European Championship gold medalist Sharlene Mawdsley is one of the star names confirmed for this year’s Belfast Irish Milers Meet.
The Belfast Irish Milers Meet 10th anniversary edition on May 10 will see a host of Olympians, World Championship finalists, European medallists and Irish champions competing.
Entries for the meeting sold out within minutes when registration opened earlier this month with the sprint events filling up in three minutes.
The Belfast Irish Milers Meet has produced some of the fastest times ever witnessed in Ireland let alone at the Mary Peters Track.
Callum Dodds broke the stadium record last year running a splendid 1:44.79 clocking to take victory in the men’s international 800m. That bettered the European Championships qualifying time and Dodds was selected to represent Great Britain in Rome.
Meeting director Eamonn Christie has also confirmed the return of Olympian Phoebe Gill.
The St Alban’s athlete produced the performance of the meet at the 2024 edition, running 1:57.86 to win the Ardent Wealth women’s international 800m.
Gill may be joined on the start line of the 1500m this year by World Indoor silver medallist Jemma Reekie who finished fourth in the 800m at the Paris Olympics.
Even with Gill and Reekie opting for the metric mile, the women’s 800m is again looking like the race of the meeting with another sub-2 minute timing almost certainly assured.
Last year’s runner-up , Erin Wallace from Glasgow, who boasts a best of 1:59.20 is a confirmed starter.
She will be joined by Irish champion Louise Shanahan who has previously won the event on two occasions. The addition of Kimberley Ficenec, a four time champion of Czechia, with a best of 2:00.68 personal best, just adds further anticipation to the race.
A big fans’ favourite Mawdsley, who was part of Ireland’s European golden mixed relay team last June, will be welcomed back to Belfast in the 400m.
She should face a stern challenge from Isabelle Boffey who was part of Britain’s gold medal winning 4x400 relay team at the European U20 championships in 2019.
The Enfield & Haringey athlete also won the individual European title in the 800m defeating, among others, Keely Hodgkinson at the same championships in Sweden.
Other top class competitors expected are Britain’s two-time European U20 Cross Country champion Innes FitzGerald in the 1500m, and possibly Italy’s Ossama Meslek, who won the Bannister Mile last year, in the men’s 1500m.
“Once again I’m overwhelmed at how quick the event sold out,” said Eamonn Christie.
“I’m delighted at the calibre of athletes entered, including local, international and national athletes. To date we have entries from Spain, Holland, Denmark, Belgium, Poland, Czechia, and Great Britain.”
