Ireland’s Shot Put star Eric Favors will this weekend bid to claim his first national senior outdoor title since 2019.
Having missed the national championships in 2020 and 2021, Favors then lost out to John Kelly last year.
For that reason it is unsurprising that he only has one thing on his mind when asked about his target this time round.
“To win,” he says without hesitation.
“I think I go into every competition with the same mentality of just doing my best on the day and really focusing on the task at hand. The outcome will be good if I hit those checkmarks.
“That’s what I want to do.”
The New York born athlete, who’s grandparents hail from Ballina in Mayo, has been on a seismic upward trajectory of improvement over the past couple of years, throwing new Irish indoor and outdoor records in 2023 and also competing at the European and World Championships last summer.
Favors is acutely aware of Ireland’s throwing tradition and aims to help promote it amongst younger athletes.
“My goal is to inspire the youth and push the bar as high as I can.
“Throwing is a niche in track and field but it’s a beautiful niche in track and field.
“I would like to be the flagbearer to really push the bar forward.”
With the qualifying window for the World Championships in Budapest closing on Sunday night it looks like the 26-year-old has done enough to secure his seat on the plane, thanks to twice throwing over the Athletics Ireland ‘B’ standard this year.
His national record of 20.66m was set in Portugal back in March, while he returned to close to his best last weekend throwing 20.51m in Madrid.
“I want to finish that qualifying period on a high note. It will help me for the Olympics next year,” he added.
He will remain in Europe until the World Championships take place and is looking forward to tapering before the biggest competition of his season.
“I look forward to dialling it down from the weights and the ball going further.”
Eric Favors was speaking at the media day ahead of the 123.ie National Senior Track and Field Championships that take place this weekend at Morton Stadium, Santry. Both days will be live streamed on the Athletics Ireland YouTube channel, with live coverage on RTÉ 2 on Sunday evening from 6:05pm.
