Latest news with #EuropeanU-18Championships
Sunday World
3 days ago
- Sport
- Sunday World
Ireland's Conor Kelly storms to gold at European U-20 Championships
Kelly set a new personal best in thrilling 400m final run in Finland Conor Kelly produced a remarkable performance to claim gold for Ireland at the European U-20 Championships in Tampere, Finland on Saturday evening, as the 18-year-old dominated the men's 400m final to win in 45.83 seconds. That broke his previous Irish U-20 record of 45.85 and brought him home well clear of France's Milann Klemenic (46.44) and Czechia's Ondrej Loupal (46.62). Kelly is the ninth Irish athlete to have won gold at the European U-20 Championships, which date back to 1970, with Elizabeth Ndudi the most recent winner before him, the Dubliner taking long jump gold in 2023. His time moves him eighth on the Irish all-time list. 'An incredible day at the office,' said Kelly. 'I need a bonus – I'm working overtime here. I just want to enjoy this achievement. It's taken a lot of work and I'm so proud.' Kelly had gone into the championships as the favourite and the Finn Valley athlete, who broke the Irish U-20 record indoors with 46.54, proved a class apart throughout, winning his heat in 46.94 and his semi-final in 46.58. Kelly was born and raised in London to Irish parents – his mother Mary-Jo hailing from Derry while his father, Steve, was born in Lisburn and grew up in Dublin. Last year, he smashed the Irish U-18 400m record to win bronze at the European U-18 Championships in Slovakia and then helped the Irish men's 4x400m team reach a final at the World U-20 Championships in Peru. 'Last year's bronze was great, but it hurt me,' he said. 'There's such a huge amount of work you have to put into this: food, going to bed early. There's so much day-to-day work at 100 per cent. My coaches, dietician, physio and all the people around me – it's a big team. This feels amazing.' Conor Kelly of Finn Valley AC, Donegal. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile News in 90 Seconds - Aug 9th Sean Doggett was also in action in the 400m final, finishing seventh in 47.16, while earlier in the evening, Precious Akpe-Moses – the younger sister of former European U-20 100m champion Gina – finished fourth in the women's 200m final, clocking 23.72 (-2.0m/s). Gold went to Germany's Judith Bilepo Mokobe in 23.40. 'The bend was so good and then I just think after all six races I've done, I might have lost it a bit,' said Akpe-Moses, who finished seventh in the 100m final on Friday. 'But I'm okay with where I came. Fourth in Europe was the best I could do, so I'm content.' Akpe-Moses returned to the track soon after to help Ireland to second place in their heat of the women's 4x100m, clocking 45.27 to automatically advance to Sunday's final alongside Fatima Amusan, Molly Daly and Leila Colfer. Switzerland took victory in 44.63. Cian Crampton had a strong showing in the men's discus final, the Edenderry athlete throwing his leading mark of 57.76m in the final round, which was good enough for sixth, with gold going to Dutch athlete Jarno van Dalen with 63.18m. 'I would have liked a bit more but I can't complain with sixth,' said Crampton. 'I was looking for a medal, but it didn't work out in my favour.' Dubem Amah was 'over the moon' to reach the men's 200m final after clocking 21.30 in his semi-final. The 17-year-old Tallaght sprinter went on to finish seventh in 21.76 into a stiff headwind (-2.9m/s), with gold going to Italy's Diego Nappi in 20.77. Cormac Dixon came home ninth in the 3000m in 8:48.27, while the Irish men's 4x400m team of Alex Cullen, Andrew Hayes, Ethan Dewhirst and David Davitt fell short of the final after clocking 3:12.28 to finish fourth in their heat.
