THE RECORD-BREAKING IRISH team has returned to Dublin after the country’s most successful European Athletics Championships in Munich.
800m bronze medal winner Mark English led the team into arrivals at Dublin Airport, as 1500m silver medallist Ciara Mageean travelled directly back to her Manchester base.
In all, the team secured a record-breaking 11 top-eight finishes, and a further three top-10 placings. Ireland’s previous best total of top-eight placings at a European Championships was six, achieved in 1998 and 2002.
On top of the sensational medals, there were record-breaking performances from Israel Olatunde in the 100m, Rhasidat Adeleke in the 400m, and the 4x400m relay team of Sophie Becker, Phil Healy, Adeleke, and Sharlene Mawdsley.
Speaking earlier today as the team departed Munich, Athletics Ireland Director of High Performance Paul McNamara said: “It was the most successful championships we’ve ever had, with incremental improvement over the last number of championships.
This has been growing for some time. Team management were not surprised at all by the success this week. We were expecting a really comprehensive result throughout the entire team.
“We are very proud of the excellence shown by all our team in Munich, these results are genuinely special and illustrate the rising standards being delivered across all areas of our sport,” Athletics Ireland CEO, Hamish Adams, added.
“We have a mission to consistently deliver finalists and medals at international level and we have a clear strategy to achieve this mission.”
- You can read the Athletics Ireland statement in full here > and a there’s a selection of images from Dublin Airport today below:
Some more of our #Munich2022 stars arriving back at @DublinAirport this afternoon 🤩🇮🇪
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 22, 2022
Well done to you all 👏🤩#IrishAthletics pic.twitter.com/P1mktYvRTW
Mark English returned to Dublin Airport with some extra weight in his carry-on this afternoon😬🥉
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 22, 2022
Mark pictured with fellow Donegal man and Athletics Ireland President John Cronin📸🟢🟡
More to follow👍#Munich2022 pic.twitter.com/4hPD7g3GAl
