Nationals unveil an embarrassment of riches

ATHLETICS:Who needs the World Championships in Daegu when the Irish National Championships offered a glimpse of the rich talent coming up through the ranks here, writes IAN O'RIORDAN

IT CAN’T be a good sign when your hamstrings are in bits five days after the National Championships, and you weren’t even competing. I’ve tried everything from gentle stretching to those expensive foam rollers, even the dreaded ice bath, and still it’s a struggle getting out of bed, particularly just there after a little siesta.

It’s an age thing, perhaps, but more specifically the result of those countless sprints up and down the steps of the Morton Stadium last Sunday – from the small press box to the temporary mixed zone – as one eye-catching performance after another demanded a quick word with the athletes involved. It really was one of those days in Santry: not exactly a full changing of the guard, but the young and the insouciant providing a taste of the new generation, and believe me, the future of the sport has rarely looked more exciting.

When, on Monday afternoon, the 17-strong Irish team was announced for the World Championships, it seemed like an afterthought. When there’s so much good stuff happening in domestic athletics, who needs to be in Daegu, in two weeks? And of course the London Olympics are really the next big thing.

Okay, so many of these young talents are unlikely to peak before next summer, but don’t let that put you off. There’s a lot more to athletics than even the Olympics, and a national title is still among the most cherished prizes around. Actually I was having a drink with a former national champion that evening – who also happens to be a former Olympian – and he reckoned Sunday was the best championships in years, had him “longing to be back out there again . . . in his prime”. He wasn’t the only one.

It was definitely the busiest championships in years: I was told to file “no more than 600 words” – and you should try squeezing all the action into that much copy. It would have been easier to run the 10,000 metres, although the danger there would have been a thorough lapping by Mark Kenneally, who ran a very decent 28:58.39, and surely now must achieve the marathon A-standard for London.

As it happened I’d almost used up all 600 words just describing the 400 metres hurdles, one of the first events on Sunday. Then it’s not every day a brother and sister win national titles, in the same event, in such convincing style. Thomas and Jessie Barr are exceptional yet relatively raw talents: Thomas, just 19, produced a championship best performance of 50.06 seconds – which actually makes him the fastest Irish-born hurdler ever. Jessie, aged 22, won her first senior title, in 57.38.

Bob Tisdall, by the way, ran 51.67 when he won the gold medal at the 400 metres hurdles at the 1932 Olympics, in Los Angeles – and Barr’s 50.06 is now only bettered by the American-born Tom McGuirk, who still holds the Irish record with his 49.73.

Barr is also just half a second shy of the A-standard for the London Olympics, so watch this space.

Sunday actually started off with Rob Heffernan winning a ninth title in the 10km walk, despite only deciding to compete a few hours before, as a trapped nerve in his back and a small tear in his hamstring had interrupted his training in recent weeks – and the women’s senior 5km walk title was won by 17 year-old Kate Veale, who as if we didn’t know already, is an absolute star in the making. Veale is as comfortable talking to us as she is out walking on the track, and it is a pity she’s that bit too young for London, because she will, in time, beat the best in the world.

Ciara Mageean has already achieved so much in her career that it’s hard to believe she’s still only 19 – although Sunday marked a coming of age of sorts. She set off in the women’s 800 metres without any respect for tactics, passing 400 metres in 57.6 seconds. “Suicidal!” shouted Greg Allen, in the RTÉ commentary position, and he was right. Mageean was still leading coming into the final straight, but was soon swimming in a sea of lactic acid, as we say in the business. She collapsed, just as she crossed the line, allowing Siobhan Eviston to take the title, in 2:06.69.

Mageean’s disgust at only winning silver was written all over her face, but we reckoned she might actually have done herself damage. (Check out her race on the RTÉ Player.) How wrong we were! Exactly one hour and 45 minutes later she was back on the track, for the 1,500 metres, and this time ran with tactical perfection – winning in 4:16.36. “Well I’m not the kind of person to give up,” Mageean told us, “and sure that’s what athletics is about, taking risks.”

Indeed it is, and the Down youngster now hopes to begin veterinary studies at UCD, while very much intent on qualifying for London next summer. I wouldn’t bet against it.

At the risk of sounding biased I thought the classiest performance on Sunday was Mark English winning the 800 metres, in 1:50.22, at age 18. Was he even breathing? It looked like the sort of time he could run in his sleep, and the good news English also intends on studying at home, probably DCU, despite the desperately keen interest of several American colleges.

Then came Paul Robinson, just turned 20, winning the 1,500 metres, to go with his recent achievement of becoming Ireland’s youngest sub-four minute miler – while on the field, Princeton University student Conor McCullough, also only 20, threw the hammer 72.67 metres, moving him to fifth on the all-time Irish list, directly behind his father, Conor senior. McCullough has dual Irish-American citizenship but the hope is his future is in the green vest.

It would be wrong to forget the old guard as Santry also proved the showground for the enduring talents of Derval O’Rourke (a ninth 100 metres hurdles title) Alistair Cragg (an incredibly fit-looking 5,000 metres champion), Joanne Cuddihy (a 52.15 400-metre B-standard for the World Championships) and Paul Hession (still Ireland’s fastest man, and now A-standard qualifier for London with his 20.51 for 200 metres).

Dare I say David Gillick was hardly even missed? Although he won’t be the only one missing from the World Championships. Daegu may be a dress rehearsal for London, but which performance would you rather attend? Here’s looking forward to the 2012 National Championships already.