We’ve reasons to be
Ray Flynn says that the athletics community has so much to look forward to in 2021, with a number of talented Sligo competitors capable of making a major impression
I’M SURE that it is safe to say that of any year previewing what may happen in our sport, gazing into the crystal ball for 2021 is going to be problematic.
The only thing I will say is that I’m not going to strike a pessimistic note. Over the past week I have been fed up reading in our media and social media about how bad 2020 has been.
Unless someone lost a loved one with Covid-19 or something else, 2020 has not been bad. If you lived, for example, in a township in South Africa and woke up every morning wondering where your next crust of bread was going to come from then 2020 would have been bad. We don’t realise how well off we are in this country.
So, as we look forward to 2021 in a sporting context, no matter what is in store, the foremost thought in our minds should be that it is only sport. Athletes by their nature are optimists and the majority of them will train as if this pandemic will end tomorrow.
Because of cancellations in 2020 the international calendar is as full as I have ever seen. Topping the bill will be the Olympic Games (deferred from last year) which will take place in Tokyo in July.
Of course, we travel full of optimism but winning medals will not be easy with Thomas Barr and Brendan Boyce our biggest hopes. Wouldn’t it be great to have a Sligo athlete in Tokyo and if we could get a men’s relay team qualified then north Sligo athlete Chris O’Donnell would be a certainty. We also have the World Athletics Championships in Oregon in August to look forward to as well as the European Athletics Indoor Championships and the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
A plethora of European underage and Junior (U-20) championships also await – where lies the best chance of Sligo representatives.
Michael Morgan had a great year in 2020 and looks a good bet to make a European Junior qualifying time. Lauren Cadden has been frustrated with lack of competition but, like all athletes coached by Dermot McDermott, has been kept motivated and will have her eyes fixed firmly on a spot at the European Athletics U-23 Championships.
Ella McDermot is capable of making the deferred European Athletics U-18 Championships in Italy, while Ruth Monaghan is only a few seconds off the qualifying time for this event.
Closer to home we look forward to the resumption of the domestic calendar. Chris O’Donnell will try to continue his dominance in the Senior 400 metres category, while Michael Morgan will attempt to break the record of the great John Treacy by winning a fourth successive gold at the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Championships.
Adopted Sligo man John Travers will be pulling out all the stops to regain his place at the top of the podium at the Athletics Ireland National Senior Championships and will also have his eye on a seat on the flight bound for Tokyo.
I know a lot of Sligo athletes who are chomping at the bit to get back road racing. With the aid of the new shoes that aid fast times and a big block of training behind them I can foresee a record number of PBs in 2021.
A lot of our young athletes will be moving to pastures new as they go to college and one young man who will be looking forward to this more than most is Sligo AC’s Michael Morgan. He has been given the opportunity of an athletics scholarship at New York’s Providence College, one of the top colleges in the USA and where the great Mary Cullen went to on a running scholarship many years ago.
We wish Michael luck in this and we look forward to seeing him lead the Irish Junior cross country team at the re-scheduled European Athletics Cross Country Championships in Dublin next December.
My final wish is for our governing body, Athletics Ireland, to use its influence to lobby Sport Ireland and our government to ensure that we have National Indoor Championships in the coming couple of months.
The cancellation of almost our entire Juvenile programme last year has had a devastating effect on our membership, particularly our Juveniles. Our programme fell victim of the pandemic while other sports went ahead. Let’s hope that this imbalance changes.
Finally, happy New Year to all Sligo athletes and officials – not forgetting all the readers of this column.