Athletics 2024 (Mod note #869)

What's notable is how much talent is coming through at 400m now. In addition to the latest batch of NCAA talent there's an 18 year old Czech athlete running strong times for her age, she's at the Europeans and is an outside shot for a medal. There's definitely a window for Adeleke to win a European gold and an Olympic medal this summer, but it doesn't look like getting any easier for her in future years, especially if McLaughlin and Bol turn their attention back to the 400 flat at any point.

Where are you right now? 😉

To be fair, there's a good turnout every evening, but that's largely because they sell evening only tickets and most of the finals are in the evenings. There was a good turnout this morning, in the southern end of the stadium, but that was pretty much entirely to see Tamberi. Gotta say it's pretty emotional hearing the crowds belting out the Italian national anthem even in a half-empty stadium. Much better than Amhrán na bhFiann. The local support id a huge boost for the Italian athletes and it's showing in their medal tally.

The anti-RTE moaners are always quick to pile on.

While I agree it was a poor decision to be Player-only for an event where we had a strong chance of a medal, at least RTE had flagged in advance that Fri night would be streaming only (people were complaining about it - quite rightly - before the games even started).

The BBC seem to be screening the games entirely on iPlayer and Red Button, so also beyond the standard BBC 1-4 offerings.

That's the way broadcasting is these days - and pretty much everyone has the internet and a compatible device, so it's not like it was unavailable.

And while RTE Player still needs investment and improvement, it does seem to be better than it used to be.

Well done to the athletes, and to the RTE commentary team on the ground there, who are doing a good job under difficult and I am sure quite penny-pinching circumstances.

It’s quite possible that the rugby tournament has legal broadcast requirements attached to the rights - this is a feature of Champions League football broadcast rights for example. You can’t modify the feed. Not sure that IS the case for what is a relatively minor rugby tournament but I wouldn’t be surprised.

All three Irish athletes in the top 10 in the women's 400m semi finals. Becker narrowly misses the final but the team is looking seriously good for the relay in a few days time.

Dobson looks a talent

Can O’Donnell still qualify for Paris?

I was reading that max number athletes for 400 is 48. So surely across the globe they have 48 already?

you want zero analysis or commentary?

I think we are seeing plenty of field events. There is loads of downtime and plenty of ways to cover the action. Plus there is the Eurovision feed (although vpn needed to bypass the RTE redirect).

Think Sarah can medal. Runs really hard and good and maybe gold

Ah brilliant. Delighted for her.

At last! She's had such a long wait for a gold medal.

Is she the only Irish athlete to win medals at three different European Championships?

Fantastic, barging through the Brits made it even sweeter

Brilliant! I'm so happy for Ciara after all she's been through. I was worried that she was being boxed in, but she found the gap and she powered to victory. We don't get European gold medals every day. Jerry Kiernan will be looking down, and nobody would be more proud of her. Bronze, silver and now gold. 🥇

I miss Jerry's contributions at these events.

You could see on Ciara’s face as she pushed through that she had lot more left than the other three. Two Brits were cooked

Huh? Absolute joke that

By missing another one? I thought they'd like to see Asher-Smith, Rhasidat's training partner, winning gold. Maybe not…

Delighted for Ciara Mageean. Very nervous watching it as she was boxed for so long. No doubt once she broke free. A worthy champion. A word for Sarah Healy. She had a decent run in seventh. Hopefully lesson learned that she needs to stick her nose in there a little more.

All three 400m women were excellent. Adeleke qualified with ease and looked very composed. She will surely win a medal, hopefully gold but Kaczmarek will be tough. I was surprised at how nervous Mawdsley looked on the start line. She’s usually a relaxed character. Still job done and hopefully more to come. Fair play to Sophie Becker for really attacking it. 51.54 is a good time and only a few tenths off the final. She has improved so much this year and is an integral part of the relay.

Both Chris O’Donnell and Mark Smyth had creditable runs. I think O’Donnell in particular has a lot more to give this season.

Brilliant from Ciara. What an inspiration she is. The way she runs, the way she speaks, she is someone all our aspiring athletes can look up to. This on top of the relay has been the greatest week in Irish athletics in decades and it's not over yet!

Both Mawdsley and Adeleke have great lane draws for the final in 4 and 6 respectively. I think Mawdsley’s best chance of a medal is Klaver going kamikaze in the first 200m again. There’s a decent chance it will happen as both Adeleke and Kaczmarek are inside her. Fingers crossed for them both tomorrow.

Unbelievable to see 2 Irish gold medals. I let my youngest stay up last night to watch Ciara and I just loved watching it with him - I think my roaring at the TV may have helped the magnitude of it to sink in for him!

Aside from Ciara's race last night I watched a lot of it on the RTE Player app on my phone yesterday while out in the middle of nowhere, half-way to New York, visiting my teenage son during his stint in the Gaeltacht. I have to say I was very impressed with how the Player held up. No complaints from me, aside from the odd blip where coverage was patchy. It was nice to get home to watch on the big screen though 😄