Irish sprinting may be about to enjoy a renaissance, as Phil Healy and Ciara Neville – with a combined age of 39 – have both qualified for tomorrow’s 60m semi-finals at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, writes Will Downing.
Both finished fourth in their respective first-round heats to guarantee Irish interest for tomorrow’s final day, with two finals tonight also having Irish representation.
Neville, 17, was out first, clocking 7.46 seconds on the Belgrade track, finishing fourth behind Switzerland’s 100m bronze-medalist in Amsterdam, Mujinga Kambundji, with Stella Akakpo of France second and Klara Seidlová of the Czech Republic third.
Kambundji’s winning time being 7.24 seconds.
The Emerald AC athlete from Limerick equalled Anna Boyle’s 10-year-old 60m Irish record of 7.30 seconds in Athlone at the end of January, and the fifth-year secondary school student continues to impress.
Neville said: “I’m delighted with 7.46. It’s my fourth-fastest time ever so I’m happy that I could produce that here.
“I think it’s a fast track, it’s kind of bouncy. The stadium is really cool. It’s all a bit surreal. It’s a massive stadium and could be daunting.
“I came down yesterday to see what the atmosphere is like, so I wouldn’t be shocked today. It’s a really good experience.”
Healy, off the back of improving her personal best twice on the same night at the AIT Grand Prix in Athlone in February – 7.35 being broken by a 7.34 and then 7.31) – ran faster than Neville but still took the same finishing position, fourth place, in her heat.
A false start for Greek athlete Rafailía Spanoudáki-Hatziríga nullified what was a brilliant start from Healy first time around.
Her second start wasn’t as effective, but it still inspired her to clocking her fourth-best 60m mark ever, of 7.39 seconds.
The Bandon AC athlete commented: “That was the main aim, to come out and get the big Q (qualifying automatically) and I’m sure Ciara was the exact same.
“Times don’t matter when you come to a Championship. My aim to come out and get that big Q, and that’s what I got.
“When I was in the 400 yesterday, it was plain to see that times weren’t quick, as the bends are really tight.
“But there were a lot of national records and PBs on the inside track for the 60 metres.
“I held back slightly at the start because I didn’t want to be the one to be disqualified. It’s only the qualifying rounds and you can’t let that happen.
“When the girl in lane three was disqualified, I knew she was one time up faster than me, so that was in the back of my mind.
“But I came out, got the big Q – that was my main aim.”
Britain’s Asha Philip took the honours in 7.25, with Lisa Mayer of Germany second on 7.26 and Swiss Ajia Del Ponte third in a lifetime best 7.35.
The long-standing Irish record was set by Boyle at the 2007 European Indoors in Birmingham, and looks under threat tomorrow by both room-mates.
Two of tonight’s finals will contain Irish interest.
Ciara Mageean will look for a stronger performance in the women’s 1500m final at 6:45pm Irish time, having only got through as the last of the fastest losers.
Mageean claimed bronze in the outdoor equivalent last summer in Amsterdam.
John Travers goes in the men’s 1500m final half an hour later, after being advanced automatically to the decider after slowing down in last night’s semi-final when a recall gun was fired immediately after the start.
