ATHLETICS Ireland has sent a team of 31 athletes to the European Athletics U23 Championships which got underway in Espoo, Finland last night with the two walk events.
But one name stands out of those 31 aspiring young athletes and that is Sophie O’Sullivan, daughter of Irish running legend Sonia O’Sullivan and world renowned coach Australian Nic Bideau.
The European Athletics U23 Championships were introduced in 1997, ostensibly to facilitate the transition between the U20 and senior ranks. The first edition was held in Turku and the event now returns to Finland for the first time in 16 years. Ireland has enjoyed relative success in recent editions, with Olympians Nadia Power (800m bronze 2019), Eilish Flanagan (3000m steeplechase silver 2019), and David Kenny (20km walk 2021) all securing podium finishes.
Being the daughter of a world champion, the woman most consider the greatest Irish athlete in history, puts enormous pressure on the shoulders of the 21-year-old University of Washington student.. But while there was a stage when Sophie O’Sullivan’s wanted “nothing to do” with that tag following her around, she has come to accept it.
“When I was younger, I wanted to do my own thing,” says Sophie. “But now it’s nice you can throw something out there and they know what’s going on. I just like to call and talk (races) through, ask them what they think. They might say something, they might not. I might listen, I might not.”
It’s five years since Sophie came to international prominence, winning 800m silver at the European Athletics U18 Championships in Gyor, Hungary behind GB’s Keely Hodgkinson who has since won an Olympic 800m silver medal and is current European indoor and outdoor champion.
Sophie grew up in Melbourne and was more interested in basketball and soccer for much of her childhood than athletics. While in high school, she joined the school cross country team and later ran the Australian underage nationals but did not make a breakthrough until she won the Australian U17 800m title.
Given her father’s nationality and the fact she grew up in Australia, one would not have been surprised if she decided to represent that country. But no, she opted for Ireland, wearing the green colours on the medal rostrum in Gyor.
That performance gained her a track scholarship to the University of Washington and after consistently logging 100-130km per week in training around Seattle university, Sophie lowered her 1500m personal best 4:17.54 to 4:08.06 to win the NCAA West Regionals in late May.
She followed that up winning her heat at the NCAA Championships in 4:09.58 but two days later faded in the late stages of final, ending up 12th. Sophie is currently ranked second of the contenders for the 1500m title in Espoo.
Ironically, the hot favourite for gold is Dubliner Sarah Healy with a national U23 record this year of 4:01.75 at the end of June in Ostrava.
Away from the women’s 1500m, strong showings can be expected from Nicola Tuthill (hammer), Israel Olatunde (100m), Reece Ademola (long jump), Jane Buckley (5,000m), Shay McEvoy (5,000m), Anika Thompson (10,000), and Cian McPhillips (800m).
Irish athletes in action today (Irish time): 7:40am (hammer Q) - Nicola Tuthill; 8:25am (100m heats) - Adeyemi Talabi; 8:55am (100m heats) – Israel Olatunde, Oliver Swinney, Robert McDonnell; 11:30am (400m heats) - Jack Raftery, Callum Baird; 3:05pm (women’s 100m semi-finals); 3:20pm (long jump Q) - Reece Ademola; 3:30pm (men’s 100m semi-finals); 4:30pm – (men’s 400m semi-final); 5:30pm (3000m steeplechase) - Ava O'Connor; 6:35pm (5000m) - Jane Buckley.
