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Irish Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Ian O'Riordan: How the teen phenom Cooper Lutkenhaus broke my understanding of athletics
Coming out of Morton Stadium last Sunday evening, the plan for this week was to try to properly articulate what Mark English had just achieved in winning the 800m at the National Track and Field Championships . Calling on my deep understanding of athletics, going back over 40 years now, it would all make perfect sense. I would address how, at the age of 32, and 14 years after winning his first senior indoor title, English is running and racing better than ever, lowering his Irish record to 1:43.92 in June. His progress is partly down to the 800m being one of those events where full maturity often only comes over time, given the combination of raw speed and sheer endurance required. This is complemented with naturally developing strength and polished off with increasing confidence and experience. English also had the young pretender pushing him on Sunday. Aged 23, Cian McPhillips improved his 800m best to 1:44.19 last month, second only to English on the Irish all-time list. His time will come, but McPhillips had no answer to the closing speed of English. Not since the heyday of middle-distance running at Morton Stadium has there been a more popular or celebrated victory. By Sunday night, however, the plan had to change. Whatever about English running 1:43.92 at the age of 32, there was no making sense of the news that 16-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus had just run 1:42.27 to finish second at the US Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. READ MORE Where to even begin? At 16, Lutkenhaus is just half English's age. With any sort of natural progress, one can't help but wonder how he might improve over time. There is simply no telling, except to say Lutkenhaus appears to be without limits. His 1:42.27 last Sunday took over three seconds off his previous best of 1:45.45. That time had already shattered a US high school record which stood since 1996. Mark English celebrates winning the men's 800m at the National Track and Field Championships in Morton Stadium, Dublin. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho It also bettered the age-16 world record, the age-17 world record and ranks second fastest on the all-time age-18 list. His 1:42.27 would also have won Lutkenhaus all but three Olympic 800m titles in history. US sport has always been obsessed with the teen phenom. No wonder they've been falling over themselves to heap praise on Lutkenhaus, who is about to enter his junior year at Northwest High School in the small Texan town of Justin, population 4,409. Prominent running author and coach Steve Magness, who formerly worked with English, wrote on X: 'This is the most impressive athletic feat in history. There are no superlatives. His performance makes high school Lebron [James] look like nobody. Cooper Lutkenhaus take a bow.' [ Paris Olympics, one year on: 'It's a very difficult pill to swallow. It probably always will be' Opens in new window ] Esteemed website was a little less hysterical in saying: 'As for Lutkenhaus, when it comes to American middle-distance prodigies, Jim Ryun has been the benchmark, and for 60 years, none have surpassed him. But even Ryun, who made his first Olympic team at 17 and defeated Olympic champion Peter Snell to win the US mile title at 18, was not this good, this young.' LeBron James, aged 40, is still doing the business for LA Lakers, after famously going straight to the NBA after graduating from high school in Ohio in 2003. It's likely Lutkenhaus won't even finish high school, not once the professional offers start pouring in, even if that will only put additional pressure on his already impressively broad shoulders. As for Jim Ryun, now 78, he was also tracked down this week by US journalist Toni Reavis, and had similarly high praise for Lutkenhaus: 'One feature of his race that stood out to me specifically was his ability to remain relaxed in his final sprint. At the finish line, you could see all the other competitors grimacing as they raced toward the finish line. Cooper remained very relaxed.' Donavan Brazier crosses the finish line in front of Cooper Lutkenhaus to win the 800m final at the 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Photograph:Lots more people will get to see Lutkenhaus now, as he's the youngest ever member of the US team for next month's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. There's no saying what's achievable there either. Last Sunday, he came from seventh to second inside the last 200m, which he ran in 25.42, out in lane three. Donavan Brazier, the 2019 world 800m champion, completed his great comeback this season to win in 1:42.16, also a lifetime best. 'I saw someone coming up and I was like, 'Dang, this could be the high schooler,'' Brazier said trackside afterwards. 