Shane Howard

All roads lead to the Munster Technological University (MTU) Campus in Bishopstown, Cork, on Wednesday, as elite athletes from across Europe, the USA and beyond take part in the 72nd running of the Cork City Sports.

Spectators in Cork can expect to see exciting action both on the track and the field, with the women’s Hammer and the men’s 100m among the likely highlights.

Irish stars confirmed for the meeting include Nicola Tuthill, who is edging ever closer to the 19- year-old national hammer record with every competition, speedsters Bori Akinola, Sean Aigboboh and Ciara Neville in the 100m races, 4x400m relay regulars Sophie Becker and Rachel McCann in the 200m, Sophie O’Sullivan (800m), Cathal Doyle (800m) and Fiona Everard (3000m).

Expected highlights in Cork

World and Olympic Hammer Throwing champion Camryn Rogers brings genuine elite quality to the meeting. The Canadian athlete has a personal best of 81.13 metres, placing her second on the World All-Time list. 

Tuthill has been in formidable form already this season, and is fast closing in on Eileen O’Keeffe’s National record. She got a win over the world record holder in Poland last week, and will be hoping that the stiff opposition helps inspire a big performance in front of her home crowd.

Two of Ireland’s top sprinters go head-to-head in the men’s 100m, but will face strong opposition from the assembled international field. 

Akinola, who improved his best to 10.19 at the start of the season, is the reigning 100m and indoor 60m champion, and has been unbeatable on the domestic scene in recent months. Aigboboh, now based in the US, meanwhile, has made big improvements, lowering the Irish 200m record to 20.27 in April.

Crunch time on the Road to Eugene

Among the Irish contingent are a number of under 20 athletes who have already achieved the selection criteria for the World U20 Championships, which will be held in Eugene, USA in early August. 

Decathlete Eoin O’Callaghan, is down for the domestic pole vault and high jump after a busy weekend at the National U20 Championships in Tullamore. Dubem Amah hit the 200m twice on Sunday on his way to the Irish U20 title. Siun Quinn, with a PB of 1.85, is the leading Irish entry in a very competitive women’s high jump competition.

Mikey Kent (long jump) and Pia Langton (800m) have each achieved the qualification standards for Eugene in their respective events on one occasion, and will hope to add the required second mark tonight. Kent needs to jump in excess of 7.60 metres, while Langton will look to run 2:06.00 or faster. 

Another under-20 athlete to look out for is Noah Harris. Harris finished 10th in the U20 race at the European Coss Country Championships in December and 38th at World Cross Country in January, suggesting that the 8:02.00 3000m qualification mark is within his capabilities. The deadline for Eugene qualifying is midnight on Sunday.

The Road to Birmingham continues

Emma Moore (800m) already has the Athletics Ireland B standard for Birmingham, but is currently sitting just outside the ranking spots. Laura Nicholson who is currently sitting just inside the European Championship quota spots for the 1500m, steps down to the 800m tonight before making another attack on the Athletics Ireland B standard over the longer distance at the Monton Games on Friday.

Fiona Everard, who has been trying to qualify for the 10,000m at European Championships, will race the 3000m tonight. With time and opportunities to achieve standards and pick up ranking points disappearing, the Bandon AC athlete will be hoping for considerable withdrawals ahead of her on the Road to Birmingham rankings, if she can add to a dream season which has already included a top 10 finish at Euro Cross, top 25 at World Cross, and a team silver with the Irish team at the recent European 10,000m Cup.

Sophie O’Sullivan, 2025 NCAA 1500m champion, already has the qualification standard in that event, and will get in some speed work over 800m tonight. Irish shot put record holder Eric Favors has both the Athletics Ireland B standard and a comfortable position on the Road to Birmingham rankings. Ava O’Connor has the Athletics Ireland B standard, and is currently within quota, for the 3000m steeplechase. She will race over the flat 3000m tonight.

Ciara Neville broke a seven-year-old 100m personal best last month. The Irish champion will likely need to boost her ranking points to secure her spot for Birmingham.

How to follow

The event will be broadcast on the Cork City Sports YouTube channel, with timetable, startlists and live results available here. The women's hammer will open the international programme at 6.30pm.

Other Irish storylines

Cormac Dalton (3000m), a member of the silver-medal-winning Irish senior men’s team at last December’s European Cross Country Championships, will be toeing the startline for the first time since sustaining a stress reaction in his femur. 

Niall Murphy, also racing the 3000m, won team gold with the Irish U23 team at the European Cross Country Championships in December.

