All-Ireland medal haul for Olympian Youth and Athletic Club

Over the past few weekends, Tullamore, Co Offaly has been the unofficial home for Olympian Youth and Athletic Club members as they pitted their athletic abilities against the best that Ireland has to offer at the All Ireland Track and Field Childrens Games, Juvenile A and B Championships and u20/ u23 Championships. Each one of them delivered a series of outstanding performances bringing home a haul of 12 All Ireland medals, personal bests, and top national rankings.

Brianna Doherty, one of the clubs, and certainly the countries new rising sprint sensations, got the medal haul well and truly underway by claiming an illustrious Silver All Ireland medal in the u15 Girls 100m in a fantastic time of 12.9secs into a strong head wind. She later added an amazing Bronze medal in 200m in an incredible Personal Best (PB) of 25.63secs. A time worthy of winning Gold most years, such was the competition in her event that was won in a All Ireland record of 24.03secs.

Orla Mc Geehin, one of the clubs rising star throwers, and the first of the terrific McGeehin throwing trio, claimed an incredible All Ireland Bronze medal in the U12 Girls Turbo Javelin with an amazing PB throw of 23.52m. Orla also got through to the Final of the U12 Girls Shot Putt finishing 6th overall with a brilliant series of throws, with all 6 throws over 7m and her last throw being the best of the lot to get the shot out to another brilliant new PB throw of 7.73m.

Maeve, arguably the busiest of the Mc Meave sisters, was next to medal, claiming a superb All Ireland Silver medal in the U15 girls Javelin. She later demonstrated her throwing prowess by earning an impressive Bronze medal in the Hammer throw as well placing 5th in the Discus, just missing the medals to make it a hatrick of medals by mere centimeters.

Aoife Mc Geehin, the oldest and most decorated sister, replicated her younger sisters’ efforts by earning a tremendous Silver medal in the u17 Girls Javelin with an incredible throw of 40.08m, beating only by an All Ireland record of 45m. She later added to the clubs All Ireland collection and the McGeehin’s ever growing trophy cabinet, by claiming a magnificent Bronze medal in the Discus event.

Tei Chen - Gold in u15 Boys Shot Putt at All Ireland B Championships

Martin Corbett hop, skipped and jumped his way to an All Ireland Bronze medal in the U16 Boys Triple Jump, just 2cm short of his PB, with a brilliant best jump of 11.38m. 

Ashton Forrester had a fantastic succession of jumps making it to the final 8 in the U15 Boys Triple Jump. He placed 5th overall with a best jump of 10.21m. 

Tino Machaya, a new comer to the club and sport had a brilliant first national championships in the U18 boys Triple Jump, also making it to the final 8 jump offs, finishing 7th overall by leaping his way to a new PB of 11.18m. 

Cara Heaney made her national debut in the U14 girls high jump and equaled her PB of 1.40m. Charley Barr placed 15th overall in the U16 Girls 250m Hurdles with a season-best of 43.37secs. Sam Donnell also had a great first All Ireland Championships experience running a strong 25.96secs in the U15 Boys 200m, just 0.1s off his PB, finishing 13th overall. He also placed 8th in the U15 boys 100m heat with a new PB of 12.64secs and then later had a top 15 placing in Ireland in the long jump.

The club’s more senior athletes finished off the medal run at the U20 & U23 Championships.

Maeve Mc Geehin and Martin Corbett All Ireland T+F Medalists

Eoghan O’Donnell earned a well deserved All Ireland Bronze medal in the U20 Men’s 35lb Weight for Distance Throw, achieving a new personal best of 3.65m in his national debut.

His sister, Ellen O’Donnell, placed 10th in Shot Putt (5.91m) and 8th in Javelin (17.96m), securing two top-10 national finishes.

Sophie Parlour narrowly missed a place in the U23 Women’s 100m final, finishing 9th overall in 12.77secs against a strong headwind and a very strong field.

Club Medal Tally and Reflections - Across three weekends of national juvenile competition, Olympian Youth and Athletic Club athletes earned: 1 Gold medal, 4 Silver Medals, 7 Bronze Medals, numerous Personal and Season Bests.

An amazing achievement that we as a club are unbelievably proud of. As a community and city we should all be proud of these young athletes representing the young people of the city in such a way, and they thoroughly deserve all the recognition they get for their efforts. There was absolutely brilliant performances by everyone who competed at All Irelands Championships. To even qualify to compete at this level is an amazing achievement in itself.

Brianna Doherty PB and Bronze medal in the u15 Girls 200m

All the club coaches could not be prouder of all the achievements of every club member, not only at the All Irelands, but by all our members dedication, commitment and enthusiasm to all club sessions and the competitions they take part in throughout the year; always showing great Olympian heart and keeping the Olympian flame burning bright.

All at the Club could not praise our athletes’ dedication, resilience, and team spirit any higher. The club extends heartfelt thanks to all the coaches, parents and guardians for their continued support and commitment to our athletes development, and we all look forward to the upcoming 2025/2026 season, as always, with great optimism and enthusiasm.

Congratulations - Congratulations to Martin Corbett for being selected to participate in the newly formed juvenile national jumps squad next year. This is a great recognition for his efforts and achievements this year. Well done Martin.

Training - We are insured to cater for any and all abilities from 7 years of age right up to senior and master’s level who wish to train, keep fit, have fun, and/or compete at a local to national/ international standard.

Brianna Doherty All Ireland U15 100m Silver and 200m Bronze medalist with sprints coach Martin O'Donnell

The club is now on a break for the remainder of the summer months and will return first week of September Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7pm at Templemore Sports Complex Track. For further details please message Michelle/ Karen O’Donnell on Facebook on Olympian AC.