'This kid's phenomenal. I'm glad that I'm 28 and maybe have a few more years left in me, hopefully won't have to deal with him in his prime, because that dude is definitely special.' Run into fourth, and thus missing out on Tokyo, was reigning world indoor 800m champion and US record holder Josh Hoey, the current training partner of English. Bryce Hoppel, the 27-year-old 2024 world indoor champion, was third. Lutkenhaus is now the fifth-fastest in the world this season. Although he only qualified for the US final by .05 of a second, his baby-face looks won't disguise his potential in Tokyo. 'Just going out there having fun and trying to see what I can do against the best,' Lutkenhaus said of his race on Sunday. 'I knew I could PR, I knew I could run faster than 1:45. But actually going out there and doing it, it was definitely a shock.' It took current world record holder David Rudisha a few years to reach his best in the 800m. After being eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2009 World Championships, he won that title in 2011, before running his 1:40.91 to win Olympic gold in London in 2012, when he was 23. There is no telling if Lutkenhaus will be still running at that age, let alone still running his best at age 32, like English. And perhaps for now, only he understands what it takes to run that quickly at 16.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
‘I've always been a big fan of athletics, and it was now or never': Lorcan Murphy on swapping hoop dreams for the track
Is that him? Is that Lorcan Murphy, famous for his slam dunks and turnaround jump shots? Who abruptly retired from the Irish basketball arena last year, his international career still soaring? When Ireland's three fastest men took to the medal podium at last Sunday's National Track and Field Championships at Morton Stadium, perhaps some curious aficionado did point at Murphy in third place, asking those same questions. Spot on if so. The tattoo art down both his legs is an obvious hint, still recognisable from his basketball days, although his hair is cropped much shorter these days. Yet for all the crossovers in Irish sport, few if any have successfully and so speedily transitioned from the international basketball court to the track. It's even less likely anyone recognised Murphy as the current best all-round athlete in Ireland, the honour he earned last month when winning the national decathlon title. Running, jumping, throwing, hurdling, in quick succession, no other man in the country does it better than him. READ MORE Murphy's decision to retire from basketball with immediate effect in February 2024 caught a lot of people off guard – one of the online responses to his announcement referencing him as 'the Irish Michael Jordan'. In his last season with Templeogue, the Wicklow player scored 44 points in one game. That's how good he was. But after starring on the Irish team for almost a decade, his hoop dreams were already fulfilled; he had, however, a lingering desire to return to athletics, having first dabbled in the high jump as a youngster. Despite turning 30 last December, Murphy set out some new goals, keeping those closely guarded. Maybe it was just a long shot, especially given all the ego and swagger that comes with the men's 100m. 'It was a huge decision, and a lot of people were questioning what I was doing,' says Murphy. 'Because I was still playing semi-professional with my club, Templeogue, other teams were straight on to me asking me to join them. 'But I'd made up my mind. This was something I'd always wanted to do. I've always been a big fan of athletics, and it was now or never. So I had to make that commitment, go for it. Lorcan Murphy competes in the men's high jump at the National Senior Indoor Championships in February. Photograph: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile 'The basketball off-season was always the summer, so as a kid, my parents entered me in a few high-jump competitions. Because of my height, I was naturally decent. But I'd never done any other events, so it was going to be a lot different.' Murphy's original goal wasn't just in one athletics event, but in 10: after suffering a freak neck injury in training in 2022, which doctors said came close to leaving him paralysed, he first dreamed up the idea of competing in the decathlon – the 10-event discipline comprising of the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m on day one; then the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1,500m on day two. 'After the neck injury, where I broke the C5 and C6 vertebrae, as I was coming to terms with that I wrote down a few goals that I'd like to achieve, thinking more I'd never get to achieve them. One of them was to do the decathlon. 'With basketball, I'd train every day, never missed a session, and figured if I do that in athletics I'd be just as good. But I quickly discovered everyone in athletics trains every day. It was actually a whole new level of commitment.' He'd dipped his toes into the 100m last summer, running a best 11.17 seconds. Nothing to shout about there. So over the winter he joined up with Dundrum South Dublin AC, not too far from his home in Bray, and gave athletics his full attention outside of his day-job at Loreto Foxrock, where he teaches art. The club provided the expert coaching he needed, including Lucy Moore, who over the years played a role in the career of David Gillick and Irish women's high-jump record holder Deirdre Byrne. At 6ft 2in, Murphy was no giant by basketball standards, but would always make up for any lack of height with his speed, strength and agility. Lorcan Murphy in an Ireland v Luxembourg game at the National Basketball Arena in 2023. