Decathlon delight as Kilkenny's Noah Gilmore defends his national title

It is impossible to think about athletics this week without considering the recent performance of Rhasidat Adeleke at the Diamond League meet in Monaco.

The talented Tallaght AC runner won her very first Diamond League and ran her second fastest ever 400m.

At home there was plenty of action with international athletes flocking to Cork and Dublin to compete in the 70th running of the famous Cork City Sports and the Morton Games in Santry, while the weekend played host to the All-Ireland combined events and the AAI games.

Cork City Sports

The 70th Cork City Sports, held on the new MTU track, was a huge hit with the large field of international and national athletes wowing the crowd with a series of magnificent performances. The evening started well for Kilkenny athletes with three athletes taking part in the first two events.

In the 1,500m David Williams (St Senan’s) ran a tactical race, staying behind and waiting to move through the field.

That move came over the final 150 metres where Williams powered ahead and moved into the leading position, increasing his lead as he moved down the home straight. His clubmate Gearoid Long finished third. Myles Hewlett (KCH) finished third in the 3,000m in a time that equals his personal best.

Three more Kilkenny athletes took part later in the programme. Chloe Lynch (Gowran) had her second pole vault competition in a week.

After setting a new personal best of 3.12 recently in Manchester, Lynch had to bow out a little earlier in Cork.
There was no bowing out for Cathal O’Reilly (KCH), who set yet another personal best in Cork, this time over 3,000m where he recorded 8:11.34 to finish 19th.

Molly Day had her final race before heading to the under-18 Europeans this week. Daly finished fourth in a time of 24.53, just shy of her personal best of 24.52.

Morton Games

There was another international field on show in Santry as the Morton Games were held on Friday. Cathal O’Reilly was the sole Kilkenny competitor. Competing in the Morton Mile, O’Reilly finished 14th with a time of 4:00.93. He recently ran his first sub-four-minute mile in Belfast.

All-Ireland Combined Events

Just four athletes from Kilkenny competed in the All-Ireland combined events in Santry last weekend. On day one the juvenile competitions saw Mia Brennan (Thomastown) and Zoe Beck (Thomastown) contest the under-14 and 15 pentathlons respectively.

Brennan got the day off to a good start with second place in the hurdles and the long jump. Despite these being her best events, she worked hard to maintain her second place over the remaining three events.

The combined events are a tough competition, with each athlete having to complete multiple events over one or two days, culminating in the 800m, the most gruelling event of the competition.

Zoe Beck worked hard for her fifth place finish in the under-15 competition. She finished third in the long jump, which gave her a boost up the points rankings and her 800m considerably boosted those points as she ran an incredible race to finish second, moving her up two places in the rankings.

Noah Gilmore (KCH) competed in the under-20 decathlon. After a gruelling two days of competition, culminating in the 1,500m on day two, Gilmore finished first and retained his under-20 title. Gilmore was in second place after day one thanks to a new personal best in the 400m.

With five events completed and five more to go, he returned to the track on Sunday for the second day. A series of personal bests - four in total on day two - contributed to the move from second to first position. He set his new PBs in the 110m hurdles (16.93), discus (27.37), pole vault (3m) and the 1,500m.

James Kelsey (Gowran) competed in the under-18 decathlon. His first ever decathlon, Kelsey finished in third place. The 1,500m was his best event, where he finished almost half a minute ahead of Oscar Naughton (Leevale).

AAI Games

Cathal O’Reilly (KCH) was back in action again on Sunday for his third race in five days as he competed in the AAI Games in Santry. Dominant from the gun, O’Rielly was never out of the leading pack.

While the race itself was close, Cathal has become something of a 1,500m specialist this year and easily struck for home over the final 150 metres to a win of over two seconds from Cian Kelly (St Abban’s). David Williams (St Senan’s) finished seventh in the same race.

Cliodhna Manning (KCH) had a good win in the 200m on Saturday, clocking a season’s best of 24.29. Manning finished fifth in the national senior 400m in a race to get fit ahead of Olympic team selection. She has been named as a non-travelling reserve for the Olympic games.

Shane Power (St Joseph’s) had better luck in the pole vault at the weekend.

Two weeks earlier, on a dreadful weekend of rain, Power failed his opening height and had to exit the competition early. Power cleared 4.40m to win the men’s pole vault.

The final athlete in action at the AAI games saw Jordan Knight (St Joseph’s) finish second in the long jump. Giving a series of good jumps, his best performance came in the fifth round.

The National 10,000m was held with the AAI games. The race saw Billy Coogan take on the distance for the first time, finishing in fifth place.

This was an excellent race on the back of his individual win in the steeplechase at the national seniors a fortnight earlier.