Sam Healy

The Irish National Senior Indoor Championships takes centre stage this weekend, but Irish athletes will also be in action at Conference Championships in the US, on the roads in Japan and outdoors in Hobart.

With just over a week left in the qualification period for the World Indoors, Irish athletes hoping to compete there will have half an eye on the ranking lists for Toruń, and some may even be targeting B standards over the weekend.

National Indoor Championships

The 38th edition of the Irish Senior Indoor Championships will take place at the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Abbotstown on Saturday and Sunday.

Among the athletes expected to headline the event is defending 60m champion and newly minted national record holder Bori Akinola, who has already secured the Auto Q for the World Indoor Championships.

The men’s middle-distance races are again packed with intrigue, and the 1500m and 3000m promise to be close battles, irrespective of which event the main contenders decide to do.

Both national 1500m, mile and 3000m national record holder Andrew Coscoran, and European U23 Cross Country Champion Nick Griggs are entered for the 1500m and 3000m. Coscoran has the standard for World Indoors in both events, while Griggs – who is still looking for his first national senior title – has the standard over the longer distance.

Darragh McElhinney has the B standard for the 3000m, and he’s entered to race over that distance on Sunday, as is the ever-improving Callum Morgan. Luke McCann and James Dunne will continue their return from injury over the metric mile.

Mark English, who has broken the national indoor 600m and 800m records in 2026 will look to add another national 800m title to his tally, while Emma Moore will be the likely favourite in the women’s 800m.

Ciara Neville is one of three Irish athletes with the Athletics Ireland B standard in for Toruń in the women's 60m, but with the other two in college in the US, she’ll start as red-hot favourite on Sunday, as will Sarah Lavin, who has the World Indoor standard, in the sprint hurdles on Saturday.

Sharlene Mawdsley looked very impressive when she opened her season over 400m last week, and she’ll look to win a third consecutive title over the distance on Sunday.

Ireland’s top female multi-eventers – Kate O’Connor and Anna McCauley – are both entered for a few events over the weekend. O’Connor, who has already secured her spot in Torun will compete over 60m hurdles and long jump, while McCauley is entered for the hurdles, long jump and shot put.

Eric Favors (shot put), Aoife O’Sullivan (high jump) and Lauren O’Callaghan (long jump) will look to add to their growing resumes in the field events, while the men’s long jump could be head-to-head between Leevale pair Reece Ademola (who is yet to open his season) and Sam Healy.

The women’s triple jump will have its first winner not named Saragh Buggy since 2015.

See the Athletics Ireland website and other media sources for in-depth previews.

The event will be broadcast on Virgin Media 2 on Sunday from 2:30-4:30pm, with Athletics Ireland YouTube streams across both days.

Take part in Fantasy National Indoors here

NCAA Conference Championships

Three of the Irish records set in 2026 (Maeve O’Neill, 800m; Diarmuid O’Connor, Heptathlon; Elizabeth Ndudi, Long Jump) and other breakthroughs (Lauren Roy, 60m and 200m) have come from athletes based in the NCAA system.

Most, if not all, of these athletes are competing for their universities in the NCAA Conference Championships this week.

Athletes qualify for NCAA nationals by being in the top 16 performances across the nation during the season. Roy, O’Neill and Ndudi all look likely to qualify, while Abdel Laadjel is currently sitting just outside the qualification spots in the men’s 5000m.

Elsewhere

Laura Nicholson has spent the winter training in Australia, and has already picked up a win in New Zealand and potentially valuable World Ranking points in Perth, Australia. She will line up in the 3000m at the Hobart Track Classic on Saturday.

Irish record holder Fearghal Curtin is among the elite entries for the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday. Curtin broke the national record last October when winning the Gyeongju International Marathon in South Korea in 2:07:54.

While there are no World Indoor Tour gold meetings this weekend, it will still be a very big one for Irish athletes, particularly in the USA, where it’s the final big weekend of pre-championship college meetings.

Rhasidat Adeleke is likely to open her season in the USA, Luke McCann will continue his comeback in Germany, and Laura Nicholson will race outdoors in Australia. 

The distance athletes will seek fast times at Boston University, the Sound Invite and elsewhere, collegiate-based sprinters and field eventers compete at Fayetteville and elsewhere, and the marathon men take on Seville.

Domestic action will be in the form of the National League final on Saturday and the National Intermediate and Masters Cross Country on Sunday.

Rhasidat’s return?

Rhasidat Adeleke, who hasn’t raced since July last year, appears on the startlists for two meetings in the US this weekend.

She is down for the 60m at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, NM, where she set the current national record for 60m (7.15a) and 200m (22.49a) in 2024, and the 300m at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, AR, a World Indoor Tour silver event. Both races are on Saturday, so she won’t be doing both.