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Ireland's Conor Kelly storms to gold at European U-20 Championships with record-breaking performance
That broke his previous Irish U-20 record of 45.85 and brought him home well clear of France's Milann Klemenic (46.44) and Czechia's Ondrej Loupal (46.62). Kelly is the ninth Irish athlete to have won gold at the European U-20 Championships, which date back to 1970, with Elizabeth Ndudi the most recent winner before him, the Dubliner taking long jump gold in 2023. His time moves him eighth on the Irish all-time list. 'An incredible day at the office,' said Kelly. 'I need a bonus – I'm working overtime here. I just want to enjoy this achievement. It's taken a lot of work and I'm so proud.' Kelly had gone into the championships as the favourite and the Finn Valley athlete, who broke the Irish U-20 record indoors with 46.54, proved a class apart throughout, winning his heat in 46.94 and his semi-final in 46.58. Kelly was born and raised in London to Irish parents – his mother Mary-Jo hailing from Derry while his father, Steve, was born in Lisburn and grew up in Dublin. Last year, he smashed the Irish U-18 400m record to win bronze at the European U-18 Championships in Slovakia and then helped the Irish men's 4x400m team reach a final at the World U-20 Championships in Peru. 'Last year's bronze was great, but it hurt me,' he said. 'There's such a huge amount of work you have to put into this: food, going to bed early. There's so much day-to-day work at 100 per cent. My coaches, dietician, physio and all the people around me – it's a big team. This feels amazing.' Sean Doggett was also in action in the 400m final, finishing seventh in 47.16, while earlier in the evening, Precious Akpe-Moses – the younger sister of former European U-20 100m champion Gina – finished fourth in the women's 200m final, clocking 23.72 (-2.0m/s). Gold went to Germany's Judith Bilepo Mokobe in 23.40. 'The bend was so good and then I just think after all six races I've done, I might have lost it a bit,' said Akpe-Moses, who finished seventh in the 100m final on Friday. 'But I'm okay with where I came. Fourth in Europe was the best I could do, so I'm content.' Akpe-Moses returned to the track soon after to help Ireland to second place in their heat of the women's 4x100m, clocking 45.27 to automatically advance to Sunday's final alongside Fatima Amusan, Molly Daly and Leila Colfer. Switzerland took victory in 44.63. Cian Crampton had a strong showing in the men's discus final, the Edenderry athlete throwing his leading mark of 57.76m in the final round, which was good enough for sixth, with gold going to Dutch athlete Jarno van Dalen with 63.18m. 'I would have liked a bit more but I can't complain with sixth,' said Crampton. 'I was looking for a medal, but it didn't work out in my favour.' ADVERTISEMENT Dubem Amah was 'over the moon' to reach the men's 200m final after clocking 21.30 in his semi-final. The 17-year-old Tallaght sprinter went on to finish seventh in 21.76 into a stiff headwind (-2.9m/s), with gold going to Italy's Diego Nappi in 20.77. Cormac Dixon came home ninth in the 3000m in 8:48.27, while the Irish men's 4x400m team of Alex Cullen, Andrew Hayes, Ethan Dewhirst and David Davitt fell short of the final after clocking 3:12.28 to finish fourth in their heat.
Irish Examiner
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Sophie O'Sullivan sprints to victory at NCAA Championships
With a devastating last lap of 58.43 seconds, Sophie O'Sullivan has etched her name on the exclusive list of Irish athletes to have won an NCAA title – the 23-year-old clocking 4:07.94 to win the women's 1500m at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday night. O'Sullivan, a final-year student at the University of Washington, is just the fifth Irish woman to have won gold at the event, following in the footsteps of her mother Sonia along with Rhasidat Adeleke, Valerie McGovern and Mary Cullen. O'Sullivan was born and raised in Australia but, as a dual citizen, she chose to represent Ireland in her mid-teens, winning 800m silver in her international debut at the European U-18 Championships in 2018. In 2023, she outsprinted her Irish teammate Sarah Healy to win the European U-23 1500m title and went on to become an Olympian in Paris last year. However, despite her achievements elsewhere, O'Sullivan had repeatedly come up short in her search for an NCAA title, finishing 12th in the 1500m final at the last two editions. She said she was 'pretty f**king happy' to hit the line in front in her final race as a collegiate athlete and had been 'running a bit scared' over the last lap, unaware of how much daylight she had put between her and her rivals. She came home well clear of Margot Appleton of the University of Virginia (4:08.99). O'Sullivan revealed she had endured some cyber bullying after one of her earlier disappointments at the event, but having struggled with injuries at times in recent years, she came into these championships fit and fully firing. 'I felt this year I was a different person, a different athlete,' she said. 'And based on the races I've had recently, I had no reason to think I should run bad.' The early pace in the final was slow, the field passing 400m in 68 seconds and 800m in just 2:21. O'Sullivan slotted into second on the opening lap but took control with two laps to run. 'I was just trying to hold my position on the inside lane and not let everyone box me out and trying to find a way out,' she told She shifted through the gears, stretching the field, on the penultimate lap, and then went for broke with half a lap to run, powering clear of the field on the final bend. She said it was 'special' to finish her NCAA career with a win. Her mother Sonia had won five NCAA titles during her years at Villanova University in the early 1990s. Asked about her plans and where she plans to base herself, Sophie said she was 'not too sure' but would look at the options on the table in the weeks ahead for a professional contract. 'My visa's up so I've got to leave America soon, I'm going to fly to London and go from there. We'll see.' Over the summer she will be based primarily in Teddington, linking up with members of the Melbourne Track Club, a professional group which is run by her father, Nic Bideau. She is already qualified for the Tokyo World Championships in September, having run 4:00.23 at the Olympics in Paris last year. Elsewhere at the NCAA Championships, Cork sprinter Lucy-May Sleeman was part of the Florida State team that finished seventh in the women's 4x100m, clocking 43.30. The women's 800m was won by Róisín Willis in 1:58.13, the daughter of Irish Olympian Breda Dennehy-Willis. A student at Stanford University, Willis is also eligible to represent Ireland though in her teenage years she chose to represent the US, where she was born and raised, winning the world U20 title in 2022. Meanwhile, Rhasidat Adeleke will be back in action this evening at the Stockholm Diamond League. The 22-year-old Dubliner finished fourth in Oslo on Thursday night in her first 400m race since last September, clocking 50.42, and she will hope to improve on that against a similar line-up in Stockholm. The race goes to the line at 6pm Irish time, with live coverage on Virgin Media Two and BBC Two from 5pm. On Saturday, rising star Nick Griggs made an excellent return to racing at the British Milers Club event in Belfast after a long layoff, winning the mile in 3:55.97 in rainy conditions.
