Mayo athlete goes in search of further indoor senior success
Mayo's Michaela Walsh will be among the top competitors in action this weekend as the 123.ie National Indoor Athletics Championships take centre stage at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena.
Over Saturday and Sunday (February 28 and March 1), a host of stars are scheduled to go in search of All-Ireland glory in a huge number of disciplines.
Remarkably, Swinford AC's Walsh will be looking to win her ninth indoor senior shot put title in a row. She enters the event with a best of 14.14m this season but is capable of throwing over 15 metres, which would likely secure gold once more. However, five of the top six finishers from last year are returning this weekend, so Michaela will face stiff competition.
In a first for the National Indoor Championships, Virgin Media will provide a live two-hour broadcast on Virgin Media 2 from 2.30 to 4.30 p.m. on Sunday – a major milestone that reflects the growing national interest in Irish athletics.
The action gets underway from 12 p.m. on Saturday, with the second helping on Sunday starting at 11.30 a.m.
Saturday’s track action will be headlined by finals in the 200m and 60m hurdles, while attention in the field events will be firmly focused on competitive looking high jump and triple jump competitions. The women’s 60m hurdles in particular has a star-studded feel, with both Sarah Lavin and Kate O’Connor among the entries.
Day two will see a flurry of finals which look set to include newly crowned 60m record-holder Bori Akinola (60m), who will bid to make it back-to-back senior indoor titles.
The highly anticipated men’s and women’s 400m events boast strong line-ups, while a potential appearance from world silver medallist Kate O’Connor could make the women’s long jump one of the most anticipated events of the day.
While Michaela Walsh is the clear favourite in the women's shot, Eric Favors (Raheny Shamrock AC) looks a red-hot favourite in the men’s having already thrown 19.95m this season.
Further spice is sure to be added to this weekend’s proceeding with the upcoming World Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland, on the horizon (March 20-22).