Precious Akpe-Moses U23

With just ten days – at the time of writing – left in the European Championships qualification window, and just over three weeks until the Championships themselves kick off, there’s a sense of urgency, and importance, surrounding this weekend’s events.

Some athletes will be making a last-ditch attempt to qualify – standards and ranking points foremost in their minds -  while medal hopefuls and potential finalists will be looking to build form ahead. The sprint relay squads, both of whom have two runouts in the coming days may even have national records on their minds.

The London Diamond League is the main event, but a pair of Continental Tour meetings on Thursday evening provide important opportunities for Irish athletes. Younger athletes will be competing at the European U18 Championships in Reiti, while domestic action includes the National 10 Mile and the AAI Games.

Teamwork Thursday

Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern, a Continental Tour Silver meeting, has a very large Irish contingent, with a mix of hopes and dreams for the evening.

Among them are both men’s and women’s 4x100m relays teams, who will face stiff opposition ahead of next month’s European Championships. The men’s team – named on the startlist as Max O'Reilly, Sean Aigboboh, Mark Smyth and Bori Akinola – currently sit in 9th on the Road to Birmingham, and with 16 teams to qualify, are all but ensured their spot in Birmingham.

The women’s team is less secure in terms of Birmingham qualification. They are currently sitting in 15th place, and will be hoping that Slovenia and Sweden don’t both pull out massive performances. The team of Lucy-May Sleeman, Lauren Roy, Sarah Leahy and Precious Akpe-Moses may have their own time-targets in mind: the 43.73 national record set last year well within their grasp.

All but Aigboboh, who has already secured the Birmingham auto Q in the 200m, will also be in action in individual events. Akinola, who has twice run 10.19 this season, looks to be secure within the 100m quota, but will want to run faster again ahead of championship season. Roy, too, has the 200m standard, and is ranked 35th in the 100m, with 36 spots available.

Sleeman, who has been in flying form in the US this summer, desperately needs to bag some of the placing points on offer here and put in a good performance at next week’s national championships, if she is to have any chance of catapulting herself into a quota spot.

None of the other relay athletes have the athletics Ireland B standard or are close enough to quota for an individual spot to be a realistic target at this point. However, there are two other sprinters to watch out for.

Rhasidat Adeleke has yet to secure an individual spot for Birmingham. She just missed the 200m Auto Q (22.85) when she ran 22.86 in Texas in April. She’ll race that distance in Luzern, before – it is rumoured – she races over 400m at the weekend.

Benjamin Richardson, the former South African representative who will be eligible to compete for Ireland from August 2027, will compete in both the 100m and 200m.

Elizabeth Ndudi and Lauren Callaghan both have a chance to make the Long Jump cutoff for Birmingham. Callaghan is just outside the quota spots and still needs to surpass the Athletics Ireland B standard of 6.55, a mark she just missed by 4cm last week.

Ndudi hit the B standard when she broke the national indoor record earlier in the year but, like Sleeman, is desperately short on ranking points. A podium finish here would do her qualification quest the world of good.

Emma Moore is currently just one spot outside quota for the 800m, and has the opportunity to leap up the rankings with a good run here. She will be joined by Alex O’Neill, who is outside the quota spots, but has the opportunity to considerably improve her ranking over the next 10 days. She does, however, also need to hit the 2:00.95 Athletics Ireland B standard.

Callum Morgan will get a run out over 3000m ahead of the Commonwealth Games where he will run the 5000m. Conor Cusack has a breakthrough performance at this event in 2025 when he threw beyond 75 metres for the first time. The Athletics Ireland B standard for Birmingham is 79.00.

And it isn’t all about the action in Switzerland on Thursday. Sharlene Mawdsley will be racing the 400m at Meeting Madrid, also a Continental Tour Silver meeting, as she endeavours to break 50 seconds for the first time. A podium finish here would boost her chances of making the World Ultimate Championships in September.

Cillian Kirwan and Hannah Segrave are both due to compete at Meeting Arcobaleno EAP AtleticaEuropa, a Continental Tour Challenger, in Italy. Kirwan has the Athletics Ireland B standard, but is still some way off the quota spots.

