Kilkenny City Harriers' Langton and Daly on Irish team for World Championships

Kilkenny City Harriers athletes Pia Langton and Molly Daly have been named in the Irish team for the World Under-20 Championships in Oregon PICTURES: Sportsfile | Freelance

placeholder image — Kilkenny City Harriers athletes Pia Langton and Molly Daly have been named in the Irish team for the World Under-20 Championships in Oregon PICTURES: Sportsfile | Freelance

Strong Irish team selected for major championships in Oregon

Kilkenny athletics will be represented on the global stage again after two local stars were named on the Irish team for the World Under-20 Championships.

Kilkenny City Harriers duo Pia Langton and Molly Daly are among the 24-strong team named by Athletics Ireland for the championships, which will be held in Eugene, Oregon from August 5 to 9.

Langton, who is coached by Noel and Niamh Richardson and James Ledingham, has been selected for the women’s 800m and 1,500m. Daly, coached by her parents Rob Daly and Fiona Norwood, has been selected for the women’s 4x400m relay, subject to showing form and fitness. Their fellow Harrier Kate Maher, is a non-travelling reserve for the women’s 4x400m relay.

Langton lowered her 800m PB to 2:05.72 at Cork City Sports last week and has also clocked 4:21.77 for the 1500m indoors this year.

Daly has been named in a women’s 4x400m relay team which is loaded with star-quality. Both Daly and Erin Friel (Letterkenny AC) both ran on Irish senior teams at the World Athletics Relays in Botswana back in May so don’t lack experience on the big stage. They are joined by Maria Zakharenko (Kilcoole AC) who ran a personal best of 54.64 to win the recent under-20 national title in Tullamore, as well as Sofia Granjo (St Laurence O’Toole AC) and Roisin Murray (Bray Runners AC) both of whom who have run well under 55 seconds this year.

The championships which will be held at the iconic Hayward Field serves as the first platform for Ireland’s best junior athletics talents to compete on the world stage and previous editions have seen stars of the sport emerge. Antoine Burke (1994, High Jump silver), Ciara Mageean (2010, 1500m silver), Sommer Lecky (2018, High Jump silver), Molly Scott, Ciara Neville, Gina Akpe-Moses, Patience Jumbo-Gula, Rhasidat Adeleke (2018, Women’s 4x100m Relay silver) and Oisín Joyce (2024, Javelin Throw bronze) are Ireland’s previous medallists at the event.

“I wish to congratulate all the athletes and their personal coaches on their selection,” said Athletics Ireland Performance Pathway Manager, Jacqui Freyne. “Selection for a World Athletics Under-20 Championships team is an important milestone in an athlete’s journey. This group has demonstrated the commitment, consistency and competitive performances needed to earn that opportunity.

“We look forward to supporting these athletes as they travel to Eugene, Oregon to compete with confidence against the world’s best under-20 talent.”