Shane Howard is the number 1 Irish long jumper this season, but both Kent and Ryan Onoh are fast-improving. Onoh got the better of Kent to take the Irish U20 title on Sunday, a taste of a potentially intriguing rivalry over the coming years.

Nathan Cremin (800m) and Liam Lyons (mile) have both had major breakthroughs in the US collegiate system already this year. Cremin has improved his 800m best from 1:50.25 to 1:46.45, while Lyons improved to 3:38.38 over 1500m and 3:54.98 in the mile.

Elsewhere

Irish athletes are expected to compete a pair of other Continental Tour bronze meetings in Europe tomorrow. Jodie McCann and Ronan McMahon-Staggs (1500m) are on the startlists for Meeting Lignano, while Maddie Mooney (1500m) will compete at the Joensuu Motonet GP in Finland.

McCann will have another crack at the Athletics Ireland B standard for Birmingham, which she just missed when running a personal best of 4:07.47 at the Ordizia Meeting in Spain on Saturday. 

McMahon-Staggs, the national indoor bronze medallist, will be looking to improve his 2025 personal best of 3:38.23.

Mooney was on pacing duties at the Diamond League in Eugene on Friday, where she took the 1500m women to 1000m. She ran a personal best of 4:11.32 In Portland last month.
 

This weekend starts with a Continental Tour Gold meeting in Zagreb on Friday and will end with a Diamond League meeting in Paris on Sunday. A small number of Continental Tour silver, bronze and challenger meetings are also due to take place across the weekend.

Sharlene Mawdsley (400m) will make her Diamond League debut in Paris, as Sarah Healy runs her first 1500m of the year. Though not a Diamond event, Andrew Coscoran is up against some formidable opposition in the men’s 1500m.

After breaking the National 1000m record in Ostrava, Mark English will return to the 800m in Zagreb, where Emma Moore and Cathal Doyle will continue their quest for Birmingham qualification.

Diamond League

On Friday, Paris Police Authorities requested the cancellation of major gatherings scheduled for this weekend in Paris. While temperatures are expected to have dropped by Sunday afternoon, the authorities stated that emergency services in the area are already strained. However, at the time of writing, it has just been confirmed that the event will go ahead under an adapted format.

Meeting de Paris is the 8th Diamond League of the season. Three Irish athletes have already competed in Diamond events in 2026, and Mawdsley will add her name to that list on Sunday when she takes on Marileidy Paulino, Natalia Bukowiecka, Lieke Klaver and others over 400m.

The Newport AC athlete secured the Auto Q for Birmingham last September, and has run the four fastest times of her career in her opening four individual 400m races of 2026. She is edging ever closer to sub-50, a time that would place her among the elite end of European 400m running.

Healy leapt to number two on the Irish all-time list for 5000m and achieved the European Championship Auto Q at the Rome Diamond League. Dropping down to a more familiar distance on this occasion, Healy will be looking to demonstrate the sort of form which earned her a maiden Diamond League win last season.

Coscoran has been in good, but not outstanding, form so far this season, falling just short of his mile best in his last outing in Oslo, and finishing 6th over 1500m (3:31.65) at the Rabat Diamond League. His three-year-old national record of 3:30.42 is ripe for revision when he combines the finishing speed he demonstrated in his opening races with ideal positioning at the bell.

Continental Tour Gold

There has been a strong Irish representation at all the European-based Continental Tour Gold meetings so far this season, and Friday’s Boris Hanžeković Memorial in Zagreb will be no different.

English has been racing extensively this season, to much success, already breaking national indoor 600m and 800m records, as well as the aforementioned national 1000m mark, and achieving his first Diamond League win in his opening race of the outdoor season.

Doyle still needs the Auto Q for the European Championships, a mark he missed by just half a second when finishing 5th at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku in early June, or some fast results in high-ranking races like Friday’s test in Croatia.

He is currently about 10 places outside the quota spots on the Road to Birmingham, but two good results would see him leapfrog many of those currently ahead of him. After missing out on a place in Rome, due to the quota spots being exceeded on qualification standards alone, Doyle will be keen to better 3:33.50, and not leave it up to the ranking-points lottery.

Moore ran a personal best 2:00.71 in Ostrava, and in the process secured the Athletics Ireland B standard for Birmingham. She is currently two spots outside quota, but a similar result on Friday would catapult her up the rankings.

Benjamin Richardson, who will be eligible to represent Ireland from August 2027, is due to race the 200m.

