Magnificent seven for Leitrim's O’Donnell after thrills and spills in Santry

Leitrim’s Gerard O’Donnell made it a magnificent seven of National Senior 110m Hurdles titles on Saturday after a race every bit as dramatic as the famed film as the Carrick-on-Shannon AC athlete snatched victory in the final strides at the 123.ie Athletics Ireland Championships in Morton Stadium Santry.

O’Donnell picked up a seventh title over the hurdles, dramatically piping up and coming star Adam Nolan of St Laurence’s O’Toole AC when the Carlow athlete struck the the final barrier and hit the deck, sliding across the line as the Leitrim sprinter surged past to take the gold in a time of 14.20 to Nolan’s 14.37.

O’Donnell, who himself lost out on the last two National titles by one hundredth of a second in both races after hitting barriers late in the race, knows all about hard luck and he was the first to console the Carlow runner who lay prone on the track for some time after the racer at a rain swept Morton Stadium.

Speaking to the Observer after the race, Geard was quick to acknowledge luck played its part as it always does in an event as dramatic as the hurdles: “The hurdles are always so interesting, the men’s especially, they are so high, anything can happen. Once you line up, you have a chance and you always have to believe you have a chance. 

“I knew I was in good enough shape to run fastish today, good enough to win it but when you get to hurdle eight and you’re still second by half a yard, you’re thinking today is not the day. But the last two years, I’ve lost both of them by a hundredth of a second in brutal conditions, same as today but you’ve got to be there. I kept my composure as I normally do and today I got lucky and Adam didn’t.”

O’Donnell got out quickly but the 19 year old Nolan was leading all the way but the Carrick AC athlete started to close the gap, a fact that might have forced the Carlow runner to push a little too much: “That is my strength, the second half of the race. The lads know me well enough at this stage, they know I’m going to be coming.

“I suppose, psychologically, if I get a decent enough start, which I think I did today, I know I’ll come strong and they know I’m not out of the race, they’re waiting to hear me coming. With two or three hurdles to go, it was closing and there was a little bit of hesitation on his part, knowing the gap was closing.”

And Gerard had words of encouragement for the Carlow hurdler: “Adam looked as if he was going to beat me but you have to get over the ten barriers and he didn’t unfortunately. He still managed to run a very quick time considering that he face planted across the line. He is a serious talent, he ran sub eight indoors but he is the next one to come. 

“Even though he will be disappointed not to win, it is a huge step forward for him. I’m delighted to take another national title. The time was pretty good, I know it was windy but I think it was the quickest I’ve gone for a couple of years so I’m delighted. To get back on top of the podium is class. 

“I wasn't just going to show up here just to get a bronze, the only reason I was here today was to win. If the lads are flying it and they beat me, that’s fine. I know Adam can go quicker if he can nail a race, which he did today to hurdle nine but I knew I was well up there to win so that was objective achieved.”

It may have been title number seven but few have been achieved with such a challenging backdrop with the Carrick AC athlete missing quite a few sessions as he coached members of Ireland’s relay teams to medals at the recent European Championship. It has meant that he has had to tread a fine line between looking after his athletes and actually getting his own training in.

“Just about to be honest” was his reaction when asked about combining coaching and competing himself. “I’d get a ten day block in and then I miss literally six days in a row but I’m healthy, I just can’t do the same volume of training but I’ve been able to get the minimum dose that I need to race, do the sessions properly. 

“I literally got nothing done in Rome but we came back with a silver medal for Sophie, who I coach with the team at Dublin Sprint Club, and that was the priority there - I had to be selfish for her rather than myself. 

“The last two weeks, I’ve got back to myself and I need to be able to tick all these boxes before I can toe the line. It is a fine balancing act, doing each part of the race in training without flogging myself to make sure I’ve done all I needed without being wrecked coming to the line today. I think I just about got away with it.”