Other Irish athletes scheduled to compete at the Tyson Invitational are Conor Kelly (400m), Elizabeth Ndudi (Long Jump) and Siún Quinn (High Jump).

Distance athletes chasing times in the US

Four Irish athletes are set to compete in the professional races at the Sound Invite in Winston-Salem, NC, which also carries World Indoor Tour silver status. After winning his race in impressive fashion in Boston two weeks ago, Darragh McElhinney will have another crack at the World Indoor qualifying time of 8:33.00

With just two places available, and Andrew Coscoran and Nick Griggs already after securing the standard, the standard is most likely needed. James Gormley, who raced at World Indoors last year, will likely also be chasing the standard.

Ronan McMahon-Staggs will race the Mile, while Hannah Segrave is down to contest the 800m.

A healthy contingent of Irish athletes are also due to compete at the David Hemery Valentine Invite at Boston University. Among them are Jack O’Leary, who would love to add the European 5000m standard (13:08.00) to the one he’s already secured over 10,000m; Abdel Laadjel who is on the 3000m startlist; Maeve O’Neill who has recently made big improvements over 800m and Cillian Kirwan, also 800m.

Other Irish entries include Oisín Lynch, Finn Boyle, Gemma Galvin, Claire Crowley (all 800m), Emmy Thornton (1000m), Louis O'Loughlin, Oisín Ó Gailín, Seán Donoghue, Liam Lyons, Seán Cronin, Cara Laverty, Nicole Dinan (Mile), Jack Fenlon, Charlie O'Donovan, Ava O'Connor, Roisin Treacy (3000m), Ryan McCarthy (3000m, 5000m), Claragh Keane, Grace Richardson (5000m).

Three of the Adams State crew appear to be using the weekend as preparation for upcoming championships as Louis O'Loughlin (800m), Oisín Lynch (Mile) and Ava O'Connor (Mile) are also scheduled to compete at the Harvard Crimson Open and Elite meeting across the weekend.

The men compete at Boston, MA on Friday and down the road in Cambridge, MA on Saturday, and the women are scheduled the other way round (Cambridge on Friday and Boston on Saturday), so such doubles are logistically doable.

Other US collegiate action

Diarmuid O’Connor, who recently broke his own Heptathlon record, is scheduled to compete in the 60m Hurdles and the High Jump at Harvard Crimson on Saturday.

Sean Aigboboh, who had a big breakthrough over 200m last weekend is down to compete over 60m at Howie Ryan on Friday.

The ever-consistent Lucy-May Sleeman is entered for both 60m and 200m at Tiger Paw Invitational across Friday and Saturday.

Victoria Amiadamen, who was Ireland’s fastest over 400m hurdles last season, will compete over 400m at the Jarvis Scott Invit in Lubbock, TX on Friday.

Sixteen more athletes have been added to the TrackAthletes NCAA/NAIA database this week, thanks to the help of Killian Lonergan/Athletics Ireland, which means even more collegiate meetings to follow. Check out the NCAA page for more information, and let us know of any further errors or omissions.

Nicholson Down Under

Larua Nicholson won her first race of the year over the mile in New Zealand three weeks ago, but will face much stiffer opposition as she takes on the Australians over 1500m at the Continental Tour Bronze meeting in Perth on Saturday.

European action

Luke McCann will continue his return to racing over 800m at Erfurt Indoor in Germany on Friday night.

John Kelly (Shot Putt), is among the entries at Aadax Locked-In, a World Indoor Tour Challenger event, in Sweden on Sunday.

Paul O'Donnell, Ryan Creech, William Maunsell and David Mansfield are among the elite entries for the Seville Marathon on Sunday morning.

Closer to home

Michael Alajiki (Triple Jump), Rachel McCann (200m, 400m) and Jenna Breen (400m) are among the entries for the British University Indoor Championships, which take place in Sheffield from Friday to Sunday. As countries are incorrectly assigned to many athletes on the entry system, we may have missed others.

Marcus Lawler (200m), Conor Callinan (Pole Vault), Sam Healy (Long Jump), Eoin Sheridan (Shot Put), Mark Smyth (60m) and Molly Scott (60m Hurdles) are among the athletes named in their teams for the National League Final which will take place in Abbotstown on Saturday.

The final weekend. The last few days. After more than a year, The Road to Tokyo is coming to an end.

For many Irish athletes still competing at this point in the season, Tokyo spots have long ago been secured. Others are racing still for season’s bests and personal goals; the World Championships never was their main focus.

For a much smaller group, this weekend will be a nail-biting climax to the regular season, as they either make one last effort to secure a quota spot, or sit at home hoping that others don’t take theirs.

