Last year’s European U20 champion, Elizabeth Ndudi from Sport for Business member Dundrum South Dublin AC, leads out the team when she competes in the Women’s Long Jump Qualification later this afternoon.
The 19-year-old, who is studying in America, broke the Irish senior record for the event earlier this year when she jumped 6.68m in April. Ndudi goes into the event with a high ranking and will hope to seal her place in Wednesday’s final.
Another athlete with final aspirations will be talented young Mayo thrower Oisin Joyce, who competes in the Men’s Javelin. Joyce moved to fourth on the Irish senior all-time list for the event in June when he threw 73.72m.
He gets his campaign underway tonight with qualification taking place. The final, should he advance, is scheduled for Thursday night.
The Irish mixed 4x400m relay team will also take to the track today. The quartet, which has yet to be confirmed, will race for a final spot in the heats at 3:35 p.m. The final is later in the day.
Another of Tallaght AC’s rising sprint stars, Sean Aigboboh, will race in the Men’s 100m heats this afternoon, hoping to advance to the latter rounds.
David Davitt and Fintan Dewhirst will be in action on Wednesday morning in the heats of the 400m Hurdles. Both have been in strong form this season and are also in line to potentially feature on relay teams.
Sean Doggett made his Irish senior debut at the European Championships in Rome earlier this summer. His individual exploits in Peru will see him compete in the Men’s 400m, with the heats down for decision on Wednesday morning.
Stepping up in distance, Lughaidh Mallon will race in the 1500m heats on Tuesday night as he goes in search of a coveted final berth.
Ireland also has a Men’s 4x400m Relay team at these championships who will race in the heats on Friday evening.
Niamh Murray, Daisy Walker, Amy Jo Kierans, Conor Kelly, Adam Courtney, and Stephen Mannion were also selected for the relay teams.
Irish Schedule – World Athletics U20 Championships
Note: Given times are Irish time, with local times in Peru in brackets
Tuesday, August 27th
Morning Session
· Elizabeth Ndudi – Women’s Long Jump – Qualification – 15:15 (09:15)
· Mixed 4x400m Relay – Heats – 15:35 (09:35)
· Sean Aigboboh – Men’s 100m – Heats – 17:10 (11:10)
Afternoon Session
· Oisin Joyce – Men’s Javelin Throw – Qualification Group A – 22:20 (16:20)
OR
· Oisin Joyce – Men’s Javelin Throw – Qualification Group B – 23:40 (17:40)
· Sean Aigboboh – Men’s 100m – SF – 23:07 (17:07) *
· Mixed 4x400m Relay – Final – 00:50 (18:50) *
Wednesday, August 28th
Morning Session
· David Davitt – Men’s 400m Hurdles – Heats – 16:27 (10:27)
· Fintan Dewhirst – Men’s 400m Hurdles – Heats – 16:27 (10:27)
· Sean Doggett – Men’s 400m – Heats – 18:00 (12:00)
Afternoon Session
· Lughaidh Mallon – Men’s 1500m – Heats – 22:05 (16:05)
· Sean Doggett – Men’s 400m – SF – 23:20 (17:20) *
· Elizabeth Ndudi – Women’s Long Jump – Final – 23:20 (17:20) *
· Sean Aigboboh – Men’s 100m – Final – 00:47 (18:47) *
Thursday, August 29th
Afternoon Session
· Oisin Joyce – Men’s Javelin Throw – Final – 23:30 (17:30) *
· Sean Doggett – Men’s 400m – Final – 00:50 (18:50) *
Friday, August 30th
Morning Session
· Men’s 4x400m Relay – Heats – 18:00 (12:00)
Afternoon Session
· David Davitt – Men’s 400m Hurdles – SF – 22:05 (16:05) *
· Fintan Dewhirst – Men’s 400m Hurdles – SF – 22:05 (16:05) *
Saturday, August 31st
Afternoon Session
· David Davitt – Men’s 400m Hurdles – Final – 22:45 (16:45) *
· Fintan Dewhirst – Men’s 400m Hurdles – Final – 22:45 (16:45) *
· Lughaidh Mallon – Men’s 1500m – Final – 00:10 (18:10) *
· Men’s 4x400m Relay – Final – 00:50 (18:50) *
*= Subject to Advancing
All the action is streamed live on the World Athletics website, and coverage is also on BBC Channels each evening. See the Sport for Business TV and Streaming Guide for more details.
A Look Back at Some of the Irish Athletes
While the Irish team is ready to compete in Lima, some of the athletes have already made their mark on the international stage. Oisín Joyce, for example, has already proven himself as a promising javelin thrower. Well before he improved the Irish under-20 javelin record to 73.72 metres to win the Mannheim International meeting in Germany in June he’d already built a reputation as one of the most promising throwers in the country.
Last summer, when still only 18, Joyce won his first Irish senior javelin title for Lake District AC, the small juvenile club in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, founded just over 10 years ago. He went on to finish sixth in the European Under-20 Championships. His 73.72m broke new ground again, moving him to fourth on the Irish all-time senior list and also qualifying him for the World Under-20 Championships.
Elizabeth Ndudi, who last summer won the long jump at the European Under-20 Championships, is another standout athlete. The 19-year-old from Dublin is ranked third best of the entries this week after improving the Irish senior record to 6.68m in Illinois back in April.
Lima will arguably be the most competitive athletics event this year after the Paris Olympics, with 1,720 athletes entered from 134 countries, several of whom also competed in Paris. One measure of that quality in the javelin is the presence of Slovenia’s Tom Tersek, who threw a national under-20 record of 80.87m in June. He is still only 17.
Joyce considers himself a student of the javelin in every sense, hungry to learn as much as possible, and from as many sources as possible. He’s met up a few times this summer with Terry McHugh, who still holds the Irish senior record with his 82.75m, set back in 2000.
"He’s always been good for a word of advice," said Joyce, "and a good man to look up to. And with the javelin there is always something to work on, something else to learn. My run up is quite good, but I’m trying to work on holding that position for longer."
"And I just love to compete, and in competition, when you know really let it go, it’s really satisfying. I suppose it’s like hitting a golf ball exactly right. You know straight away, you can feel it."
Joyce first took up the javelin purely for fun when joining his local club, and credits his father, Pádraic, and mother, Pauline, as part of his backroom coaching team. He also played Gaelic football until this summer.
"Sure when you’re from Mayo you don’t have a choice and this summer was the first time I left, just to concentrate on the javelin."
"It started with the local athletics club, like everyone else, doing running, long jump, bit of everything. Then one of my friends was doing the javelin, and you start out in pairs, in under-9s, on the turbo javelin."
"Then around under-17 I wasn’t sure if I’d keep going. Decided to give it one more go, that winter, and went from 53m to 69m. My clubmate here, Conor Cusack, he also threw 72m as a junior, and we’ve a few others to train with too."
"We used to train on the rugby pitch in Ballinrobe, then they built a 200m track here, beside the rugby pitch actually. So I do some sessions there, but if I want to do full throwing and running sessions, I have to go to Claremorris, or Dangan in Galway."
After taking a year out after his Leaving Cert, Joyce will start at the University of Limerick when he returns from Peru, and is already setting his sights on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The World Athletics U20 Championships will provide a platform for these talented athletes to showcase their skills and compete at the highest level. As the competition unfolds, fans can anticipate exciting performances and thrilling results from the Irish team. It will be an event to watch for aspiring athletes and fans alike.
