If the World Athletics Relays didn’t register much here before, then what the Irish teams achieved in the Bahamas last weekend has changed all that. Qualifying two teams for the Paris Olympics, winning bronze medals, and three outstanding relay legs from Rhasidat Adeleke certainly made for good headlines too.
It also creates new and exciting possibilities as we head towards a summer of championship racing that begins at the European Championships in Rome, less than a month away now, then quickly reaches an exciting crescendo in Paris at the Olympics.
My sense now is that Ireland can pick up at least one, possibly two, medals on the Paris track in the Stade de France as July moves into August.
When 893 of the world’s finest sprinters, from 54 countries, descended on Nassau, qualification for Paris was foremost on all their minds. Both the Irish women’s 4x400m and mixed 4x400m relay achieved that goal in Saturday’s heats and then went better again, winning bronze medals in the mixed relay final on Sunday.
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It’s not that simple or straightforward from here, however, when athletes are trying to balance individual aspirations with any team obligations.
Every professional athlete has to make the big decisions – and it’s not easy when there are so many options and various scenarios that on paper look like they could deliver the best result
Most of the time it’s only when the individual races are complete that relays become an added bonus – the fun part of the championship where inevitably there will be some drama and excitement in trying to safely get the baton around the track between four athletes.
As we saw last weekend, the real beauty of the World Relays is that it’s all about the combined performance of the team, compared to other events, when athletics is an entirely individual sport.
Just as they’d done when winning Saturday’s heat to ensure their Paris berth, Cillín Greene, Adeleke, Thomas Barr and Sharlene Mawdsley combined again with great determination to finish Sunday night’s mixed relay final in another national record of 3:11.53, winning those bronze medals.
This also required some tough decisions: when two of the best runners helped both teams to a better finishing result, in reality, they can only commit to one final due to the tight schedule.
A lot will depend on Adeleke this summer, and where her priorities lie – it’s an unenviable position to be in to have choices. Ultimately it will require a selfish decision from here, at some point. That’s what the best athletes do – they decide what’s best for them.
It was Adeleke’s first senior championship medal, and surely not her last, the 21-year-old making sure the Irish quartet signed off in style, her 48.45 seconds split the fastest of the weekend, as Ireland finished behind reigning World Champions the USA and the Netherlands.
The women definitely carried the Irish team this past weekend – the gains were made on the second and fourth legs – so there is potential there for the men to make some gains of their own in Rome and Paris. This is where the Irish team need to find seconds to get closer to an Olympic medal this summer.
In the past three global finals that Ireland has contested, the result was eighth place in the mixed relay, and a sixth place in the women’s 4x400m that possibly would have been converted to bronze, had Adeleke been on the team.
But every professional athlete has to make the big decisions – and it’s not easy when there are so many options and various scenarios that on paper look like they could deliver the best result. The one big difference with individual and team events on the athletics track is the shared responsibility, but also the dependency on others to have the perfect run and to steer clear of any errors.
We even saw it last weekend with the carnage at the changeover zone. Sometimes even the officials get in the way and make mistakes, like when they placed Barr out wide when he should have been inside waiting to give Adeleke a clear run to handover. Instead, she had to change her course, losing time and momentum, not ideal on tiring legs.
It does create something of a dilemma going into Rome and then Paris. If Adeleke and possibly Mawdsley focus only on the individual 400m in Rome, the heats are on the morning after the mixed relay final. Likewise in Paris, the mixed relay heats and final are on the opening day of the athletics.
The other hope is that the success of last weekend will inspire young athletes to step up and claim a spot on the relay. While all the focus was on the Bahamas last weekend, 20-year-old Callum Baird was racing in Dublin over 400m, running 46.19 seconds – a personal best that would see him enter the frame and fight for a spot on the mixed 4x400m this summer.
The European Championships are the perfect dress rehearsal, and provide opportunities for athletes to race in their less-favourable event. When it comes to Paris, the mixed relay is the one with the greater chance. But to do this, we may need to get the team to the final without one of our best runners, as you are only allowed to change one athlete for the final.
It’s still a long way to hold form though to August and the Olympic finals. There are many hurdles along the way to be navigated
The time achieved last weekend would have been good enough for bronze at the World championships in Budapest last year, so this is an opportunity we cannot afford to let slip by. These are the options laid out on the table, and most likely the individual coaches have already pinpointed the best options for their athletes.
It’s still a long way to hold form though to August and the Olympic finals. There are many hurdles along the way to be navigated, numerous training sessions to be completed, along with races to help keep the momentum and progression going over the next few months.
Then there is the Irish championships at the end of June, where athletes will be expected to compete. This is something that should be in every athlete’s diary, to race on home soil and really give back to the fans and young athletes that will be cheering on their heroes throughout the summer.
So many of these current Irish athletes have been inspired down through the years and worked hard to get to where they are now, that they can now inspire future generations not just through the TV screens, but close up and live at Santry stadium on that last weekend in June.
Another exciting date for the diary, in between Rome and Paris.
