LAST TUESDAY EVENING in Munich, Israel Olatunde became the first Irishman ever to qualify for the 100m final at a European Championships. Last Tuesday night, he broke the Irish record in the biggest race of his 20 years so far. By Wednesday morning, the Dundalk man had become a household name across the whole country.
The following Wednesday, Olatunde was back in the office at KPMG where he is completing an internship as part of his third year as a Computer Science with Data Science student at UCD.
Virtually none of this has come as a shock to the system.
“It’s been an interesting experience to say the least, I guess,” Olatunde smiles, “but it’s been cool to kind of see how people have reacted to my performance or my achievement.
“Me and my coach (Daniel Kilgallon) are really grateful for the outpouring of support and the love that everyone has shown us. It’s really great to see just people getting behind athletics, and just getting behind the whole team in general, really.
I guess, like, you have to remember it’s not just a moment in time — it’s a journey. A lot has led to this point. Of course, we’re overjoyed with the outcome but we definitely weren’t really surprised.
“In an interview before the championships, someone asked me was my goal to make the semi-final or final. And I told them, ‘Nah, that’s not my goal. My goal is just to compete to the best of my abilities.’ And I knew that if I did that, anything could happen, anything would be possible.
“If I’d gotten knocked out in the heats and I’d given my best performance, I’d have been happy with that. But I knew that I was in good shape and, if everything went right, I could definitely make the final. So I wasn’t surprised but it was still a really proud moment.”
Olatunde hasn’t so much as dropped into the local shop for two litres of milk since returning home, instead “chilling with the family”, just as “glad to see their faces” as they are proud to see his.
He went for a walk, all right, on Tuesday, but it was night time and quiet. It might be another few days before he can tell us the degree to which his breakout campaign at the Europeans precedes him in a real-life sense.
But he wasn’t long seeing the deluge of congratulations which greeted his efforts when he checked Twitter on his phone in Munich the day after his 100m final. Indeed, of all of the extremes that he has experienced over the last week or so, it was only the scale of the online reaction which caught him slightly off guard.
“I was a bit surprised,” Olatunde says. “I didn’t really expect people to react this way. I went a little bit viral! I’m pretty happy with that, honestly: I think our sport might go under the radar but I think we do deserve this type of attention. In future, I hope it’s not just going viral but getting more attention (all year round), for sure.”
10.17s. National 100m Record. The Fastest Irishman in History🇮🇪
— Israel (@IsraelOlatunde5) August 17, 2022
6th place in the European 100m final after coming in as the 21st fastest athlete.
What God blesses, no man can curse.
Grateful for the opportunity to represent my country proudly on a stage like this. pic.twitter.com/EZdpP4f3KN
Amid the pandemonium that played out in his Twitter mentions and private messages, there were naturally famous Irish faces and fellow athletes who celebrated the explosion into the mainstream consciousness of this rising track star.
Presented with the opportunity to name-drop, however, Olatunde keeps things in-house and gushes only over his predecessor.
There were a good few and they all obviously meant a lot to me — but the one that meant the most was definitely Paul Hession. He sent me a message right after the race, just congratulating me. I saw a video, as well, of an interview and he was congratulating me. That really means a lot to have a legend like him acknowledging my achievement. I appreciate that.
It was Hession’s Irish men’s 100m record of 10.18, set in 2007, which finally fell in Munich. Olatunde, who had already set a PB in his heat, edged Hession’s national-best time by a hundredth of a second in pursuit of an international superstar.
Tokyo Olympic kingpin Marcell Jacobs took gold for Italy with a championship record time of 9.95. Before that, he also took something of a shine to the young Irishman who intends to succeed him one day.
“Yeah, it was really cool,” Olatunde smiles. “I try not to get star-struck anymore but you can’t deny that it’s a great feeling to be on the same start line as the Olympic champion.
