Dublin Clubs Roundup, 24 - 16 July 2026

RHASIDAT BACK ON TOP 

Despite many thrilling moments, Rhasidat Adeleke’s return to the Santry track proved the highlight of a memorable National Track and Field Championships held over the weekend. The Tallaght AC athlete was the star of the show on Saturday, where her every step was cheered on by her many Irish fans, delighted to see her back looking fit and strong as she raced to victory in the women’s 200m. Given the struggles she has had in the past year with fitness, her time of 22.80 secs was not too shabby either - it not only qualifies her for the European Championships, but broke a stadium record that dates back to 2002. She clearly enjoyed every moment of her return to the Irish scene and after the race, was mobbed by their young fans spending quite a while signing autographs, taking selfies and clearly have a whale of a time. 

In the men’s 200m, national record holder Sean Aigboboh (Tallaght AC) finished second in the final behind newly minted Irishman Benjamin Richardson, who was born in Waterford but brought up in South Africa. Richardson’s winning time was 20.63 secs; Aigboboh clocked 20.75 while third in 21.16 secs was comeback kid and previous champion Mark Smyth (Raheny Shamrock AC). In the field on Saturday, Daphni Doulaptsi Teeuwen (Raheny Shamrock AC) successfully defended her national triple jump title with a season’s best jump of 13.04, while finishing second in the women’s high jump was junior athlete Siún Quinn (Brothers Pearse AC) with 1.80m. Quinn heads to Eugene Oregon next week for the World U20 Championships, as does Saoirse Fitzgerald (Lucan Harriers) who finished fourth in the women’s 800m. In the men’s high jump, ex-basketball international Lorcan Murphy (DSD AC), who won the national decathlon title last season, finished second with a 2.00m leap in his first competition after a long injury break. Patryk Pucek (Clongriffin AC) was third with a 1.95.m effort.

Retaining his national shot put for a fifth year was Eric Favors (Raheny Shamrock AC) with a best effort of 19.47, while in her Irish debut, Kate Joyce (DSD AC), who like Favors, is Irish-American, won the women’s javelin with a 50.21m throw. 

Finishing second in the men’s 56lb weight for height was Colm Ó Donnchadha (Lusk AC) with the bar at 3.80m for this gravity defying event. His club mate Nessa Donoghue won the women’s U20 title after flinging a 20lb orb over the bar at 4.30m. The day ended the 4x100m relay, UCD AC winning the women’s title from Rhaney Shamrock with a time of 46.73 secs. Titans AC from Blanchardstown won the men’s race in 41.79.

A day later, Jack Raftery (Donore Harriers) was pushed all the way to the line in the men’s 400m when winning his third consecutive title. In the women’s 400m, Sophie Becker (Raheny Shamrock) finished second in 53.23 and Michelle Duggan (UCD AC) third in 53.72. In a controversial women 100m, which saw one disqualification, Mollie O’Reilly (DSD AC) finished second in 11.63. Defending champion Bori Akinola (UCD AC) finished second with a time of 10.21 secs in the men’s 100m behind Benjamin Richardson, who was taking his second national title of the weekend. Sean Aigboboh (Tallaght AC) was third in 10.26. Of the ten athletes lining out for the men 100m final, seven came from Dublin clubs. Over the longer distances, Cian McPhillips (UCD AC) won the men’s 800m, pulling away from Cillian Kirwan (Raheny Shamrock AC) in the chase for the line. Foiled of a fifth consecutive victory in the men’s 1500m, was Cathal Doyle (Clonliffe Harriers) who lost out to Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea) in a tactical race, while in the men’s 5000m, Irish record holder Brian Fay (Raheny Shamrock) had to be content with third place. Jodie McCann (DCH AC) just pipped Eimear Maher (DSD AC) for third place in the women’s 1500m which was won by Sophie O’Sullivan who broke her mother Sonia’s championships record when clocking a time of 4:05.62. Dominating the women’s hammer and discus were Nicola Tuthill (UCD AC) who although she’s only twenty-two, was winning her fifth hammer title, and Anna Gavigan (LSA AC) , another twenty-two year old, winning the discus for a second time.

Winning both the men’s hammer and discus titles was Irish-American Rory Michael Devaney (Raheny Shamrock AC), yet another twenty-two year old thrower, who became eligible to compete for Ireland last February. Devaney started out by winning the hammer winning with a mighty throw of 71.86m, putting him well clear of the opposition. A few hours later, he threw 53.96 for victory in the discus, where Eoin Sheridan (Clonliffe Harriers) finished second with a 52.66 effort. 

The day ended with the 4 x 400m relays, where Raheny Shamrock won the mixed title, DSD was second in the men’s race and UCD second in the women.

Other pictures from the National T&F Championships are at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lindie/albums/with/72177720334868894

* The final Dublin Graded Track and Filed Meet takes place in Santry on Wednesday evening (July 29). Details elsewhere on this page.