Adeleke & Paris heroes feature in Gerard O'Donnell's sporting highlights of 2024

Irish 110m Hurdles champion and Olympic coach Gerard O'Donnell looks back on an incredible 2024 for Irish athletics in the Leitrim Observer Sports Review of the Year.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR

Fourth at the Olympic Games for the Irish women's 4x400m relay team. As coach to Sophie Becker who ran first leg for the team, it was a surreal and incredible experience, agonizingly close to an Olympic medal, running a time good enough for silver at almost all other Olympics - but silver at the European championships wasn't a bad consolation prize this year anyway!

LOWLIGHT OF THE YEAR

Man City …  just Man City in general, but as an Arsenal fan, the inevitability that City would steamroll the second half of the season like a well-oiled, oil-money-fuelled machine. At least things are looking up in that regard this season, and just 115 charges against them still to be settled  ...

PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

I think Daniel Wiffen (pictured inset) was a breath of fresh air on the Irish sports scene this year, and becoming Olympic champion certainly did no harm for his profile. He has always exuded a raw confidence in his talents, possibly to some skepticism in the past, but two Olympic medals put an end to any doubts about his abilities. An interesting and refreshing person and athlete, who is comfortable to give his true thoughts about his sport and performances.

TEAM OF THE YEAR

The women's 4x400m relay team - marking themselves as a truly world-class team, 4th at the Olympics, second in Europe (behind Olympic silver medalists) and running 3.19.90 which is ninth fastest in history, on a list that goes back to include the Soviet Union and East Germany in the top-3. Each athlete performed to the absolute peak of their abilities, at the exact right moment, the only moment that mattered - perhaps some lessons to be learned for other Irish sports teams when it comes to performing at their global championship.

HERO OF THE YEAR

Rhasidat Adeleke -  I think for the wider public she really established herself as a superstar athlete this year. In no small part due to her key role in all relay successes this year, racing on the mixed and women's teams, bronze with the mixed at the world relays, gold (mixed) and silver (women's) at the Europeans, to add to her individual 400m silver medal, and 4th individually at the Olympics as well as that famous women's 4x400m 4th place.

EVENT THAT MADE YOU GO WOW IN 2024

The women's marathon world record being destroyed was a fairly jaw dropping moment. Sub-2:10 for the first time, only a few seconds slower than the Irish men's national record, in a time where shoe technology has set fire to most middle and long distance records, this just felt like something other-worldly entirely.

ONE THING I’D DO TO MAKE SPORT BETTER IN 2025

Make it more accessible, and enjoyable for fans, which will only help the athletes and players involved. Whether it's needing multiple subscriptions for the chance of watching a live match or making the in-stadium experience more worthwhile than staying at home. Athletics can be as difficult as any sport to find on TV or stream. And for domestic meets where a livestream is available, it's almost always the more preferable option than attending, as the fans in the stands will be treated to no information/results and great efforts seem to be made to remove any hint of in-stadium atmosphere.

Carrick AC's Gerard O'Donnell wins a dramatic 110m Hurdles Final at the Athletics Ireland National Senior Championships last June Picture: Mark Kavanagh Photography

WHAT ARE THE BIG CHALLENGES FACING LEITRIM SPORT IN 2025?

For many of our individual sports it is probably still facilities, and access to safe/suitable environments for our sportspeople to thrive in. The SRC development in Carrick on Shannon which has recently broken ground will be a massive boost in this regard, a multisport facility which will be an incredible asset to the county and surrounds.

ONE TO WATCH IN 2025

Gout Gout - so good they named him twice. The 16 year-old Australian 200m runner broke Usain Bolt's age-group world record, as well as the Australian senior record which had stood for almost 60 years, when he ran 20.04 in December. Not only the times he clocks but the way he does it - well worth a few minutes on YouTube to indulge yourself in his ability. He should feature at this year's world championships in Tokyo in the 200m, and possibly 100m also, and although he may not make the podium or final just yet, he has the ability to become a phenomenon very soon.