay will, unfortunately, fall outside the broadcast window.

Domestic action

The AAI Games incorporating the National 10,000m Championships and the National Combined Event Championships will be held at SETU Carlow on Saturday and Sunday, while the Irish Runner National 10 mile Championships will be held at the Phoenix Park on Sunday.

While many of the big track stars are missing from the AAI Games, some in-form field eventers and a pair of Paralympians are among the entries.

Conor Cusack, who earlier this week set a new Javelin PB of 75.18 in Luzern (3rd Irish all-time) will look to continue his recent form. Conor Callinan (pole vault) has set PBs in each of his last three competitions.

Reece Ademola, just back to competition after injury is among the long jump entries; multi national title holder Saragh Buggy in on the triple jump startlist, and we should expect to see Seán Mockler in the hammer.

Orla Comerford (100m, 200m) and Greta Streimikyte (1500m) are also entered, as are Colin Doyle (100m, 200m), Michael Farrelly (100m) and Cliodhna Manning (400m)

It is expected that Athletics Ireland will provide a livestream across the two days.

Continental Tour meetings

Ciarán Carthy, Hugo Magee and Orla Leer (all 400m) are on the startlist for Meeting International d'Athlétisme de la Province de Liège (CT bronze) tonight (Wednesday) in Belgium.

Marcus Lawler (100m, 200m) and Israel Olatunde (100m) are entered for PUMA Fast Arms Fast Legs (CT Challenger) in Wetzlar, Germany on Friday.

Sophie Becker (400m), Jenna Bromell (800m) and Eric Favors (Shot Put) will all be looking to pick up valuable world ranking points at Meeting Madrid on Saturday (CT Silver).

Rachel McCann (400m), Alex O'Neill (800m), Jodie McCann, Seán Donoghue (1500m),Brian Fay and Darragh McElhinney (5000m) are on the main programme startlist for KBC Nacht van de Atletiek (CT Bronze) in Heusden-Zolder on Saturday. Cillín Greene, Cliodhna Manning, Arlene Crossan (400m), Amy O'Donoghue, Kevin McGrath (1500m), David McGlynn (5000m) and Amy O'Donoghue (1500m), among others, are on the pre- and after-programme startlists for the same meeting.

Ronan McMahon-Staggs is on the startlist for the 1500m at Meeting Maia Cidade do Desporto, while Charlie O'Donovan will race the same distance at Stumptown Twilight in the US.

As soon as we get through all the above, we're straight into the FISU World University Games, where nine Irish athletes will be competing.