Athletics: Titles and tickets to Berlin on the line at Santry

Just because you’ve qualified doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to go. There’s always more on the line than just a national title when major championships are looming, and this weekend in Santry is no exception.

No Irish senior track and field title is easily won, and that’s the immediate priority at the Morton Stadium over the weekend – the championships also getting two-and-a-half hours live TV coverage on the Sunday evening (RTE2, 5.30-8.0pm) featuring most of the main finals.

Also on the line for many is selection for the European Athletics Championships which then begin on Tuesday week, August 7th, inside the still hallowed surrounds of Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

There are currently 31 Irish athletes qualified (including 11 already selected in the marathon events) only some still need to guarantee their ticket to Berlin.

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With three out of the four Irish relay teams also qualified (only the top-16 European nations were guaranteed of that) there are still some places to be filled too – and possibly a few hard decisions for Athletics Ireland.

Selecting athletes based on immediate and future potential is a bit of a balancing act, now more than ever. Here’s what we know: Thomas Barr, Ciara Mageean and Phil Healy are so far timing their run to Berlin to perfection, and will want to sign off in Santry on a winning note.

Third spot

Barr is chasing his eighth consecutive Irish senior title in the 400m hurdles – not easy by any standards – and just last weekend nailed third sport at the London Diamond League in 48.99 seconds, his first sub-49 this season.

Mageean ran a season-best of 2:02.13 for 800m at the Morton Games last week, and likewise 4:04.13 over 1,500m in Barcelona the week before, and will focus on the 1,500m in Berlin, having won European bronze at that distance two years ago. She’s down to run both events in Santry, even with both finals within 75 minutes of each other on the Sunday.

For some of the other non-marathon qualifiers there’s still a lot on the line. Mark English, who won the 800m bronze in Zurich in 2014, pulled up at the Morton Games with a leg injury, and will be need to prove his fitness in a race that includes Zak Curran, also qualified for Berlin with the 1:46.67 he ran in Oslo in June.

Healy has qualified over 100m/200m/400m for Berlin, but will do the shorter sprints only, focusing on 200m this weekend. Among those chasing the 100m title and a relay spot will be Gina Apke-Moses and Molly Scott, both part of the 4x100m team that won World Under-20 silver in Tampere earlier this month.