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho 'I think the plyometric nature of basketball, that's a benefit for a lot of events. The quick bursts of energy, tendon strength, the isometric exercises, that all translates very well to athletics. 'I had the high-jump skills, then after a couple of months training, realised I was actually getting fairly good at some of these events. All winter, I was doing 13 sessions a week, including gym sessions, training for all the decathlon events, up at 6am, before work. 'I could do it, just to enjoy it, but if I wanted to be competitive, I'd have to train properly. That's the thing about athletes; it was quite eye-opening that even club athletes competing here are fully committed like that. 'I'd also set the goal to break 11 seconds this season, for the 100m. I thought that was achievable. But the mental side of things as well. Playing on cup finals, internationals, it gives some mental stability, dealing with nerves. You know how to frame things. I've been through this before, this isn't bad. Just feel the excitement, reframe that to a positive thing. That was always strong in my basketball experience. 'Then in my first race in May, I ran 10.47, and thought, 'Oh, I could be on to something here.' So I concentrated a bit more on the sprint training, with the DSD sprint group. We also went on a training camp, to Tenerife, that brought me on a lot as well.' There aren't many opportunities to compete in the decathlon in Ireland, the main one being the National Championships, this year staged as part of the Athletics Ireland Games in Carlow on July 19th/20th. It was Murphy's only real chance to impress things upon himself, and perhaps others. After clearing 2.05m in the high jump at the Cork City Sports on July 9th, finishing third, he went to Carlow in high spirits. After winning the 100m in a new lifetime best of 10.37 seconds, there was no stopping him, and he ended up topping five of the 10 events, scoring an admirable victory on 6,305 points – well clear of second-placed Noah Gilmore, who scored 5,203. Murphy (left), of Dundrum South Dublin AC, shows his men's high jump silver medal at the National Senior Indoor Championships in February, with Ciaran Connolly of Le Chéile AC, Kildare, (gold), and Emmanuel Osas of Ratoath AC (bronze). Photograph: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile 'That was the big moment for me, running 10.37 in the 100m. Going into the 100m last Sunday, I was still dealing with a few niggles after the decathlon, from two weeks before. I'd strained a hip flexor in first-round heat, couldn't really warm up for the final, so [was] just blessed to get into the medals in such a high-quality field. Delighted.' The 100m title went to Bori Akinola of UCD AC, running 10.29, adding to his 60m indoor title won earlier this year. Sean Aigboboh, the latest prospect from Tallaght AC, won silver in 10.41, Murphy winning bronze in 10.57. Murphy has often rewatched the Sprint documentary series on Netflix, which follows the fastest men and women on Earth in the build-up to last summer's Paris Olympics. Still, he was a little taken aback by the attitude of sprinters on big race day. 'Initially I was thinking these guys don't seem to get along, don't seem to like each other, don't like me. I thought maybe it's just because I'm new. But no, because it's such an intense event, and is very testosterone-fuelled, everyone is focused on themselves, almost in an angry sense, to channel all that. 'But then after the race, all the lads I've raced against are sound, would all get on. There are lots of different personalities, and [they] approach things differently. Lorcan Murphy attacks against Kazadi Jonathan in an Ireland v Switzerland FIBA EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifier at the National Basketball Arena in 2022. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho 'For next year, I know my start can definitely improve. Once I get from 50m to 100m, I'm quite strong, but I can definitely work on the technical side.' If he's already defied his athletics goals, Murphy is used to that. In basketball, he would frequently defy his relatively short stature, or maybe defy gravity, and he also defied medical opinion with the speed at which he recovered from his neck injury; he also defied expectations by choosing to study pure art at IADT in Dún Laoghaire, the only member of the Irish basketball team not to attend a US college. Enjoying a postseason holiday in Crete this week, Murphy will soon set himself new goals for 2026, and wouldn't place limits on anyone else thinking of such a sporting crossover, no matter how late in their career. 'I'll definitely be staying with athletics; I enjoyed the year so much. I'm 30 years old, just finished my first decathlon, and made my first national 100m final. If there's something like that in the back in your mind, not just sport related, definitely go for it. 'Some of my own goals, I'd already written off, thinking I'd never achieve them. But it's always possible, once you commit.'
