World Championships: Ciara Mageean & Kate O’Connor start impressively in Budapest

Northern Irish athletes Ciara Mageean and Kate O’Connor each made spectacular begins to their World Championships campaigns in Budapest on Saturday.

Medal hope Mageean achieved routine development from her 1500m warmth as she was the third of the six automated qualifiers after a composed run.

O’Connor, in the meantime, lies eighth after the opening two heptathlon occasions.

The Commonwealth Games silver medallist adopted a 100m hurdles private greatest with a robust excessive leap efficiency.

European Championship and Commonwealth Games 1500m medallist Mageean, 31, has been in good kind this season having smashed Sonia O’Sullivan’s long-standing Irish mile document.

The Portaferry girl was anticipated to come back by means of her warmth and duly progressed to Sunday night’s semi-finals as her time of 4:03.52 left her inches behind Ethiopia’s Hirut Meshesha and Australia’s Jessica Hull.

Mageean’s team-mate Sarah Healy additionally impressively reached the 1500m semi-finals as her time of 4:03.00 left her 0.38 seconds behind world document holder and scorching favorite, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, because the qualifiers behind the 22-year-old Irish girl included Great Britain’s fifth-placed Melissa Courtney-Bryant and skilled Spaniard Esther Guerrero.

Sophie O’Sullivan, a daughter of the legendary Sonia O’Sullivan, took greater than 5 seconds off her 1500m private greatest as she clocked 4:02.15 in her warmth however narrowly missed on qualification after working out of fuel in the closing 50 metres as she completed eighth following the bravest of runs.

This yr’s European Under-23 champion’s efficiency moved her as much as fifth on the Irish all-time checklist behind Mageean, her mom, Healy and Geraldine Hendricken.

Heptathlete O’Connor – who has focused a top-10 end in Budapest – had an excellent morning as she clocked 13.57 seconds in the opening 100m hurdles which was 0.17 inside her PB set eventually yr’s Commonwealth Games.

The Dundalk girl’s excessive leap of 1.80m was solely 0.01 off her lifetime greatest as she moved up 4 locations in the general standings to eighth spot.

The Newry-born athlete’s present factors complete of 2018 has her 129 factors behind chief, US athlete Anna Hall, who leads compatriots Taliyah Brooks and Chari Hawkins, with Great Britain’s 2019 world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson in fourth spot – 30 factors off the bronze medal place.

Saturday’s remaining occasions in the heptathlon are the shot put and 200m with the lengthy leap, javelin and 800m going down on Sunday.

Ireland’s 4x400m combined relay staff progressed to the ultimate of their occasion as one of many two quickest non-automatic qualifiers after ending fourth in the opening warmth in 3:13.90.

That left them dealing with an anxious wait through the second warmth however with fifth-placed Jamaica solely clocking 3:14.05, the Irish quartet of Jack Raftery, Sophie Becker, Chris O’Donnell and Sharlene Mawdsley progressed to Saturday night’s remaining on a busy opening morning for the Irish staff in Budapest the place the monitor motion was delayed for an hour following heavy rain.

Walker David Kenny was the primary Irish athlete in motion in the 20km stroll however was a non-finisher whereas Eric Favours missed out on a spot in the shot put remaining as his greatest effort of 19.65m – 0.99 down on his private greatest – left him 23rd general.

Tyrone teenager Nick Griggs is among the many three Irish opponents concerned in the night session’s males’s 1500m heats as in-form Andrew Coscoran and Luke McCann additionally put on the inexperienced vest.