Irish Team Announced for European Indoors

by Perri Williams

Athletics Ireland have announced the selections for the European Athletics Indoor Championships which take place in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, from March 6th – 9th 2025. Nineteen athletes are included in the selection - twelve individuals and seven additional for relay squads.

The team includes several individual event Olympians:  Sharlene Mawdsley (400m), Sarah Healy (3000m), Jodie McCann (3000m), Mark English (800m), Sarah Lavin (60mH), Kate O’Connor (Pentathlon), Andrew Coscoran (3000m), and Cathal Doyle (1500m).

High hopes for a medal this time around rest upon the shoulders of Mark English. English was forced to withdraw from last weekend’s nationals with a 'niggle'. The two-time European Indoor medallist has had a superb season, breaking his own national record at the Armory with a 1.45.12 for 800m. Joining him will be Cian McPhillips who had a sensational a few days later in Boston, recording 1.45.33. English and McPhillips are currently ranked number three and four in Europe. Elvin Canales (Spain) topping the ranking list.

Both Andrew Coscoran and Sarah Healy have opted for the 3000m at these indoors. Like English, their season to date has been littered with success. Coscoran has had a record-breaking spree, smashing the 1500m, one mile and 3000m records in the process. While not a European distance, the one-mile record is probably his greatest accolade as it stood for over 42 years – set by the man of the boards Eamonn Coughlan. Coscoran is number four on the European ranking list with greats such as George Mills (UK), Neils Laros (Netherlands) and Jimmy Gressier (France) ahead of him. Laros will be hoping for a win in front of a home crowd. With the top five Europeans close in time, the race will come down to tactics. James Gormely who lost out on that epic battle against Sean Tobin at last weeks nationals is amongst the named squad. Gormely has a best of 7.40.72 recorded two weeks ago in Boston. He is ranked 24th in Europe.

Sarah Healy opted for the 1500m at last weekend’s nationals and set a new championship record in both the heats and finals. Like English and Coscoran she has had a record-breaking season, setting new national records over 1500m and 3000m indoors. Her 8.30.79 from New York places her second in Europe behind Melissa Courtney-Bryant (UK). The English woman has run two seconds faster. Nipping on Healy’s shoulders will be Nadia Battocletti who recorded just three hundredths of a second slower than Healy at Lievin.

Ranked number 13 in Europe, Sharlene Mawdsley will be hoping for a spot in the final. With potentially two rounds of 400m running to do, she may opt to forgo the mixed relay the day before. Mawdsley has been a consistent performer this season enjoying the training company of the Nielsen twins. Absent from the selection is Sophie Becker who is returning to training after an injury.

Sarah Lavin has not hit the performance highs that she did in 2024 and will have to work hard to make the final in Apeldoorn. The Emerald AC athlete has been a previous European finalist. She is currently ranked 10th with three athletes locked together at 7.92 occupying fifth place. 

Kate O’Connor is currently training in Tenerife and will be another athlete who wants to be competitive in her European outing. She is currently ranked second in Europe but that excludes a few of Europe’s top multi-events, including the two Belgians, who given the proximity to Apeldoorn will surely be competing. They have not completed a pentathlon in 2025.
 

The confirmed team is as follows: (Taken from the Athletics Ireland announcement).