European U23 Championships starts another busy period for Irish athletes
Elizabeth Egan | Jul 16, 2025
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.