Other Continental Tour Meetings

Nicola Tuthill is due to compete in the Hammer at the Czesław Cybulski Memorial (Continental Tour Silver) in Poznan, Poland on Sunday, ahead of appearances at both the Cork City Sports and Morton Games in July. Among her opposition will be the World Record Holder Anita Włodarczky, who has a PB of 82.98, but whose season's best is not far beyond the 72.48 Tuthill threw earlier this year.

A number of Irish athletes are entered for the Immobel Infinity EAP Meeting Nivelles, a Continental Tour Challenger meeting, in Belgium, on Saturday, and the Meeting International Troyes Aube (Continental Tour Bronze) in France on Sunday. Indeed, two of the sprinters, Colin Doyle and Lucas Fadden, are entered for both.

The Nivelles timetable has been adjusted to avoid the hottest part of the day, while there is no confirmation on the status of the Troyes Aube meeting at the time of writing.

Joining Doyle and Fadden in Troyes Aube will be Jodie McCann, who will continue her quest for the Athletics Ireland B standard for Birmingham of 4:07.00, and valuable ranking points, over 1500m, and Arlene Crossan, who will look to continue her steady improvement over 400m Hurdles.

Sam Healy, Shane Howard and Ryan Onoh are all due to go in the Long Jump in Nivelles, where David Cussen (High Jump) looks set to open his 2026 account.

Fintan Dewhirst saw his younger brother Ethan again jump ahead of him on the Irish all-time list, and will be looking to continue his rise up the all-time rankings. Only two Irish athletes have ever broken 50 seconds for the event, but recent form suggests that a Dewhirst may well become the third. Kelly McGrory is entered for the women’s 400m Hurdles.

Sophie Becker is scheduled to race the 200m, while Jenna Breen is down for the 400m. Other entries include Orlaith Mannion (100m, 100m Hurdles), Oisín Lynch and Robert Hewison (800m)

While the Cork trio of Healy, Howard and Onah are potentially going head-to-head in Belgium on Saturday, another Long Jump talent, Mikey Kent, will be competing at Korzo Jump (Continental Tour Challenger) in Croatia on Sunday. The multi-skilled Wexford man added Irish schools Pole Vault and Long Jump titles to his growing resume in early June, winning the latter in a championship best performance of 7.57m (+1.9m/s).

Nathan Cremin (800m) and Zoe Toland (1500m), both of whom have been in personal best form this summer, were due to compete at Meeting International de Carquefou (Continental Tour Challenger) in France on Saturday, but that event has now been cancelled.

Rory Devaney, a recent transfer from the USA to Ireland, will compete in the hammer at the LA Throws Cup in Wilmington, California. Devaney has a best of 74.16m from 2025, and has thrown beyond 72 metres already this season.

Elsewhere

Niamh Allen and Fiona Everard are among the athletes racing at the tRUNsylvania International 10K Cluj in Romania on Sunday. They both sit just outside the qualification spots the 10,000m in Birmingham. As one of the few 10km races where the elite women start separately from the men, it provides female athletes with a rare opportunity to post a qualification standard on the road.

Everard has already bettered the 32:00 mark, but did so in a mixed race so it won't be enough to get her to Birmingham. it will, however, give her confidence ahead of this attempt. Allen, who finished 6th (32:15.79) at the European 10,000m cup earlier this month, will also be riding high on confidence. While the race could count for ranking points, they would both need to run faster than 32 minutes to improve their current score.

Update: the organisers of Meeting International Troyes Aube announced on their social media on Saturday morning that they had not received any request to cancel the meeting, and that it would go ahead as scheduled. The programme for Czesław Cybulski Memorial has been delayed because of the high temperatures forecast for Sunday.

A strong Irish contingent will take on the European 10,000m Cup in Italy this weekend, dozens will flock to Brussels for the two-day IFAM Continental Tour Bronze meeting, others will take part in continental tour meetings in the USA, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany.

There is a strong entry for the Leinster Senior, Masters and U20 Championships, as well as the British Milers Club Meeting in Belfast. Dundrum South Dublin will compete in both the men’s and the women’s competitions at the European Champion Clubs Cup in Spain.

And there is Irish interest on the final day of the NAIA Championships in the US, at the World Race Walking Tour Gold meeting in Spain and at least three meetings across the spring bank holiday weekend in England.

European 10,000m Cup

The 2025 edition of this annual continental event was a memorable one as Efrem Gidey cruised to the men’s title, and in doing so won Ireland’s first European 10,000m Cup medal.

