Irish men's 4x100m relay team break longstanding national record

THE NATIONAL RECORD for the men's 4x100m relay has been broken.
Michael Farrelly, Bori Akinola, Marcus Lawlor and Israel Olatunde set the new record of 38.92 seconds at the World Continental Tour Meet in Switzerland to take second.
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Their brilliant performance eclipsed a record that has stood for 25 years. John McAdorey, Gary Ryan, Tom Comyns and Paul Brizzel ran a time of 39.26 at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Elsewhere, Sarah Lavin finished in second place in the final of the women's 100m hurdles at the 2025 Motonet GP Kuortanein on the World Continental Tour in Finland. Lavin clocked a time of 12.99 to come in behind Nooralotta Neziri of Finland who crossed the line in 12.85.

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Irish Times

an hour ago

• Irish Times

Irish quartet beat national 4x100m relay record in Geneva

One of the longest standing Irish records in the books has fallen, after the quartet of Michael Farrelly, Bori Akinola, Marcus Lawlor and Israel Olatunde clocked 38.92 seconds in the 4x100m relay at the World Continental Tour Meeting in Geneva. In finishing in second place, their time improved the previous mark of 39.26 seconds set 25 years ago by John McAdorey, Gary Ryan, Tom Comyns and Paul Brizzel at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, when finishing fourth in their heat. Farrelly, Akinola, Lawlor and Olatunde combined their youth and experience to break the 39-second barrier for the first time, with the promise of more to come. Last August, Olatunde improved his own Irish 100m record to 10.12 seconds, and this season trained over the winter months in Florida in the same training group of US Olympic champion Noah Lyles. Akinola beat Olatunde for the first time to claim the Irish indoor 60m title back in February, and at the same meeting in Geneva on Saturday, improved his 100m best to 10.25 seconds, the fourth-fastest ever by an Irish man, when finishing fifth in his heat, into a -0.4 headwind. READ MORE Racing again on Sunday at the Stratford Speed Track meeting in London, the 23-year-old Akinola clocked 10.10 seconds, where the wind reading of +2.9 was over the permitted legal limit of +2.0, although this was still the fastest wind-aided time in the Irish record books, surpassing the 10.11 clocked by Jeremy Phillips in California in 2017, when the wind was +5.0.

RTÉ News​

13 hours ago

• RTÉ News​

Two into one won't go but Liam O'Brien eyeing 2026 Winter Olympics spot

Australia may be one of the world's sporting strongholds but, similarly to Ireland, it wouldn't fall under the category of winter powerhouse (although their 19 medals are not to be sniffed at!). And yet next February, a Sydney-born short track speed skater is hoping to represent Team Ireland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina - and if he were to qualify, he wouldn't be the first member of his family to compete at a Winter Games. The athlete in question is Liam O'Brien, whose connections to this island flow through both sides of his family, with his mother hailing from Kingscourt, Co. Cavan before she relocated Down Under in her 20s on a working holiday visa and met his father whose roots are in Meath and Leitrim respectively. As a child growing up in sports-mad and outdoorsy Australia, a young O'Brien dabbled with playing GAA in the Michael Cusacks club in Sydney. But in those days it was soccer and especially cricket that took precedence. 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The entire family travelled to southern Russia to support her and the experience opened doors in her younger brother's imagination. "After watching her compete at the Olympics, it really drove me to want to become an Olympic athlete as well," he explains. "It was only after that that I'd seen really the goal and that target there in short track speed skating and really went for it then. That's when I gave up cricket and soccer as well." Unlike his sister, O'Brien is representing Ireland and that came following a chance meeting between his father and Ice Skating Association of Ireland chief executive Karen O'Sullivan in 2012. "We've kept contact ever since and when the opportunity came up to switch across to Ireland, I took that chance and Danielle and Mum and Dad were all very supportive and well, they loved it." 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The final qualification staging points will come in October and November but given how intrepid O'Brien has been in his short track pursuit to date, no one will be counting him out of being at the start line in Italy next February.

Irish Examiner

a day ago

• Irish Examiner

New Irish 4x100m relay record set by Farrelly, Akinola, Lawlor and Olatunde

Michael Farrelly, Bori Akinola, Marcus Lawlor and Israel Olatunde have set a new Irish 4x100m relay record in a time of 38.92 seconds. The quartet finished in second place at the World Continental Tour Meet in Switzerland on Saturday. The previous national record of 39.26s was set by John McAdorey, Gary Ryan, Tom Comyns and Paul Brizzel at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Comyns took to X to congratulate the squad on breaking the record.