Cork athletes set for big Euro Champs
A host of Cork athletes are among the team selected for the European Athletics Team Championships 2nd Division.
The prestigious competition takes place in Maribor, Slovenia this weekend on 28 and 29 June.
Athletics Ireland named a 46-strong team which includes the likes of 800m runner Sophie O’Sullivan, hammer thrower Nicola Tuthill and six other Cork-based athletes.
The European Athletics Team Championships sees Ireland come up against 15 other countries, who each field an athlete in every event. The top three teams will be promoted to Division 1, while the bottom three teams will be relegated to Division 3.
Ten Olympians are included in the Irish team, which was promoted from Division 3 at these championships in 2023. Hurdler Sarah Lavin is also part of the team alongside Sharlene Mawdsley and Sophie Becker.
At this event two years ago Sophie O’Sullivan (Ballymore Cobh AC) made her Irish senior international debut. Since then, she has gone onto win a European U23 title over 1500m as well as competing at the World Athletics Championships and Olympic Games. She steps down in distance and will race in the Women’s 800m.
Nicola Tuthill (UCD AC) is selected for the Women’s Hammer Throw. The Paris Olympian has been in excellent early season form, extending her Irish U23 record for the event to 71.71m in Finland recently.
The other nations competing in the 2nd Division are Denmark, Croatia, Slovenia, Israel, Belgium, Austria, Romania, Norway, Bulgaria, Estonia, Cyprus, Turkey, Latvia, Slovakia and Serbia.
Paul McNamara, Athletics Ireland High Performance Director said: “We are delighted to be fielding such a strong team for the 2025 edition of the European Athletics Team Championships. This is a very special event, as any athlete that has had the privilege to compete in it knows. The team element brings out the best in our athletes and finishing high up the table is a priority for all.
“We see this event as a critical indicator of our standing amongst European nations, an opportunity to acquire world ranking points and qualification standards, and to provide valuable international exposure to established and emerging athletes as preparation for upcoming major championships.”
Two MTU athletes are among the team. Aoife O’Sullivan, 4th year Biomedical Engineering student and Clodagh Walsh, recent Marketing graduate, have been selected for the high jump and the pole vault respectively.
Craig Harrington, MTU Athletics Development Officer, said: “Aoife and Clodagh have been our best performers of the MTU Athletics Club and their home clubs over the last number of years.
Both have been very active members of the MTU Athletics Student Committee and have always represented MTU with pride. They are in their best form this year, and this selection is well deserved.
They are great role models for younger athletes at MTU and beyond and have regularly coached primary school children on the MTU track.”
The other Cork athletes include Bandon AC’s Shane Howard (long jump) and Laura Nicholson (1500m), Leevale’s Lucy-May Sleeman (100m & 4x100m relay) and Conor Callinan (pole vault).