The European Under 18 Championships got underway in Rieti on Thursday morning and will continue through until Sunday evening. Irish athletes will be hopeful of medals across the four days of competition.

Friday night lights

All eyes will be on Bishopstown on Friday for the MTU Track Night. Notable names among the sizeable entry include Colin Doyle, Mollie O’Reilly (100m) and David Cussen (High Jump). Entries for this event remain open until 7pm on Thursday.

Slamdunk Saturday

Hundreds of Irish fans will head to London on Saturday for the 11th Diamond League meeting of the season, and they’ll have plenty of Irish athletes to cheer.

An incredibly competitive men’s 800m will include both Cian McPhillips and Mark English, while Sarah Healy will compete over the 3000m. Orla Comerford (ambulant 100m), Brandon Ballard (ambulant 1500m) and the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams will all take part in the pre-meeting programme.

English won the opening Diamond League race of the season, and has raced extensively since, with mixed results. McPhillips, on the other hand, has had a quiet year, his indoor season curtailed due to dental issues. His last outing, at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Budapest on Tuesday, was less than impressive, so he’ll be looking for a quick return to form.

Likewise, Healy missed the indoor season, and while her opening runs over 5000m, 1500m and the mile haven’t been disastrous by any means, she’ll be looking for that extra spark over yet another distance at which she is second on the Irish all-time list.

Comerford has been in unbeatable form all season, and broke the European T13 record at the Morton Games last week. She’ll be looking to continue that form in the British capital. Twenty-three-year-old Ballard transferred allegiance from Great Britain to Ireland in August last year.

The main programme events will be shown on Virgin Media Two from 2-4pm. There will be extended coverage on Virgin Media Play to include the relay races, but not the para races.

The KBC Nacht (Night of Athletics) in Heusden-Zolder is another important competition for those seeking last-minute European Championship qualification, though it’s likely that the entries include a number of athletes who will not compete should other competitions go their way on Thursday.

Adeleke will race over 400m, in a last-ditch attempt to qualify for Birmingham. The automatic qualification standard of 51.20 should be well within her grasp, and will be the minimum target for the Tallaght AC star.

800m runners Kirwan, Moore and O’Neill all have at least a shot at making the team for Birmingham and will also race on Thursday (see above). Eimear Maher has the B standard for Birmingham in the 1500m but is outside the quota sports, ranked just behind Laura Nicholson who still needs the 4:07.00 standard. Maddie Mooney and Zoe Toland, both setting personal bests over multiple distances in the past week, are also entered in the 1500m.

Other names on the entries include Joe Doody (400m), who’ll be looking to make the relay team in Birmingham, and Cormac Dalton (5000m). The complete startlists for the main programme events have not yet been confirmed, so other Irish athletes may also be competing.

Rory Devaney, a recent transferee from the United States, will compete in the Lappeenrante Games in Finland. Devaney is the top Irish hammer thrower this year, and has a personal best of 74.16m.

The National multi-events Championships get underway in Santry on Saturday. Laura Frawley, a two-time national heptathlon champion, will start as favourite for the senior women’s title, while Lexx McConville is the only athlete entered in the senior men’s event. National U20, Masters and juvenile titles will also be decided across the two days of competition.

Sunday Showdown

The AAI Games, which will take place in Morton Stadium in Santry, has one of its strongest entry lists in recent time. Many, however, may be entered in case other results don’t go their way this weekend, or if their flights or meetings abroad are cancelled.

If, however, everyone does show, exciting races are guaranteed over a number of distances, most notably the 400m hurdles, where in-form brothers Ethan Dewhirst and Fintan Dewhirst are both entered. There is very little to separate the Donegal pair on paper, but this is the first (and probably last) time they would go head-to-head this season.

The men’s 400m has Jack Raftery and Cillin Greene among the entries, along with Ciarán Carthy, while Sophie Becker is the standout entry in the women’s 400m. Marcus Lawlor (200m), Adam Nolan (110m Hurdles) and Victoria Amiadamen (400m Hurdles) are among the other leading names in the sprints and hurdles events.

