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A Review of Irish Athletics in 2005 Words: Malcolm McCausland |
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Bob Mullan Motors 5K Series 2005 Bob Mullan Motors 5K Series 2004 Bob Mullan Motors 5K Series 2003 Bob Mullan Motors 5K Series 2001
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David Gillick Strikes Gold in Madrid It is strange that 2005 will probably be remembered for events off the track rather than on it. After five years of deliberation and procrastination the sport finally accepted that it should be run by professionals. A recommendation originally made by the body that reviewed the failure of Ireland’s sportsmen and women to perform at the Sydney Olympics. Another blank Games in terms of medals had come and gone since but it took the not-so-gentle prodding of the Irish Sports Council to finally force Athletics to initiate change. Although a Chief Executive Officer has been appointed and will take up office on January 1, it may be some years before a dividend is reaped on the international stage. In the meantime there were no medals for Irish athletes on the world stage although the European arena continued to provide encouragement for the country’s top athletes. Double gold at the European Indoor Championships as David Gillick and Alistair Cragg both overcame local opposition to triumph in Madrid were undoubtedly the highlights of the year. Medals at European Youth Olympics and World University Games also gave cause for optimism. However, the World Athletics Championships in Finland were probably the worst ever with not a single Irish finalist. In the North we have had the four-yearly squabble over Commonwealth Games selection against a backcloth of falling standards. Nevertheless three Ulster athletes acquitted themselves well on the international stage. James McIlroy was fourth in the European Indoors, Anna Boyle won a relay bronze at the World University Games and Gary Murray ended up a brilliant year with twelfth place finish in the European Cross-Country. It was (you might say) satisfactory.
2005 Month by Month January A surprise victory from American Dathan Ritzenheim, an east African master-class in the women’s race with Etalemahu Kidane leading home three other Ethiopian-born athletes, all helped to make the 28th Belfast International Cross-Country a resounding success. Deirdre Ryan produced the best performance of the AAI Indoor Games when she added 2 centimetres to her own National indoor high jump record with a 1.88 metre clearance. February Another Irish record fell when Tanisha Robinson claimed the gold medal in the women's triple jump at the AAA Indoor Championships with 13.28 metres effort. Annadale’s Steven Cairns took the NI Cross-Country Championship at Coleraine with Jill Shannon from the Lagan Valley club coasting home in the women’s race.
March St Patrick’s Day came 10 days early in Madrid at the European Indoor Athletics Championships as Ireland claimed two gold medals in the space of sixty minutes. Dubliner David Gillick won the 400 metres and then South-Africa born Alistair Cragg the 3000 metres. The reverberations rang around the athletics world following the radical cull by the Irish Sports Council (ISC) of athletes receiving State funding. Household names such as Sonia O’Sullivan and Mark Carroll were axed from the list. Dunloy sprint star Anna Boyle set a new NI record of 11.70 seconds for 100 metres in South Africa. April Paula Radcliffe was back to her best as she won the Flora London Marathon by over five minutes with Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan running a cautious race for eighth. Earlier O’Sullivan, who by now had her funding restored, had been beaten by America’s Amy Rudolph in a tight finish to the BUPA Ireland Run in Dublin. May A Russian who blew up, a device that thankfully did not and a late late show all helped to make the 24th Belfast City Marathon one to remember. Erick Kiplagat timed his effort to perfection to steal the honours in the men’s race after overhauling long time leader Lenar Khusnutdinov almost within sight of the finish near the Odyssey. Late entrant Lemma Urga of Ethiopia set a new record in winning the women’s race. Craigavon schoolgirl Rhiannon Mc Nally was the star of the NIAF Team Trophy competitions at the Mary Peters Track throwing a new Northern Ireland senior record for the hammer of 50.65 metres. . Sprinters Anna Boyle and Paul Hession stole the show racing to impressive doubles at the Ballymena & Antrim Games to mark the 25th year of the Antrim facility and the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Ballymena club by Maeve and Sean Kyle. June Only a few hundred die-hard spectators turned up to watch Olympic relay gold medallist Mark Lewis Francis score a a comfortable double in the North Down Games at Bangor. Despite battling second days performances both Ireland’s men’s and women’s teams could not avoid the drop from the First League Group B of the Europa Cup at Leiria in Portugal. July
However, there were no Irish medals at the European U23 Championships in Germany but Anna Boyle’s improvement continued with the Dunloy athlete emerging as the most exciting Irish sprint prospect in years after fifth place finishes in both 100 and 200 metres finals. Boyle returned home to lift her first Irish senior title winning the 100 metres in a new Northern Ireland record of 11.53 seconds at Santry. There was a brilliant 1-2 for Ireland at the European Juniors in Kaunas, Lithuania as Colin Costello and Danny Darcy took gold and silver in the 1500 metres. David McCarthy Dives For Silver Medal at Euro Youths And it was the end of an era as Sonia O'Sullivan tasted defeat for only the second time in 17 years of competition at the BUPA Ireland Cork City Sports. August Ireland’s representatives had a poor World Athletics Championships in Helsinki with all eleven failing to make a single final. There was better news from the World University Games in Turkey with Ireland taking four individual medals and Anna Boyle helping the women’s sprint relay quartet to third place.
Gary Murray became the first Donegal man ever to break four minutes for the mile when he clocked three minutes 59.52 seconds in the British Milers’ Club Grand Prix meeting at London’s Crystal Palace. Jason Smyth James McIlroy broke his own NI 800 metres record with a time of one minute 44.65 seconds. September Joe McAlister ruled supreme on the local roads in September picking up three wins including a victory over Kenyan Joseph Kibor in an under distance Bangor 10K. October Athletes from the former Communist Bloc dominated the Dublin City Marathon with Dmytro Osadchy from the Ukraine claiming the men’s title while Zina Semenova, a 42-year-old Russian, was the winner of the women’s race. For the fourth consecutive year Letterkenny’s Gary Crossan was the first Irish man home taking thirteenth overall. November
Gary Murray completed an unique hat-trick of Irish titles when he was the runaway winner of the National Inter-Counties at Sligo Racecourse to add to earlier victories in the National Clubs’ cross-country and track 1500 metres. Anna Boyle December Radical proposals for a re-vamp of the sport were adopted at a Special Congress of the Athletics Association of Ireland in Portlaoise. Although there were no medals for the Irish at the European Cross-Country, the year ended on an optimistic note after a fine 12th place in the senior race for Gary Murray and Linda Byrne’s fourth in the junior women’s event.
2005 Roll of Honour (Irish Medallists at Major Games) European Indoor Championships (Madrid) Gold 400m – David Gillick Gold 3000m – Alistair Cragg European Youth Olympics (Lignano, Italy) Silver 100m – Amy Foster Silver 800m – David McCarthy Bronze 1500m – Ciaran O’Lionard Bronze 2000m Steeplechase – Eoin Healy European Juniors (Kaunas, Lithuania) Gold 1500m – Colin Costello Silver 1500m – Danny Darcy World University Games (Izmir, Turkey) Silver 100m Hurdles – Derval O’Rourke Silver 100m – Eilish McSweeney Bronze 200m – Paul Hession Bronze 5000m – Jolene Byrne Bronze 4 x 100m – Ireland (O’Rourke, A Boyle, McSweeney, E Maher)
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Gary
Murray became the first Donegal athlete since Cyril O’Boyle in for 53 years
to be crowned Irish senior champion when he triumphed at Santry Demesne.
Ireland
took four medals at the European Youth Olympics in Italy with 16-year-old
At
the European Paralympics in Espoo
Anna
Boyle was the surprise inclusion in the seven-strong athletics team to
represent Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games next March.