Irish Independent
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Sophie O'Sullivan ‘pretty f**king happy' after sprinting to 1500m victory at NCAA Championships
At the Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday night, the 23-year-old unleashed a blazing 58.43-second last lap in the women's 1500m to take gold in 4:07.94, with the University of Virginia's Margot Appleton second in 4:08.99. O'Sullivan, a final-year student at the University of Washington, is just the fifth Irish woman to have won at the event, following in the footsteps of her mother Sonia along with Rhasidat Adeleke, Valerie McGovern and Mary Cullen. O'Sullivan was born and raised in Australia but, as a dual citizen, she chose to represent Ireland in her mid-teens, winning silver in her international debut over 800m at the European U-18 Championships in 2018. In 2023, she outsprinted her Irish teammate Sarah Healy to win the European U-23 1500m title, and went on to become an Olympian in Paris last year. However, despite her achievements elsewhere, O'Sullivan had repeatedly come up short in her search for an NCAA title in recent years, finishing 12th in the 1500m final at the last two editions. She said she was 'pretty f**king happy' to hit the line in front in her final race as a collegiate athlete, and had been 'running a bit scared' over the last lap, unaware of how much daylight she had put between her and her rivals. O'Sullivan revealed she had endured some cyber bullying after one of her earlier disappointments at the event, but having struggled with injuries at times in recent years, she came into these championships fit and fully firing. 'I felt this year I was a different person, a different athlete,' she said. 'And based on the races I've had recently, I had no reason to think I should run bad.' The early pace in the final was slow, the field passing 400m in 68 seconds and 800m in just 2:21. O'Sullivan slotted into second on the opening lap but took control with two laps to run. 'I was just trying to hold my position on the inside lane and not let everyone box me out and trying to find a way out,' she told She shifted through the gears, stretching the field, on the penultimate lap, and then went for broke with half a lap to run, powering clear of the field on the final bend. She said it was 'special' to finish her NCAA career with a win. Her mother Sonia had won five NCAA titles during her years at Villanova University in the early 1990s. Asked about her plans and where she plans to base herself, Sophie said she was 'not too sure' but would look at the options on the table in the weeks ahead for a professional contract. 'My visa's up so I've got to leave America soon, I'm going to fly to London and go from there. We'll see.' Over the summer she will be based primarily in Teddington, linking up with members of the Melbourne Track Club, a professional group which is run by her father, Nic Bideau. She is already qualified for the Tokyo World Championships in September, having run 4:00.23 at the Olympics in Paris last year. ADVERTISEMENT Elsewhere at the NCAA Championships, Cork sprinter Lucy-May Sleeman was part of the Florida State team that finished seventh in the women's 4x100m, clocking 43.30. The women's 800m was won by Róisín Willis in 1:58.13, the daughter of Irish Olympian Breda Dennehy-Willis. A student at Stanford University, Willis is also eligible to represent Ireland though in her teenage years she chose to represent the US, where she was born and raised, winning the world U20 title in 2022. Meanwhile, Rhasidat Adeleke will be back in action this evening at the Stockholm Diamond League. The 22-year-old Dubliner finished fourth in Oslo on Thursday night in her first 400m race since last September, clocking 50.42, and she will hope to improve on that against a similar line-up in Stockholm. The race goes to the line at 6pm Irish time, with live coverage on Virgin Media Two and BBC Two from 5pm. On Saturday, rising star Nick Griggs made an excellent return to racing at the British Milers Club event in Belfast after a long layoff, winning the mile in 3:55.97 in rainy conditions.
