Irish Champion!

At just 17, Conor Kelly took the senior 400m title at the Irish Indoor Championships in Dublin in 46.54. To put that in perspective, his time was quicker than the winning time of 46.70 run by Alex Haydock-Wilson in the UK Indoor Championships, held over the same weekend (22/23 February).

His performance was good enough for him to be selected to represent Ireland in the 4 x 400m Mixed Relay at the European Indoors Championships in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands, and he only just missed out on selection for the individual event. The team finished fifth in the final.

'Winning my first Irish senior Championship was a special moment,' says Conor. 'It was incredible to compete against the top athletes in Ireland and come away with the title. Running 46.54 and finishing just 0.01 off the Championship record made it even more excitng and a great confidence boost and being at the European Championships was an amazing experience – such a great opportunity to compete at that level'.

Big Time in Birmingham

On the same weekend, U23 Freddie Arkell was making his debut in the invitational UK Indoor Championships in Birmingham (23 February), and despite being ill the week before the event he made the semi finals of the 200m, finishing fourth in a season’s best of 21.68.

Below: Freddie with coach DevontéCaseley-Hayford