Nicholas Griggs fronts Irish under-20 medal hopes in Colombia

Among the many takeaways from last week’s World Athletics Championships in Oregon was the age profile of the medal winners – the American Athing Mu edging out Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson in the women’s 800 metres, both still only 20, for starters.

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, still only 21, avenged his silver medal defeat in the 1,500m earlier in the week with a ruthlessly dominant display over 5,000m, taking gold in 13:09.24, while the imperious Sydney McLaughlin, still only 22, broke the world record for the 400m hurdles for a third time in 12 months, the American pushing it into the outlier realm of 50.68 seconds.

Not forgetting the already all-conquering 22-year-old Mondo Duplantis, the young Swede setting his fifth world record in the pole vault when clearing 6.21m ­– his 48th time clearing six metres breaking the previous best by Sergey Bubka. Now more than ever in this sport if you are good enough you are old enough.

All of which gives some indication of the level of competition now set to unfold over six days in Cali, Columbia, the venue for the World Under-20 Athletics Championships beginning on Monday.

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Among the 1,533 entries from 145 countries are 15 athletes who already left their mark in Oregon, including 17-year-old Karmen Bruus from Estonia, who finished seventh in the world high jump final, her 1.96m equalling their national senior record set in 2011.

In the under-20 category athletes must be 19 or younger in the year of competition, which means Rhasidat Adeleke, who fell just one place short of making the 400m final in Oregon misses out, as she turns 20 next month.

First staged in Athens in 1986, the high level of competition in this category is also reflected in the fact Ireland have only won four medals in the past: Anton Burke in the high jump in 1994, Ciara Mageean in 1,500m in 2010, Sommer Lecky in the high jump in 2018, along with the women’s 4x100m relay that year, a team which included Adeleke as a 15-year-old.

The 2020 Championships were also postponed by a year, taking place in Nairobi last summer. A small team of seven Irish athletes will compete inside the Pascual Guerrero Olympic Stadium, beginning on Monday with Reece Ademola from Leevale AC in the long jump, plus Dean Casey of Ennis Track Club in the 5,000m. Irish schoolboy 100m champion Oliver Swinney from Derry was also selected for the 100m but has withdrawn due to injury.

On day two Lucy McGlynn of Tír Chonaill AC will go in the 400m hurdles heats, before Lucy May Sleeman, also of Leevale, takes on the heats of the 100m. Nicola Tuthill of Bandon AC is next in action in the hammer.

That leaves Nicholas Griggs (Mid Ulster AC) and Callum Morgan (Candour Track Club) in the 3,000m, run as a seeded final next Friday. Both are coached by Mark Kirk, it is where in truth the sole Irish medal potential lies with the brilliant talent that is Griggs.

Though still only 17 (not turning 18 until December) the Tyrone teenager has already broken a series of Irish under-20 records, the last of which came earlier this month at the Cork City Sports, where Griggs ran 7:53.40 to take eight seconds off the previous mark run by Darragh McElhinney.

While McElhinney won that race in a new best of his own, 7:44.01, Griggs was also four seconds inside his own Irish under-20 indoor mark set in February. During that indoor season, Griggs set Irish under-20 1,500m and mile records, the latter time of 3:56.40 a European under-20 record in addition to being the second fastest ever mile by an under-20 athlete.

His 7:53.40 is ranked ninth fastest of the 42 entries, from 28 countries, in the event, the fastest being Ethiopia’s Diriba Girma, who ran 7:38.79 indoors. Indeed Griggs is ranked fifth fastest outdoors this summer, the fastest European outdoors too, and although the East Africans have proved all-conquering at this distance over the years, Griggs has both the racing brain and ability to take them on. If you are good enough you are old enough.