Athletics 2024 (Mod note #869)

Did you smash it

how many of the team will participate in the national championships in 3 weeks time?

how many of the stars?

https://eventmaster.ie/event/Lkq0fp3H76

Tombo2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233993#Comment_122233993

Yeah I think thats a bit overegged myself….plus, it was a stellar commentary. The whingeing about RTE is taking away from the positivity of the win itself.

Raoul Duke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122234234#Comment_122234234

It was a million times better than the BBC commentary anyway.

orangerhyme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122234234#Comment_122234234

Who was the commentator?

I liked their passion and knowledge.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122234745#Comment_122234745

Greg Allen - I notice even non-Irish people on Twitter saying they loved his commentary.

SimpleDimple

Fantastic race and great result. Like most others I had to watch it via a link on Twitter since Rte didn’t show it. It was the same when Daniel Wiffin got a world record and 2 golds in swimming world championships earlier this year, not a peep on it on rte apart from a news segment

Seems if it’s not football, rugby, or gaa they don’t want to know.

Dodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122232622#Comment_122232622

They fixed the order a couple of years ago.

kowloonkev

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122233993#Comment_122233993

I think there was always a good chance of this group medalling though and it should have been on a main channel. How many people are actually going to go looking for it?

Maybe it's because it is so rare, but there's nothing that beats an Irish track athlete winning a gold medal for excitement and hairs standing up on neck. It's just a different gravy altogether, coming from someone who wouldn't normally watch athletics.

Tombo2001

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122234768#Comment_122234768

I'd think he was 'emotionally involved' as they say - he has been covering Irish athletics for years, probably decades, knows all the athletes, has interviewed them many times, has been there for the bad days so nice that he is there for the good. Its a perk of the job for commentators I suppose that they leave a legacy - 'a nation holds its breath'.

Strazdas

Sarah Lavin wins her 100mH semi final in impressive fashion : could she medal in the final? It looks very much on.

horsebox1977

There was no coverage last night on the RTE player. I was watching it on https://eurovisionsport.com/ after spending most of the evening looking for a working stream - when the stream stopped working and a message to watch it on the RTE player. But this was right at the last minute.

Do people really need to be watching cartoons on the RTE player at this time?

Anyway, Mawdsley is an unbelievable athlete and has a great chance of a medal in the 400m individual. Klaver's form in the relay doesn't look great and I think Mawdsley could take her.

marathon2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122235377#Comment_122235377

Yes there was, it was live on the Player.

omicron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122235387#Comment_122235387

Technically there was but the Player is not fit for purpose for live sports, it skips and pauses and randomly reloads, the app can't be used to watch live events on TV, it randomly goes to ads at the worst possible times. Luckily it worked fine for me for the relay last night, but for the women's 5000m it wouldn't load at all.

Wisesmurf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122235433#Comment_122235433

I've been watching it for 2 days straight (apple tv app) and not a blip.

marathon2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122235433#Comment_122235433

None of those issues occurred for me last night or indeed for the last hour or two. Sitting here watching it on a big screen, cant even remember the last break

marathon2022

Sarah Lavin racing in 20 minutes

marathon2022

Olatunde on now

gigantic09

Wasn't able to replicate the start he had the first time. Understandable considering the shItshow his heat turned into .

marathon2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122235518#Comment_122235518

Sonya O'Sullivan had a bit to say about his training last night, she reckons he needs to go foreign for a change of coaching before its too late. She might be right

Hold My Hand

C’mon Sarah!

Hold My Hand

very disappointing

tinpib

Did Lavin clatter the 2nd hurdle? Seemed she might have on replay, she was miles back quite early on.

breffni bogballer

She didn't get away right, wouldn't have medalled with them times

retalivity

unfortunate

Speak Now

RTE panel were always getting carried away with her chances in a stacked final, an Irish record would still have only got 5th.

Hopefully In Paris she can beat her Irish record.

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122235596#Comment_122235596

Unfortunately, that was a red hot final and she would have needed a PB and two of the others to run below par to get even near the podium.

Cosmo Kramer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122235534#Comment_122235534

Is there a link or a clip of her comments anywhere? Olatunde's decline over the last couple of years has been one of the biggest disappointments in Irish sport for me, he's so obviously capable of much more. Would say the same about Kate O'Connor to some extent too, they probably both need to change things up in terms of coaching and move country if they're ever going to develop further.

That was brutal for Lavin tonight, she was absolutely devastated and the post race interview was a tough watch. I don't know which was worse for her - that she messed up the final or the reality that even if she nailed it on the night she wouldn't have been any higher than fifth anyway.

Unfortunately for all her improvement there's just another level in European and world hurdling that is out of reach for her. It's a shame because there's nobody you'd want to see succeed more than her, but what she's trying to do is next to impossible sadly.

Just on the RTE coverage of the relay final - has any explanation been given as to why it wasn't shown on the News Now channel? The channel is pretty much ideal for occasions when sporting events clash like they did last night, surely it should have been an easy decision for RTE to just move the coverage over there?

Hamachi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122235901#Comment_122235901

I’d cut Olutunde some slack. He just finished a computer science degree a couple of months ago. As somebody from the same background, it’s a tough slog and definitely impacts other aspects of your life. Now that he has more free time, he can devote himself more to training and recovery.

Having said that, he does need to move abroad to make meaningful improvements. A lot of the British sprinters train with an Italian group these days. It seems to be working for them. Daryl Neita and Jeremiah Azu are doing well there. Amy Hunt also seems to be making solid progress. That setup could be an option for him. Right now, I don’t think any of the top US training groups will be interested in a 10.3x guy.

Gutted for Sarah Lavin. I thought this was her night, but it wasn’t to be. Unfortunately, her ceiling is probably 12.5x or at a stretch, a high 12.4x. Whilst an insanely high level, it probably means she’ll top out in the Olympic semi finals. I hope I’m wrong. I’d love to see her make the final in Paris.

On a positive note, tomorrow evening should be good. Ciara Mageean and Sarah Healy both in the women’s 1500m final. I’m also very excited about the women’s 400m semi finals. Rhasidat Adeleke has a very manageable semi. She’s by far the class of the field. Sharlene Mawdsley has a fairly tough draw, up against Klaver. Will be interesting to see them go head-to-head. Unfortunately, Sophie Becker has the toughest of all three semis. She lines up against Natalia Kaczmarek, who I feel is the greatest threat to Adeleke’s gold medal aspirations.

Chris O’Donnell is also up tomorrow evening. His semi is ok-ish. If he could run another SB or get close to his PB, he has an outside shot of sneaking into the final.

Cosmo Kramer

Tonight should be great alright. I can't see O'Donnell making his final but Adeleke should coast through and Mawdsley has a real chance in her current form. Would be a huge surprise if Becker made it through, I was surprised she was seeded through the heats. But having three 400m runners seeded through to the semis shows the talent and depth we have there at the moment.

I'm hoping tonight might be the night for Mageean. It's going to be very difficult for her to get an Olympic medal but a European gold is a genuine possibility here and could be her career high point if she can pull it off. Sarah Healy an outside medal chance also but a top 5 finish would be a good result for her, she has time on her side.

marathon2022

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122235901#Comment_122235901

I was watching it live on the Player, not sure if its on a replay. Its seems people have difficulty with the player but I've found it amazing this week, not a single pause, last night for 4 hours I didn't see a single advertisement.

I agree with Hamachi about his just finishing a degree and how it impacts preparation, the commentators highlighted that on the coverage Friday night, the young fella is impressive and has massive potential.

Siting here in my running gear waiting for to go out for a run watching the woman's half, fantastic coverage.