Field event entries include Sophie Meredith (Long Jump), Saragh Buggy (Triple Jump), Michaela Walsh (Shot Put), Eoin Sheridan, Anna Gavigan (Discus), Margaret Hayden (Hammer), Cusack and Kate Joyce (Javelin), all title contenders at next weekend’s national Senior Championships.

Among the leading entries in the middle distance events are Moore (800m), who is also on startlists on Thursday and Saturday, and Liam Lyons (800m), who ran sub-four miles in Cork and Morton last week.

The National Senior and Master 10 Mile champions will be decided in the Phoenix Part on Sunday morning. Jake O’Regan and Heather Murphy are among the leading entries. See the Athletics Ireland website for a more detailed preview.

Molly Scott (100m) and Adam Murphy (200m) are the leading Irish entries for the BFTTA Outdoor Series 4 meeting in north London. Day two of the National multi-events will be held alongside the AAI Games, while the European U18 Championships will conclude in Rieti.

After an exciting evening in Bishopstown mid-week, the continental tour rolls into Santry on Friday, where the Morton Games will kick-start another exciting weekend of athletics.

Abroad, middle distance athletes will be racing at the Watford BMC, many of the sprinters and hurdlers are heading to the Stratford Speed meeting in London, while a mix of sprinters and jumpers will be chasing personal bests in Kortrijk, Belgium. Athletes will also be competing in Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Germany and the United States.

Junior athletes have until Sunday night to achieve standards for the World U20 Championships, while this weekend marks the two-weeks-to-go point on the Road to Birmingham. By the end of the weekend, there will be just 4 weeks to go until the biggest event of the year.

Morton Games

The second of Ireland’s two Continental Tour Bronze meetings, the Morton Games, will feature many of the athletes we saw in Cork on Wednesday, including a similarly world-class women’s hammer field, some additional overseas star quality and a few Irish athletes we’ve not seen a huge amount of this season.

Fans will have a sneak preview of some of the national title battles that will be fought out on this track in two weeks’ time, as well as witness some evolving twists and turns on the road to Birmingham.

For a detailed breakdown of the international and domestic athletes to look out for, check out the news features on the Morton Games website. Here we’ll take a look at a few interesting events from an Irish perspective.

Women's 1500m

The unfolding storyline of the women’s 1500m - and the cacophony of potential outcomes in terms of Birmingham qualification - is particularly intriguing. Sarah Healy and Sophie O’Sullivan boxed off the automatic qualification standard at the World Championship last September, and are highly likely to be on the European Championships team.

While Ciara Mageean almost certainly won’t use her wildcard spot as defending champion, Irish athletes have known that there was another spot up for grabs, irrespective of Mageean’s availability, and three athletes in particular have been invested in chasing that final spot.

Both Eimear Maher and Jodie McCann achieved the Athletics Ireland B standard in the past week. Laura Nicholson, however, is the only one of the three currently within quota on ranking points. Both criteria need to be met to make the team.

Nicholson will be hoping to better the 4:07.00 mark on Friday, and both her and Maher will be looking to increase their ranking points in Santry. McCann, whose points from Wednesday won't be added until next week, is racing in Portugal on Saturday (see below).

A fast race at Nationals has the potential to elevate all three within quota come close of qualification, but the side quest of securing a national title is more likely to lead to a cagey contest. And the dream outcome for any of the contenders would be hitting the 4:03.50 automatic standard in the coming weeks.

Men's 5000m

Darragh McElhinney, Nick Griggs (both with the automatic standard) and Brian Fay (currently sitting in a quota spot) are likely to make the 5000m in Birmingham, and they will be among those racing that distance on Friday. Griggs wasn’t far off Fay’s National record of 13:01.40 last summer, and in the right conditions on the right day, all three have the potential to break 13 minutes.

Also racing over 12.5 laps are Jack O’Leary, who has the 10,000m standard for Birmingham, Cormac Dalton who ran a solid 3000m in Cork on Wednesday on return from injury, Callum Morgan, who’ll be racing this distance at the Commonwealth Games at the end of the month, and Shay McEvoy, who actually has the Athletics Ireland B standard for the 10,000m, but is too far down the rankings for that to be a realistic dream.

