A small but select Irish team
travelled to Sherbrooke, Canada for the 3rd IAAF World Youth
Championships held from the 9th - 13th July. The team of
5 athletes, along with manager Breda Synnott, Coach Brid Golden and
Physiotherapist Noel Burke returned from this competition with the best ever
results produced by an Irish team at these games and a confidence that Irish
Young athletes are able to compete alongside the best in the world.
Over 160 nations contested the
games and such was the level of competition that performances in many of the
events would rank among the medals at European junior and even under 23 level.
Ann Loughnane from Loughrea, Co
Galway set Irish eyes smiling on the opening night of competition, with a
brilliant silver medal in the Women’s 5K walk. Ranked 5th overall
going into the final, Ann was quietly confident that she had saved her best for
this race. Starting conservatively, she slowly worked her way through the field
and at the half way point was in 6th position. As the race progressed she
steadily improved and with 1km remaining was in a medal position. Ann then
chased the silver medal and took up second position with 600m remaining. She
extended the gap over the final lap to win a wonderful silver medal on the
world stage knocking 27 seconds off her best ever time, recording
23.37.00. The experience gained by this
young girl at the world junior championships in Jamaica in 2002 surely stood to
her in Sherbrooke and is proof that exposure to major competition in advance of
when an athlete will be most competitive is a worthwhile venture. Ann’s
thrilled parents were trackside to witness the event and how wonderful it was
for them to see the tricolour raised in Ann’s honour. Breda Synnott who has
travelled with and worked so hard for Irish Juvenile teams for decades was
justifiably proud of Ireland’s first medal by a juvenile athlete on the world
stage. Congratulations are also due to the entire Irish race walking community
who have worked diligently and professionally over the last number of years to
develop their event and who very much deserve their first world championship
medal.
Also competing on the opening day
of competition were Stephen Darcy from Bagnelstown in Co. Carlow and Claire
McNamara from Athenry, Co Galway. Stephen, a member of St Lawrence O Toole
athletic club competed in the long jump while Claire was in the high jump. Both
athletes performed well and were just a little below their best ever. Claire recorded a clearance of 1.70m and
Stephen a jump of 6.54m. This was their
first time being exposed to competition at this level and they will have
benefited from this experience.
Elizabeth McWilliams from
Ballymena & Antrim AC and Colin Costello from Star of the Sea athletic
club, Co. Meath were in action on the second day of competition in the heats of
the women’s 800m and Men’s 1500m respectively. Qualification from heats is
difficult on the world stage and both performed well to advance. Lizzie took
one of the automatic qualifying spots for the semi-final in wet and humid
conditions finishing third with a time of 2.11.14. Colin looked relatively
comfortable in his semi final and qualified as a fastest loser in 5th
position with a time of 3.57.49 just missing out on one of the automatic places
in the last 100m.
In her semi final the following
day, Elizabeth ran a brave race and fought hard all the way to finish third
overall in her second best ever time of 2.09.59. Running in the second of three
semi finals and being the fastest loser at that point, Irish hopes were high
that she had indeed secured a world final place with just one semi final
remaining. However a fast opening lap
ensured the two fastest losers came from the third heat and Lizzie was to be
denied this chance. She can however feel proud of her achievement in Sherbrooke
and will also put the experience gained to good use in future competitions.
Colin Costello was Irelands only
competitor on the final day of competition when he lined up for the 1500m
final. He started cautiously at the rear of the field and progressed steadily
throughout the race. Entering the final lap in 8th position Colin
fought bravely and ran with confidence to finish in 5th place
overall with a wonderful new lifetime best of 3.51.55.The first European home,
Colin was justifiably thrilled with his performance.
This Irish team proved that young
Irish athletes have the talent to compete admirably amongst the best in the
world. In 2005 the championships will be staged in Marrakech, Morocco. Now is
the time for young athletes and their coaches to plan for these games.
For photographs from Canada,
follow the photo links on www.ferrybankathleticclub.com