Athletics Ireland may not ratify the sprint performances of Benji Richardson for national record purposes until he becomes eligible for international competition next year.
Richardson’s transfer of allegiance from South Africa to Ireland was confirmed by World Athletics in November, although for international competition this does require as standard a three-year waiting period from when he last competed for South Africa.
For Richardson this was at the Paris Olympics in 2024, when at age 20, he just missed the final of the 100m by one place. It means he will be eligible to compete for Ireland on the international stage from August 2027, in time for the World Athletics Championships in Beijing the following month.
At the South African Championships in Stellenbosch on Thursday night, Richardson finished second in the 100m in 10.16 seconds, having run 10.08 in his semi-final – a time which equalled the current Irish 100m record set by Israel Olatunde last August.
READ MORE
Although Richardson is now listed as an Irish athlete in global ranking terms, and on the World Athletics top-lists, Athletics Ireland will have to consider whether to ratify his times run since his transfer of allegiance, for national record or ranking purposes, an option which is open to them.
Athletics Ireland will discuss the matter at a meeting of their technical committee next month, although the likelihood is they will also wait until Richardson is eligible to compete on the international stage before ratifying his sprint times for the Irish record books.
That may only be a matter of time, however. In July 2024, Richardson ran his 100m best of 9.86 seconds, also running a 200m best of 19.99 seconds – that time also well inside the Irish 200m record of 20.30 set by Paul Hession in 2007.
Richardson was born in Waterford, where his mother, from Ghana, was working as a nurse. He was then adopted by his Ghanaian grandparents, who lived in South Africa, which is where he grew up, and he has always held dual South African-Irish citizenship.
URC preview, women’s Six Nations and Munster’s controversial new appointment
When Richardson ran his 100m best of 9.86 seconds in Switzerland in July of 2024, it was the then second fastest time ever run by a South African behind national record holder Akani Simbine (9.82).
He studied at the University of Pretoria, and his times of 9.86 and 19.99 also means he was also one of only four South African sprinters (after Simbine, Wayde van Niekerk and Shaun Maswanganyi) to have run under 10 seconds over 100m and under 20 seconds over the 200m.
At the Paris Olympics, he reached the semi-finals of the 100m, where he ran 9.95 seconds to finish third, and missed out on the final by one place. He later pulled up early in the 200m with a hamstring injury.
He also ran 19.79 for 200m last summer, although that time was ruled out for record purposes because the wind of +2.3m/s was just over the legal limit.