The national title decided at this distance last year was one for the ages. A slightly different cast, at the same venue, could well lead to similar showstopping performances. And that’s before we consider the more-than-cameo appearances of the overseas actors. While nobody knows what drama might unfold, this likely to be one not to miss.

Men's 400m

With the mixed 4x400m team now unlikely to qualify to defend their title in Birmingham, male 400m athletes will be hoping that they hold on to their top-16 position in the men’s 4x400m relay, for most, their only likely route to the European Championships.

Three of the athletes who would be hoping to make the cut for any team selected are racing on Friday, and will be looking to impress in the one-lap event. Jack Raftery, who has the Athletics Ireland B standard and is currently just outside quota, does still have a shot at making the individual event. This will be his first race since mid-May.

Sean Doggett has run personal bests both indoors and outdoors this year, and won the Irish U23 200m title on Sunday. He’ll be hoping to continue his progress on Friday as he looks to make his second European Championship team, following his debut in Rome as a 17-year-old.

Andrew Egan ran 45.86 last season, and is slowly building towards that level this season. Could he spring an upset on the reigning national and national indoor champions, and which, of any of them, will be the first Irish athlete to run sub 46 this season.

Other events

Bori Akinola and Sean Aigboboh will go head-to-head again over 100m, Nicola Tuthill will have another shot at upsetting the Olympic and World Champion and breaking the 19-year-old national hammer record, and Alex O’Neill will have another shot at the Athletics Ireland B standard she missed by 0.01 seconds last week.

There were no Irish winners in the international events in Cork. The Morton crowd will be hoping for a few podium-topping performances, not least in the men's mile which will close the programme. Cathal Doyle will be looking for his second Morton Mile title, and the fourth Irish win in five years. Hitting the 1500m point in 3:33.50 or faster – the automatic standard for Birmingham – would be the cherry on top.

Other Continental Tour meetings

Colin Doyle (100m), Paul Costelloe (100m, 200m) and Rhianna McCarthy (100m, 200m) are entered for the Fast Arms, Fast Legs Continental Tour Challenger meeting in Wetzlar, Germany on Friday.

A healthy consignment of middle distance runners are heading to Watford for the British Milers Club (BMC) Grand Prix, a Continental Tour Challenger meeting, on Saturday. Among them are Finley Daly (3000m steeplechase) who is chasing the Athletics Ireland B standard for Birmingham; and Neasa Ni Ainifein, Niamh Carr, Zoe Toland (1500m) and Ella Fennelly (3000m) who have been in personal best-smashing form recently.

Noah Harris, who just missed the World U20 qualification time in Cork on Wednesday, is also on the startlist for the 3000m. Pia Langton, who got her second World U20 qualifier in Cork on Wednesday, and Colin P Smith, who has got a lane at the Morton Games, are also on the startlist at the time of writing, but presumably won’t be racing.

The entries for the bronze level Moore-Guldensporenmeeting in Kortrijk include high jumpers Sommer Lecky and Daena Kealy; Lauren Callaghan who has been edging ever closer to the Athletics Ireland B standard for the long jump (6.55); Adam Nolan (110m hurdles), and sprinters Katie Bergin (100m, 200m), Molly Daly (400m), and Benjamin Richardson (100m, 200m).

McCann has run personal bests in her last two 1500m races, and bettered the Athletics Ireland B standard for Birmingham in her most recent outing on Wednesday. She will race again at the Meeting of Braga in Portugal (Continental Tour Bronze) on Saturday, as she continues to boost her Road to Birmingham ranking.

Elizabeth Ndudi (Long Jump) is also competing. Like McCann, she has the Athletics Ireland B standard, but needs a serious boost of ranking points if she is to make it to Birmingham.

Eilish Flanagan on the 5000m startlist for the Sound Running Sunset Tour in Los Angeles. This would be the Tokyo Olympian's first track race since 2024.

Sunday’s big meeting from an Irish perspective is Stratford Speed where a huge contingent of sprinters and hurdlers are entered. The women’s 400m Hurdles list, alone, contains the names of half a dozen Irish athletes.

Ciara Neville, Precious Akpe-Moses, Molly Scott, Sarah Leahy and Mollie O’Reilly are among the leading names in the women’s 100m, while Max O’Reilly, Colin Doyle and Michael Farrelly are entered in the men’s 100m.