Efrem won’t be back to defend his title, but a number of individuals within the squad will be chasing qualification for this summer’s European Championships in Birmingham, as well as having team aspirations.

The women’s team looks particularly strong, with Niamh Allen and Fiona Everard looking to convert the form they’ve shown on the roads and the cross country already this year, to the 25-lap track event. Emily Haggard-Kearney and Sorcha Nic Dhomhnaill add further firepower. Patricia Jackman and Faye Dervan complete the team.

Allen finished 21st at the World Cross Country in January, and has been setting course records on the roads of Cork, and beyond, in recent weeks. This will be her first 10,000m race on the track, but fine runs over 3000m and 5000m last summer suggest that her talents aren’t confined to the roads and the country.

Everard was the first woman home at the 10km de Saint Medard en Jalles in France at the end of March. Her winning time there was 31:58, faster than the Auto Q for Birmingham, but while times for road races can count, for women they must be set in women’s only races.

Haggard-Kearney, with an official best of 32:51 on the roads (she ran 32:01 at the Trafford 10km, an event not listed on the World Athletics Calendar, earlier this year), and Nic Dhomhnaill, who ran 32:24 at the Valencia 10km in January, also have the potential to set new marks on the track, and contend for a spot in Birmingham.

Callum Morgan, already an established underage international, will be racing his first 10,000m, after breaking the Northern Irish 10km record with 28:08 in Valencia. Morgan has already secured the Northern Ireland 5000m consideration standard for the Commonwealth Games, but his presence at this event suggests that he also has at least one eye on Birmingham too.

Oisín Ó Gailín made his Irish senior debut at this event last year, where he finished 7th in the B Final (29:02.05). Michael Murphy and Jamie Battle, both making their Irish senior debuts, complete the team

Any athlete who doesn’t hit the qualification standard (auto Q), could still make the Birmingham team by ranking. To do so, they would need to hit the Athletics Ireland B standard (28:30 for men; 32:55 for women) and have a ranking, based on their best two performances, at least one of which needs to be run on the track, during the qualification window.

European U23 champion Anika Thompson is currently the only Irish woman on the road to Birmingham list for 10,000m. She is ranked 43rd, with 27 spots available, but has secured the B standard. The battle for places on the men’s side is likely to be fierce. Gidey already has the Auto standard, as does Jack O’Leary. Four others have achieved the B standard.

IFAM: Brussels Bonanza

There are just over 100 Irish athletes on the entry list for the 2-day IFAM meeting in Brussels (Continental Tour Bronze). Among them are Sharlene Mawdsley, entered for both the 200m and 400m, Sophie Becker (400m), Irish U23 steeplechase record holder Ava O’Connor, Luke McCann continuing his injury return over 800m, and Arlene Crossan, who will look to bring her recent relay form to the 400m Hurdles.

IFAM is often a breakthrough meeting for many athletes, and among the emerging athlete names to look out for are Craig Duffy, who was in flying form at the IUAA Championships last month, Erin Friel (200m, 400m), Niall Murphy (5000m) and Abbie Sheridan (3000m steeplechase).

Other European meetings

If the number of Irish competitors in Brussels looks a little lower than last year, that may well be because a number of athletes are competing elsewhere over the weekend, including at other Continental Tour meetings.

Biggest of these is the Internationales Pfingstsportfest Rehlingen, a Continental Tour Silver meeting in Germany on Sunday. Jodie McCann, Eimear Maher and Laura Nicholson are all in the 1500m field, and they will be looking for a fast time and big ranking points towards European Championship qualification.

With PBs in the 4:07-4:08 range, all three are within touch of the Athletics Ireland B standard of 4:07.00 for Birmingham, the minimum required for selection. Nicholson is currently within quota on ranking, but lots will change over the coming weeks.

Alex O’Neill, another with Birmingham aspirations is on the 800m startlist and Mark Smyth has been added to the 100m field.

Andrew Egan (200m) and Conor Cusack (Javelin) are among the entries of the Pfingstmeeting (CT Challenger) in Switzerland on Saturday. Irish Half Marathon record holder Fearghal Curtin is entered for the Spåret 5000m (CT Challenger) in Sweden on Saturday. His best for the distance is 13:34.44 from 2023. Niamh Fogarty, Irish Discus record holder, will compete at the Sæby Wind Challenge (Cat F) in Denmark.