BBC News
03-08-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Griggs third as Doyle wins Irish National title
Nick Griggs won a bronze medal in the men's 1500m at the Irish National Championships at Morton race was won by Cathal Doyle, while Andrew Coscoran, who earlier won the men's 5000m, finished Under-23 silver medallist Griggs and Michael Power led a steady first lap and the race settled into a tactical had manoeuvred to the front by the bell, and Griggs showed a good kick heading into the final 100m as he tried to chase down the Olympic 1500m the 20-year-old came up just short of Doyle, who won in a time of 3:53.60, and the charging Coscoran (3:53.84) beat Griggs (3:53.90) to the line to take Olympian sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke and heptathlete Kate O'Connor were absent from the meeting, sprinter Sarah Lavin - one of the star attractions - won the women's 100 metre Olympian Coscoran beat Brian Fay in a tight men's 5000m final, while Sharlene Mawdsley claimed the women's 200m on Saturday ahead of withdrew from the 400m after her earlier medal, and that final was won by her 4x400m Paris team-mate Sophie Raftery claimed gold in the men's 400m, while Mark English won the men's 800m Neville and Bori Akinola won their respective women's and men's 100m finals, and Alex O'Neill pipped Sarah Healy in the women's 800m winning silver medals at the European Under-23 championships and the World University Games, Nicola Tuthill won the women's hammer throw at the Morton Stadium with a throw of 71.75m. Selected Results - Irish National Championships SaturdayWomen's 200m: 1. Sharlene Mawdsley (23.55), 2. Sarah Lavin (23.80), 3. Lauren Roy (23.88)Men's 200m: 1. Marcus Lawlor (20.66), 2. Darragh McConville (21.41) 3. Adam Murphy (21.51) SundayWomen's 100m hurldes: 1. Sarah Lavin (12.92) 2. Molly Scott (13.61), 3. Sarah Quinn (13.84)Women's 100m: 1. Ciara Neville (11.44), 2. Lauren Roy (11.49), 3. Mollie O'Reilly (11.60)Men's 100m: 1. Bori Akinola (10.29), 2. Sean Aigboboh (10.41) 3. Lorcan Murphy (10.57)Women's 400m: 1. Sophie Becker ( 52.87) 2. Rachel McCann (53.19) 3. Cliodhna Manning (53.99)Men's 400m: 1. Jack Raftery (45.71), 2. Christopher O'Donnell (46.27), 3. Ciaran Carthy (46.34)Women's 800m: 1. Alex O'Neill (2:04.53) 2. Sarah Healy (2:04.57), 3. Maeve O'Neill (2:04.69)Men's 800m: 1. Mark English (1:48.76) 2. Cian McPhillips(1:4926) 3. Andrew Thompson (1:49.93)Women's 1500m: 1. Laura Nicholson (4:13.32) 2. Zoe Toland (4:15.11) 3. Niamh Carr (4:16.08)Men's 1500m: 1. Catal Doyle (3:53.60) 2. Andrew Coscoran (3:53.86) 3. Nick Griggs (3:53.90) Men's 5000m: 1. Andrew Coscoran (13:34.14) 2. Brian Fay (13:34.92) 3. Jack O'Leary (13:41.47)
Irish Times
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Sonia O'Sullivan: I'll always remember my first time winning a national title
Like many things in life, you never forget the first time. The 153rd National Track and Field Championships take place this weekend at the Morton Stadium in Santry, the longest consecutively staged championships in the world. That makes for a lot of national champions since 1873, who every year get presented with the gold medal as the All-Ireland title winner in their event. Since the GAA All-Ireland finals have been moved to July, the championships have sometimes overlapped, and for most athletes winning a national title in track and field means every bit as much as it would in football, hurling or camogie. It's their All-Ireland medal, and I think most athletes best remember the first time they win one. It often comes at a time when they are embarking on to the international stage, and when winning a national title becomes a landmark moment in their career. I can certainly remember my first time, winning the National Cross-Country in 1987, at age 17, then winning my first senior title on the track that summer, in the 1,500m. In the years after there were many excursions and international flights to get back for the National Championships, often as a requirement to be selected for a championship team. READ MORE Every year has its own story, but 1987 always stands out as I was racing senior athletes I only knew from reading about in the Irish Runner and Marathon magazines. You also remember your last one, which for me was in 2003, in the 5,000m, which made for 14 in all. In a small country like Ireland, where the depth is not always strong across all track and field events, once an athlete makes it to the top then they will start to set bigger international ambitions. The hope is they will come back to