In what proved a very strange year for athletics, Sligo produced several worthy heroes
Ray Flynn reflects on 2020 when the worldwide pandemic Covid-19 limited the athletics calendar, but local competitors still performed with excellence and won medals at provincial and national level
IN THIS year of the pandemic, consider this quote from American politician Bob Riley. He said: “Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed.”
This quote was never more apt than when reviewing the 2020 athletics year. The emergence of Covid-19 in early March changed the landscape of sport in Ireland and had a devastating impact on our Athletics year. However, as always, the cream rose to the top. Sligo athletes again showed their mettle by winning medals in Connacht and on the big stage at national level.
If we had any doubts about the pecking order of sport in this country then 2020 showed what our government – backed up by our media – think of athletics and other so-called minority sports.
Deemed not elite, despite being an Olympic sport, we were consigned to holding time trials and a new madness emerged calling itself ‘virtual’ racing. All this and parish sports (GAA) still taking place and being lauded by the masses despite it being a contact sport. We managed to hold a limited amount of competition during Level 2 restrictions.
The staging of our Senior Championships proved, in particular, that we could hold athletics meetings in a safe, secure environment. Zero covid cases emerged.
Those national championships saw Sligo athletes to the forefront, with Christopher O’Donnell emerging a clear winner of the men’s 400 metres final to retain his title. He went on to perform well in a few international meetings around Europe.
2020 again showed the progress Michael Morgan is making. He was a clear winner of the Junior 5,000 metres at the Senior Championships and pre-pandemic strode to victory in the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Championships.
These achievements along with some great indoor races makes him my ‘Sligo Male Athlete of the Year’. As always, Sligo’s female competitors had their say at provincial and national level.
Elizabeth Tighe stunned the field in the final of the 60 metres hurdles at the Junior Championships with a gold-winning performance. We will be hearing more from her in future.
Erin Taheny and Ellen Kilcoyne made the finals of the same championships while Ruth Monaghan picked up a bronze medal.
This came just a week after Ruth put in a stunning performance to win a silver medal at the Senior Championships to make her the youngest medallist at that meet.
She went on to finish second in a Grand Prix race walking event in Lithuania a month later.
All of this makes Ruth my ‘Sligo Female Athlete of the Year’, edging out Lauren Cadden, who had also a great 2020 – Cadden’s highlight being a fourth place finish in a very competitive 200 metres race at the Senior Championships.
Our road racers got limited opportunities in 2020 but Karen Sweeney made a bold statement with an impressive marathon performance in Spain, while Aoife Killgallon continues to improve and will be a big force when we emerge from this pandemic.
The Sligo-based John Travers did not have a brilliant outdoor track season, which was surprising after his brilliant win over 3,000 metres in the indoor championships held in Dublin last February. However, Travers ran very well on the road and so did Jake O’Regan, another adopted Sligo man, who made a huge breakthrough in 2020.
In the Masters category Seamus Somers continues to be ‘King of the Road’, while my Masters Athlete of the Year is once again the ageless John MacDermott.
Just think about how fast a 69 seconds 400 metres lap of the track is and you will get an idea how quick Mac
“The staging of our Senior Championships proved, in particular, that we could hold athletics meetings in a safe, secure environment.”
Dermott is. Then just think about the fact that this fine runner is 75 years old!
The most negative thing about our sport this year was the cancellation of the Juvenile programme.
We did have a Connacht indoor championships and athletes such as Amy Rogers and Mila Clancy showed they would have been a podium contenders