Israel Olatunde (UCD AC) stormed to a new U23 National Record in the Men’s 100m at the Morton Games in Santry on Saturday evening. The Dundalk man looked strong as he crossed the line to finish second in a time of 10.26s (+0.4m/s), knocking 0.01s off his previous record which he set in Austria in May. Andrew Robertson (Great Britain) won the race in 10.22s, a new Season’s Best for the 2020 British Indoor Champion over 60m.
“It was a really great race; I had some great competitors. I’m grateful to be on the line with those guys and to pick up a National U23 record means so much to me especially to do it here in Santry it means a lot,” Olatunde told the Irish Runner after the race.
“This is where I had my first race a few years ago when I was in secondary school, so it means a lot to break the record here. This is my first Morton Games, the atmosphere has been amazing, I love racing here and the crowds been great so hopefully I’ll be back here next year to race again.”
Olatunde still has plenty to work towards this summer with the European Championships in Munich in August firmly on his mind.
“I’m in the ranking spot right now, so hopefully I can stay in that and put in a good performance at those championships later in August,” he said.
Twenty-year-old Toluwabori Akinola (Fingallians AC) ran a fantastic new PB of 10.48s to finish fifth. Akinola now sits just outside the top twenty on the Irish All-Time list. Joseph Ojewumi (Tallaght AC), who won silver at the recent National Senior Track and Field Championships finished seventh in 10.61s, while Chris Sibanda (Clonliffe Harriers AC) was eighth in 10.63s.
In the Women’s 100m, Kiara Parker (United States) took victory. The American was a class above the rest of the field winning with ease in a time of 11.39s, before running back up the home straight to join in with Village People’s 1978 hit ‘YMCA’ which had the entire main stand off their feet thanks to DJ for the night Graham Mulcahy.
Kristie Edwards (Australia) and Alannah Fashanu (Great Britain) were second and third respectively making their trip to Santry worthwhile. The best of the Irish was Mollie O’Reilly (Dundrum South Dublin AC) who finished fifth in 11.95s. Sarah Murray (Fingallians AC) was sixth in 11.97s, while Jennifer Hanrahan (Dundrum South Dublin AC) was seventh in 12.14s.
