THREE Donegal athletes have been selected in the Ireland team for the 2026 World Athletics Relays which take place in Gaborone, Botswana on Saturday May 2nd and Sunday May 3rd.
Letterkenny AC’s Erin Friel and Finn Valley AC’s Arlene Crossan have made the cut for the Women’s 4x400m & Mixed 4x400m teams.
Tir Chonaill AC’s Fintan Dewhirst (Tir Chonaill AC) will be part of the Mixed 4×400 selection.
The top twelve teams in each event will qualify for the World Athletics Championships, with the top six teams in the mixed 4x400m relay qualifying for the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in September.
Commenting on the team selection Christian Malcolm, Athletics Ireland High Performance Sprints Lead, said:
“We are excited to travel to Gaborone with three strong squads in pursuit of 2027 World Athletics Championships qualification and in preparation for August’s European Athletics Championships.
“It’s exciting to see the progress of the 4x100m squads, with the women’s squad comfortably qualified to be here, and both the men and women on track to make an impact at the European Championships in Birmingham this summer. We look forward to our final preparation camp in Stellenbosch, South Africa before we travel to Gaborone to compete.”
Twelve teams in each of the events will automatically qualify for the 2027 World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
World Championships places are up for grabs on both days of action. On the first day, the top two teams in each of the four heats will advance to the finals on day two, while also securing their qualification for the World Athletics Championships.
In the finals on day two, teams will compete for prize money and obtain preferential World Championships lane seeding positions. All other teams will compete on day two in the additional round where the top two teams in each of the two heats will also qualify for the World Athletics Championships.