Adam Murphy and Commonwealth Games-bound Anna McCauley look set to get a runout over 200m; Hugo Magee, Joe Doody, Darragh Murphy, Aaron Keane and Michelle Duggan are entered in the 400m, while Victoria Amiadamen and Cara Murphy are among those going in the 400m Hurdles.

After a mid-week win over 1500m in Joensuu, Maddie Mooney will again race in Finland, this time over 800m at the Tampere Meeting on Sunday.

Kealy, entered for both Morton on Friday and Kortrijk on Saturday, is also scheduled to compete at the Klaverbad International High Jump Meeting (Continental Tour Challenger) in Zoetermeer, Netherlands on Sunday.

Elsewhere

The Monaco Diamond League also takes place on Friday. There are no Irish athletes on the startlists, but fans can expect to see Faith Kipyegon (3000m), Simon Ehammer (Long Jump), Julien Alfred (200m) among the talent-packed fields. The meeting will be broadcast live on Virgin Media Two from 7-9pm.

Mikey Kent, another athlete chasing World U20 qualification, is entered in the long jump at two category F meetings in the Netherlands over the weekend. He has already surpassed the 7.60m standard once, and needs another jump in that range to book his ticket to Eugene.

The Rome Diamond League on Thursday will kickstart the weekend, which also sees the European Off-Road Running titles decided in Slovenia.

Irish athletes will compete in continental tour meetings in Norway, Belgium, the USA and Germany, while the Irish Milers Club meeting in Irishtown and the Munster Senior Championships at MTU are the major domestic meetings of the weekend.

The week has already started well, with Anna Gavigan breaking the Irish U23 Discus record in Italy on Tuesday and Cathal Doyle bettering the Athletics Ireland B standard for Birmingham in Finland on Wednesday.

And the pace continues to quicken with plenty of Irish interest across Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Rome Diamond League

Sarah Healy has not run a 5000m since her covid-era 16:28.79 at the City of Lisburn Inter Club Invitational in Belfast in 2000.

Despite having the slowest personal best in the field, and not having raced since finishing tenth in the World 1500m final in Tokyo last September, Healy will step up to the Diamond League start line in Rome – the site of her maiden Diamond League win over 1500m last year -  on Thursday, with much expectation.

Healy opened her 2025 season with 8:27.02 over 3000m in Rabat, becoming the second fastest Irish woman ever over the distance. It’ll be interesting to see how she fares with an additional five laps to run.

Mark English has been at both ends of Diamond League fields already this year, winning in Shanghai, before finishing 11th in Rabat. While not a Diamond event, his opposition in the 800m on Thursday looks formidable, and he’ll be looking to build on his opening run of the season.

Among those in English’s way are two athletes with 1:41 PBs (Bryce Hoppel and Gabriel Tual) and World 1500m champion Isaac Nader.

The Stockholm Diamond League draws the weekend to a close on Sunday, but at the time of writing there are no Irish athletes on the startlist.

European Off-Road Running Championships

The best of Europe’s Trail and Mountain runners head to Slovenia for the continental deciders on Friday (Mountain uphill), Saturday (Trail) and Sunday (Mountain up and down). Full Irish teams have been selected across all senior and U20 events.

Among those looking to make an impact are Zak Hanna, who has been in flying World Cup form already this season. He races the approximately 8.9 kilometre uphill race, which includes 1280 m of vertical ascent, on Friday. He’ll be looking to improve on his 34th place from this event two years ago.

Another with considerable experience at this level is Sarah McCormack, who’ll also compete in the Uphill race on Friday. She was 8th in this race in Annecy in 2024 and 13th in the Up and Down race in 2022.

McCormack was a non-scoring member of the winning Irish Women’s team at the 2012 European Cross Country Championships and led Ireland to team bronze in the 2013 World Mountain Running Championships.

Continental Tour meetings

James Dunne, Charlie O'Donovan, Maddie Mooney and Roisin Flanagan are all due to compete at the Hoka Festival of Miles (Continental Tour Challenger) in St Louis, Missouri on Thursday evening, while Sophie O’Sullivan, Laura Nicholson and Cillian Gleeson are on the startlist for the 1500m Elite Jessheim (Continental Tour Bronze) in Norway on Friday.