I remember after the semi-final, he asked me if I’d made it to the final. I said, ‘Yeah,’ and he gave me a fist bump and told me he’d see me in the final. That was pretty cool. I remember in the call room for the final, my number — my leg number — kept falling off and I don’t know why, but he kept picking it up for me and giving it to me. It was a pretty cool experience, for sure.
On the start line, Olatunde wasn’t nervous, just acutely aware that he faced “stiff competition”, as he puts it with a chuckle.
The Dundalk man felt imbued with a confidence that stems from the love shown to him by his parents, his siblings, and “The Town”. Rather than add pressure, representing his people gives him a heightened perspective. He has internalised their support to the degree that any of the “thoughts and fears” that he once felt have been left in the past.
Even when his spikes burst just before he went into the call room for the final — a complication which might have brought panic to even a more seasoned campaigner — Olatunde shrugged it off in what will surely fast become trademark fashion.
“It had happened me before in Austria at the start of June,” he recalls. “I burst my spikes before my race and I was like, ‘Ah shi– ah, crap,’” he laughs, pulling the brakes just in time. “And I got a PB and a national U22 record there, so… When the same thing happened again, I was like, ‘Ah crap…’ It’s not ideal but what are you going to do? ‘There’s nobody else I can borrow spikes off so I’ll just have to go in and do what I have to do.’
Olatunde and coach Daniel Kilgallon have built up a friendship and trust over the past three years that goes beyond the typical trainer-athlete dynamic; Olatunde swears by Kilgallon, mentioning him routinely (after the European final, they “slipped out for some McDonalds” and “decided to chill a bit in the town before we got back to the hotel”).
He also regularly refers to his former coach Gerry McArdle at Dúndealgan AC who contributed so much to Olatunde’s career before recommending that he move his training to the national sprint coordinator’s Tallaght base in order to take the next step.
It was there where Olatunde became so close with Rhasidat Adeleke — and “yes, the stories are true,” he laughs: Adeleke did used to beat him in endurance tests over longer distances, although he’s confident that he has caught up since.
“I was trackside watching, screaming her on,” Olatunde beams, recalling Adeleke’s own national-record-breaking performance in her European 400m final the night after he carved his own slice of Irish athletics history.
It’s always great to see her compete. Last time I watched her compete was the national seniors but just to see her at a championship, in her element, was really great to see. I was getting a little bit too excited, I kind of lost my voice a little bit after that! But I love watching her race and just seeing it in person… You just can’t beat it, to be honest.
My goat 🐐 @rhasidatadeleke https://t.co/8R3lPvPfoA pic.twitter.com/izR1ktMdwU
— Israel (@IsraelOlatunde5) August 17, 2022
Olatunde will shorten his training commute to Tallaght when he moves to UCD to finish his undergrad next month. It was actually supposed to be next week, “but I’m not too sure when I’ll actually be moving in; I kind of want to stay at home as long as I can,” he laughs. “I start [final year] on 12 September so I’ll definitely be in before then.”
Cutting out several hours of travel per week will aid his recovery between sessions with Kilgallon during a stacked 2023 season, he explains, “but there are definite benefits to living at home, y’know? My mum’s cooking, taking care of me, doing everything for me I guess!”
Can he cook himself?
There’s a loud sigh, a sheepish smile, then a bit of humming and hawing.
“… No,” he eventually laughs. “But I can learn, I can learn…
“I’m trying… I feel like I have the skills to cook but I just don’t know any recipes. I feel like if I get recipes, I’ll be grand. I have, like, a flare for it, but I just don’t know any recipes yet!”
Whether Olatunde could wind up joining America’s NCAA system — just as Adeleke did with the University of Texas — or be lured by a pro offer, remains to be seen. “I’m definitely going to finish out my final year at UCD”, he says, “but then, after that, I’ll just keep my options open. I’ll see what’s best for me, whether that’s here or whether it’s abroad.”
But of this much, Ireland’s newest athletics star is certain:
“I still haven’t achieved what I’m looking for. I want more. I want medals. I want championships. I want to bring it as far as I can, bring that record down, and become one of the greats in the sport, for sure.”