Oisin Lane and Aisling Lane are both on the 10km startlists for the Gran Premio Internacional de Marche Cantones de A Coruña in Spain on Saturday.

Ireland will be represented by DSD in both the men’s and women’s section of the European Champion Clubs Cup in Castellón, Spain. Among the star performers named in their team are Mollie O’Reilly (100m), Ciarán Carthy (400m), Amy O’Donoghue (800m), Paul O’Donnell (3000m), Megan Ryan (5000m), and Kate Doherty (400m Hurdles).

Closer to home

Nick Griggs (Mile) is the star name on the Belfast BMC startlist. It was at this event last year Griggs made his return from injury, running 3:55.97 in wet conditions. His best for the distance is 3:52.42 from Morton Games last July.

There are plenty of other names to look out for, including Ava O’Connor and Zoe Toland in the women’s mile, and Pia Langton and Emma Moore, who’ll be looking to continue their strong starts to 2026 in the women’s 800m.

Oisín Lynch, Callum Hurley and Robert Hewison are among a particularly strong men’s 800m lineup, while Louis O’Loughlin, Amy Greene and Roise Roberts are expected to race over 3000m.

There is lots of talent to watch out for at the Leinster Senior Championships in Carlow (SETU), particularly in the men’s sprints, men’s walk, and the field events.

Max O’Reilly, Adam Murphy, Mark Smyth and Marcus Lawler could face off over 200m, though Symth, as mentioned above, is now on the Rehlingen startlist. O’Reilly and sprint hurdler Adam Nolan are also entered in the shorter sprint.

Matthew Callinan Keenan (Pole Vault), Sam Healy (Long Jump), Saragh Buggy (Long Jump and Triple Jump), Sophie Meredith (Long Jump) and Eoin Sheridan (Discus Throw) are among those to watch out for in the field.

Matthew Glennon, Joe Mooney and David Kenny are all entered in the 5000m walk while Cliodhna Manning is down for the 100m and 200m.

Across the Atlantic

Irish 100m record-holder Israel Olatunde is on the startlist for both the 100m and 200m at the PURE Athletics Spring Invitational in Clermont, FL (Cat F), where Shane Howard is due to contest the Long Jump. Eric Favors will compete at the Throws U Series #3 event in Fleetwood.

Maddie Mooney (800m), James Dunne and Ronan McMahon-Staggs (both 1500m) and Roisin Flanagan (5000m) are on the startlist for the LA Track Festival, while Rory Devaney (Hammer) and Kate Joyce (Javelin) will compete at the Tucson Elite Throws (CT Silver) meeting on Saturday. Both meetings hold Continental Tour silver status.

There will also be Irish interest on the final day of the NAIA Championship on Friday. After cruising through Thursday’s heats, Nathan Cremin will race in the 800m final. Heather Murphy, who won the 10,000m title on Thursday is also entered for Friday’s 5000m final, though weather delays earlier in the week means she has had a day less than scheduled to recover.

Elsewhere, Charlie O’Donovan, fresh off his Penn Relays win, is the fastest entry for the mile at the Down the Stretch Track Fest (Cat F).

Looking ahead to midweek, 23 Irish athletes in individual events, plus two others named on relay squads, are declared for the preliminary rounds of the NCAA Division I Championships, which will start on Wednesday in Lexington, KY (East Regionals) and Fayetteville, AR (West Regionals). The top 12 athletes in each region will qualify for the National finals in Eugene in early June.

And in the UK

Mikey Kent (Long Jump) and Theo Hanlon (Shot Put), who both broke Leinster Schools championship records during the week, are entered for the BIGish Jumps and throws Fest in Bedford on Monday, along with Daena Kealy who made an impressive return to high jump action last Sunday and Cian Crampton (Discus), who missed the spring with a foot injury.

The popular Stratford Speed meetings in London have a reputation for producing fast times, and among the Irish athletes looking to impress at the first of this year’s series are Bori Akinola (100m, 200m), Paul Costelloe (100m, 200m), Michael Farrelly (100m), Ciara Neville (100m), Aisling Kelly (100m, 200m), Katie Bergin (100m), Sophie Becker (200m) and Hugo Magee (200m, 400m).

A small number of Irish athletes are also entered for the Comeback 5000m in London on Saturday.

Diamond in the rough

Finally, the second round of the 2026 Diamond League will take place in Xiamen, China, on Saturday. There are no Irish competitors, but plenty to interest athletics fans. The event will be shown live on Virgin Media Two from 12:00-14:00.