O’Sullivan secured the European standard when she made the semi-finals of the World Championships last September, while Nicholason’s 4:07.52 from February is still the national lead for the distance.

Flanagan recently opened her 2026 account with a 15:41.88 national lead over 5000m. Her best for the mile dates back to January 2024 when she ran 4:40.12 indoors at altitude. O’Donovan has had two wins from two over the mile in 2026, most notably taking the Penn Relays title in April.

Last month Mooney ran 4:12.94 for 1500m, very close to her 2024 PB. Dunne continues to build after an injury sustained last summer, not long after he ran his 3:35.17 1500m PB. Gleeson ran 13:54.27 for 5000m in April, inside the standard for the World U20 Championships. The 3:45.50 1500m standard may well be on his mind when he toes the line on Friday.

Eric Favors (shot put) and Niamh Fogarty (Discus) are among the entries for the Sparkassen Werfertag (Continental Tour Bronze) in Gelenau, Germany on Sunday.

Favors has all but secured qualification by quota for the European Championships, but he will now look to throw consistently over 20 metres as he builds towards Birmingham. The 20.80 Auto Q would ensure his spot, and would do wonders for his confidence.

Fogarty will be targeting the Athletics Ireland B standard for Birmingham of 57.80 and restating herself as Ireland’s top female discus thrower in response to Anna Gavigan’s recent good form.

There is a big Irish entry for the Putbos Memorial Leon Buyle Flanders Cup (Cat E meeting) in Oordegem on Saturday.

Arlene Crossan has recently set personal bests over 400m and 400m hurdles, and will look to continue her progress over the latter. Fellow relay teammate Rachel McCann will race over 400m, while Cliodhna Manning is entered for all three sprint events and Katie Bergin is due to race the 100m.

Adam Murphy and Marcus Lawler are both entered for the 100m and 200m, while Ciarán Carthy, Aaron Keane and Cillin Greene are all due to race the 400m.

Saragh Buggy is entered for both the long and triple jump, and could be joined in the former by Ruby Millet.

Diarmuid Fagan, who recently made big strides over 5000m, is due to race his first track 10,000m in Germany on Saturday.

On the Roads

Fionnuala McCormack will make a rare competitive appearance on Saturday as she takes part in the New York Mini 10km, a prestigious women’s only event in Central Park. McCormack finished 19th (32:49) in the 2025 edition, her only race prior to finishing ninth in the World Championship marathon.

Her last race was also in New York, when she ran 2:27:00 – the exact qualification time for this summer’s European Championships – when she finished 10th in the New York Marathon.

Irish action

The startlist for the Irish Milers Club Dublin meeting in Irishtown includes some tasty matchups in both the men’s and women’s 800m and 1500m, with 400m and men’s 5000m races also taking place.

World Relays 4x100m representative Sarah Leahy is due to open her individual outdoor season at the Munster Senior, Master and U20 Championships. Una Brice (senior) and Meabh corkery (U20) are both entered in the pole vault. In-form Sophie Meredith will look to continue her progress in the long jump while Michael Healy is among the discus entries

Mid-week looks just as busy as the preceding days. Israel Olatunde, Ciara Neville, Precious Akpe-Moses and Sophie Becker are among the entries for Stratford Speed meeting on Tuesday.

Nicola Tuthill is due to compete at the Motonet GP Lahti in Finland on Wednesday, while attention at home will be on the UCD Meeting, where Bori Akinola, Jack Raftery, Sean Doggett, Sam Healy, Mikey Kent and Saragh Buggy are among the entries.

The NCAA Div I Nationals will get underway in Eugene where Lauren Roy (200m), Maeve O'Neill (800m) and Elizabeth Ndudi (Long Jump) will be looking for individual honours, while Sean Aigboboh and Lucy-May Sleeman are part of their respective university 4x100m relay squads.

The Diamond League will be making its way to Oslo. It, along with a number of other continental tour meetings are yet to publish startlists. Be sure to check out TrackAthletes.ie for updates.