Being one of the designated national championship windows, there were never going to be many high-ranking meetings this weekend, but Diamond League meetings on Wednesday and Friday keep things interesting, and a number of athletes, maybe even a few Irish ones, are making a last-dash attempt to hit standards at Category F meetings in Tooting Bec and Pfungstadt.

The Scottish Championships provides an opportunity for some of the field eventers to end the season on a high. And the autumn road season is set to ignite in Larne.

Diamond Leagues in Lausanne and Brussels

Brian Fay, currently sitting precariously just inside the quota spots for Tokyo, is racing the Lausanne Diamond League this evening (Wednesday). Not only will he be hoping for a strong performance and a ranking improvement, but he’ll be hoping that none of his Road to Tokyo rivals run fast enough and finish high enough to overtake him.

The good news for Fay is that, apart from half a dozen national championship events on Sunday, this is the last opportunity before Sunday’s deadline for athletes to improve their 5000m ranking.

Lausanne will be shown live on Virgin Media Three from 7-9pm, Wed 20 Aug.

Andrew Coscoran, already qualified in the 1500m, and sitting a few places above Fay in the 5000m rankings, is on the startlist for the shorter distance at the Brussels Diamond League on Friday.

Concoran will be looking for a strong showing against a field that wouldn’t be too dissimilar to a World Championship semi-final.

Shauna Bocquet is due to race in the 400m wheelchair (T54).

Brussels will be shown live on Virgin Media Three from 7-9pm, Fri 22 Aug.

Last chance saloon in Tooting Bec

The British Milers Club (BMC) Record Breakers meeting in Tooting Bec, London, is but a Category F meeting. While lacking in potential World Ranking placing points, however, it offers fast-paced races and, for some, a final shot at the Tokyo automatic standard.

While some, particularly in the Men’s steeplechase, will be gung-ho for the Tokyo time, others are simply looking for a final blowout before the World Championships, ending the season with a personal best, or ticking off the European standard for next year before signing off for the season.

Among the Irish on the entry list are Sarah Healy and Alex O’Neill in the Women’s A 800m, Nick Griggs, Shane Bracken and James Gormley in the Men’s A 1500m, and Laura Nicholson in the Women’s A 1500m.

Kevin McGrath, Callum Morgan, Lughaidh Mallon, Seán Donoghue, Nadine Donegan and Amy O'Donoghue are also set to compete over 1500m, while  John Travers is among the entries in the 3000m.

The event will be streamed on RunnerSpace+ Plus (subscription required) from 6.25pm, Wed 20 Aug

Final Call Tokyo

Final Call Tokyo by name, final call Tokyo by nature! Darragh McElhinney and Nick Griggs are among the athletes heading to Oslo on Saturday for a final crack at the 13.01 5000m Auto Q for Tokyo.

McElhinney is currently sitting one spot outside the quota spots, with a Diamond League wildcard still to be added, and no obvious withdrawals ahead of him. If he just misses the time (i.e. 13:02 or faster), but wins, there is still a chance that he would squeeze into a quota spot.

For Griggs, it is Auto Q or bust. Despite having the Athletics Ireland B standard in two events, if he doesn't run 13:01.00 or faster, he'll be watching Tokyo from home.

Another popular category F meeting

Similar to the BMC event in London, the Pfungstädter Abendsportfest this evening (Wednesday) has an entry list of a far higher standard than its Category F status suggests. Again, athletes are using the paced races as a final opportunity to hit a time target.

While there are no Irish athletes competing, the meeting may still be worth following. Startlists and live results can be viewed here.

Scottish Championships

Among the entries for the Scottish Open Championships on Saturday and Sunday are Long Jumpers Sam Healy, Lauren Callaghan and Ruby Millet, while John Kelly is entered in the Shot Putt. 

Molly Scott is among the entries in the 100m Hurdles, which also lists Cyréne Samba-Mayela (FRA), the Olympic silver medallist, and Jamaica's Chrisma Taylor, who has a best of 12.61 - a reflection, perhaps, of the relative shortage of races this weekend and in the run-up to Tokyo.

There will also be an Irish U17 development team competing at this event and Athletics Northern Ireland are sending some senior athletes, so keep an eye out for other Irish athletes in the results.

Niamh Fogarty is also expected to compete at the Danish National Championships over the weekend.

World’s best descend on Larne

Paul O’Donnell, Ryan Creech, David McGlynn, Niamh Allen and Nichola Sheridan are among the Irish athletes set to compete alongside some of the best distance runners in the world at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in Larne on Sunday.

Geoffrey Kamworor, a multiple World Champion at both Half Marathon and Cross Country, and Joshua Cheptegei, the reigning World and Olympic 10,000m champion and World 5000m and 10,000m record holder, headline the men’s field.

Lilian Kasait is the fastest in a women’s field that also includes European Half Marathon Champion Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal.

The race will be shown live on Youtube.