defend their title, but for a variety of reasons that won't always be the case. We see this now with Rhasidat Adeleke , who has decided to bypass Santry this weekend and focus instead on her recovery from recent races and preparations the World Championships in Tokyo in September. That must be her priority, especially after her early-season races haven't exactly gone to plan. She won the 100m title last year in an Irish record of 11.13 seconds, also winning that title in 2021 and 2022. Rhasidat Adeleke will bypass Santry this weekend and focus instead on her recovery. Photograph: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile Tokyo is coming up fast now, and while it's unfortunate for the championships this weekend, you will always have some top athletes who can't be there because of injury. Other athletes will often take the opportunity to move away from their favoured event, especially if they are already qualified for the upcoming championships. We'll see that this weekend with Sarah Healy , who is moving down to the 800m, the event she won last year, and that will also be a useful tune-up in terms of race speed. [ Rhasidat Adeleke to sit out National Championships in favour of recovery Opens in new window ] Some top athletes, for whatever reason, don't necessarily want to race their favoured event, in case that results in some surprise defeat on home soil. For other athletes on the cusp of qualification, or outside the qualifying standard, winning a national title can add some valuable ranking points. There will be plenty of exciting action on the track and field, climaxing with the men's 1,500m final on Sunday evening, the last event in the RTÉ live TV window from 5-7.30pm. All the main contenders are down to race here, and the rivalry between Cathal Doyle and Andrew Coscoran continues after their recent battle across the lanes in the final 100m at the Morton Games. Doyle will be going for his fourth title in a row, while Coscoran has not been atop the podium since 2021. There will be no pacemakers this time, so this opens the door for a fast-finishing Daragh McElhinney, Shane Bracken or Nick Griggs, who may have something to prove if given a chance in a slow tactical race. Sharlene Mawdsley will likely move down to 200m, suitably recovered it seems from her recent early morning road-running sprint action after Tipperary won the All-Ireland hurling final. Brian Fay will also return from a training block in Spain to defend his 5,000m title. Anika Thompson of Team Ireland celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the gold medal in the women's 10,000m final during the European Athletics U23 Championships 2025 in Bergen, Norway. Photograph:Nicola Tuthill has been in excellent form this season in the hammer, winning silver at the European Under-23 Championships and then at the World University Games, and she will also be defending her national title and hoping to add a fourth gold medal to her growing collection. The ranking points would also help seal qualification for Tokyo. Anika Thompson has also had a memorable few weeks, winning European Under-23 gold in the 10,000m, the bronze in the 5,000m, and she'll be chasing her first national title over 5,000m. The dream matchup race would be Mark English and Cian McPhillips over the 800m, both athletes in the best form of their life, and now the two fastest men in Irish 800m history. At the Morton Games, McPhillips won the 800m in 1:44.19, second only to the national record of 1:43.92, which English set in June. Both are entered in the 800m but English is also down for the 400m, so we won't know until declarations are made for the heats on Saturday afternoon what race English will line up for, if any. The men's 400m could also provide some excitement with mixed relay spots for Tokyo on the line. Kate O'Connor is also fresh from winning the heptathlon gold medal at the World University Games, improving her own Irish record, and is entered in the long jump, shot put and javelin. So eyes will need to be focused on the field to get a glimpse of her in action. There are some perennial title holders who take great pride in defending their title each year. Sarah Lavin has a current streak of eight wins in the 100m hurdles, and should make that number nine this weekend, such is her consistency. There will always be some late withdrawals due to illness too, but even in the absence of a star attraction as Adeleke, the prize of winning a national title always creates some fierce competition. Especially for those aiming to win for the first time.
