Nothing beats a golden send-off to the Olympics, and even if Sarah Healy and Sophie O’Sullivan chose that path to Paris in different events their winning of national titles at the Morton Stadium on Sunday came about equally smooth and satisfying.
Both Healy and O’Sullivan had already booked their 1,500m ticket along with Ciara Mageean, who skipped the championships for a fifth successive year, and for Healy the preference this time was to test her speed over 800m. Turns out that’s motoring impressively well, the 23-year-old kicking effortlessly away in the last 100m to win in 2:03.64, ahead of defending champion Louise Shanahan (2:04.17), with Jenna Bromell third in 2:04.41.
Last year Healy just got the better of O’Sullivan in the 1,500m, so the 22-year-old Cork runner upgraded her effort to gold this year after she hit the front with a lap to go and held on to win in 4:20.45 ahead of Carla Sweeny, second in 4:21.13. Her gold medal was presented by her mother Sonia, who won the same event five times, most recently before the Sydney Olympics in 2000, where she went on to win her 5,000m silver.
Mark English is now poised for his third Olympics in the 800m, and signed off with his ninth outdoor title, to sit neatly with his nine indoors, his winning time of 1:49.18 coming after a purely tactical affair.
“I first won this title in 2011, it’s been a long time, and it doesn’t get any easier,” said the 31-year-old, “so delighted to come away with the win. I’m kind of approaching the end of my career, and my aims this year was to make the Olympics, and break the record national in the process. So everything from here is a bonus, and looking forward to Paris now.”
Cathal Doyle from host club Clonliffe Harriers has quietly built a stellar reputation for tactical championship running, and proved that again when winning a third successive 1,500m title in 3:44.15 ahead of UCD’s Luke McCann (3:44.54) and Bantry’s Darragh McElhinney (3:44.67).
“It wasn’t pedestrian, maybe just a bit more cagey, I was confident either way,” Doyle said, who like McCann is sitting just inside the Paris quota. “I’ve won it slow and I’ve won it relatively fast, so I don’t really mind. There was a little bit of panic in the back straight, but the crowd was buzzing, people all the way around, and once I came into the straight I was confident.”
Thomas Barr also claimed his 12th national title in the 400m hurdles, his 50.61 well short of the 48.70 automatic qualifier for Paris though the Waterford man is also just inside the Paris quota. “To be honest I completely messed that up,” Barr conceded, though he’ll still make Paris in the mixed relay.
The 400m finals would help determine those Paris relay positions too, and Sophie Becker underlined the form which saw her help the women’s 4x400m win silver at the European Championships by taking the title in 52.68, ahead of Rachel McCann (53.60) and Lauren Cadden (53.66).
Chris O’Donnell fell just short of winning a sixth men’s title in seven years, fading on the line, in part due to recent illness, just as Jack Raftery powered past, the 23-year-old from Donore Harriers winning his first senior title in 45.95, with O’Donnell holding on for second in 46.07, Callum Baird third in 46.20, and Tokyo Olympian Cillín Greene fourth in 46.85.
“I’ve had a rough year so far, between injury and illness, it’s been a fight to get here, so I’m delighted,” said Raftery. “I ran my own race, and it went exactly the way I wanted it to go.”
In the field, Nicola Tuthill of UCD gave her Olympic qualification chances a boost by throwing 68.54m to take gold in the women’s hammer, and Kate O’Connor, currently within the Paris qualifying quota in the heptathlon, won the javelin on Saturday, throwing a best of 48.73, then came back for the shot, winning silver there with a best throw of 13.87.
Niamh Fogarty continued her excellent season to take the discus gold with a best throw of 54.64m, while in the long jump Reece Ademola (7.76m) and Elizabeth Ndudi (6.16m) took home the gold medals.
Michelle Finn picked up another women’s 3,000m steeplechase gold, clocking 10:05.25. Kilkenny teenager Billy Coogan won the men’s steeplechase in 9:11.69, before Jodie McCann won the women’s 5,000m in 15:44.80.