Sports Review of the Year 2022 - Gerard O'Donnell (Athletics)

Highlight of the Year
I have two main highlights, as an athlete and as a coach. As an athlete it was a real honour to captain the Irish team for the Indoor 'DNA' international event in Glasgow in February where the team finished third. As a coach - two athletes that I coach reached the final of the World championships in the mixed 4x400m relay (Jack Raftery and Sophie Becker). Sophie also finished sixth in the women's 4x400m relay in the European Championships, and along with Cillin Greene, those three athletes set four national records in 2022.

Lowlight of the Year
The national athletics championships this summer, finishing second in the 110m hurdles. I was hoping to win my sixth title in a row - but even if I had won it would have been a lowlight with the weather conditions we were forced to race in. The wind was -8.3 m/s, which apart from being a gale to run against was simply dangerous trying to clear ten 3' 3 barriers. To put that wind reading into context, anything above +2.0 on your back is deemed too strong for PBs or records, so try four-times that in the opposite direction! With only three athletes finishing it was just a bit of an unsafe mess.
With the controversy over the staging of the World Cup in Qatar, what’s your view on the role of sport and politics/ social issues - should they mix? Should they be kept separate?
I don't think there's any way of keeping them separate - and in general people rolling out the "keep politics out of sport" line tend to do so only at their own benefit. Never was it more apparent than during the World Cup - the pinnacle of the tournament sees the trophy presentation featuring FIFA's ultimate politician presenting the trophy and ensuring he was front and centre for an uncomfortably long amount of time.

Personality of the Year
Lionel Messi - it was just great to see him crown his career with world cup glory at last.

Gerard O'Donnell in action in the 110m Hurdles.

Team of the Year
I'll stick close to home for this one and say St. Mary's - senior men in particular, but the club in general had one of the most successful years in recent memory. Was great to make it home for the senior final and see a great comeback to take the title, with a really young team being helped along the way with some more experienced (and very experienced) heads to steady the ship.

What are the big challenges facing Leitrim sport in 2023?
For many of our individual sports it is probably still facilities and access to safe/ suitable environments for our sportspeople to thrive in. I think the proposed SRC facility in Carrick-on-Shannon will make a hugely positive impact on the sporting and wider community, so hopefully more progress can be made on this development throughout 2023.

Event that made me go wow in 2022
Probably has to be the World Cup final. I had lost interest in it at half time with Argentina 2-0 up, but from the 80th minute right through until the penalty shootout it turned into an absolute spectacle of sport.

One thing I’d do to make sport better in 2023
For athletics it has to be the qualification system for championships - the new rankings/points system has created more confusion than clarity, and if it eliminated any problems, it created even more. Athletes on the periphery of qualifying are more at the mercy of meet directors and agents than ever, and for the general public there's no way for them to understand how the sport currently works.

One to watch in 2023
I chose Rhasidat Adeleke this time last year, and she just won RTE young sportsperson of the year, so I'll have to try and match that! I'll go for Israel Olatunde - Ireland's fastest man since his 10.17 100m for sixth place at the Europeans last August. With the times and performances he's produced in 2022, he'll gain entry to a better standard of races/ competition, and could see that Irish 100m record edging towards breaking the magical 10.00 second barrier.