IRISH DUO ON TRACK FOR SUCCESS
CIARA MAGEEAN and Thomas Barr are hoping to put the final polish on preparations for the upcoming European Championships with victories at the Irish Life Health National Championships in Santry this weekend. With a little over a week until the Europeans get under way in Berlin (August 6-12), Mageean and Barr have emerged as Ireland’s sole medal contenders. Mageean, 26, is eyeing up a possible 800m/1500m double this weekend, but will have to navigate a safe passage through this afternoon’s heats to secure a spot in the finals tomorrow. The Portaferry native is in impressive form, having bounced back from a poor 2017 to win over 1500m in Barcelona earlier this month in 4:04.13, the third fastest time of her career. ‘Things just clicked,’ she says. ‘It was finally me producing in a race what I’ve been doing in training and I felt like I had much more in the tank. There are faster times in me but there’s no point saying you can run a fast time if you can’t race a championship.’ She is currently eighth in the European 1500m rankings but rounding into form at the right time, with very little between the medal contenders after race favourite Laura Muir of Britain. A move to a professional training group in Manchester before Christmas has revitalised Mageean’s career, which had often been side-tracked by injury and illness. ‘It was a change for me personally to go and join a professional athlete setup and it’s paying dividends,’ said Mageean, who wants to sharpen her racing skills this weekend. ‘I just need to get back out, practise good competitive running, getting boxed in and spiked halfway round the track and still finishing strong. That’s what’s going to win races at championships.’ Thomas Barr will go in search of his eighth Irish 400m hurdles title and like Mageean, the 2016 Olympic finalist is hitting form at the right time, breaking 49 seconds for the first time this season recently in London. The men’s 200m will be the highlight of this afternoon’s programme, featuring a high-speed clash between Marcus Lawler and Leon Reid, while Ireland’s fastest woman Phil Healy should have things all her own way in the women’s 200m. Today’s action will be streamed live on Athletics Ireland’s Facebook page, with RTÉ 2 broadcasting live tomorrow from 5.30pm.