World Masters T&F 2024 (13th to 25th Aug)

Colm Walsh competed for the first time at World level in race walk when he lined up for the 10k Road Walk at the World Masters T&F in Gothenburg, Sweden on Saturday 17th August. The venue for the 10k walk was Slottsskogen City Park, which is the main park in Gothenburg, a short distance from Bjorlanda Stadium, which is the venue for the majority of the T&F events. The course was 10 laps of a 1k out-and-back course and as it was the evening, the weather was kinder and dropped to 20degC when the race started, so Colm felt pretty fresh for the entire race. Colm was the only Irish man in the race and gave a great account, finishing an excellent 6th place in 54:24, his quickest time in 3 years. Colm was back in action again on Monday 19th August when he competed in the 5,000m Track Walk at the Bjorlanda Stadium. Despite having only two days recovery after the 10k Walk, Colm felt quite fresh and quickly settled into his race and was right up with the leading group most of the way in fifth place. With 600m to go he really pushed hard to try and close on fourth place, slowly closing the gap but he remained in 5th across the line, third European man to finish and despite no medal won, he was very happy with his time of 25:39.68, his quickest in several years.

Sean McMullin got his campaign underway on Tuesday 20th August when he toed the line for the 5,000m Track Walk. Unfortunately, a recurrence of a niggle in his knee robbed him of his best and despite a great effort, he had to settle for a 7th place finish in 33:00.16. Sean wasn’t finished yet though, and he competed in the longer 20k Road Walk on Sunday 25th August. The longer distance actually suits Sean better and from the start he moved into second place and settled into his rhythm. Caught at 7k, Sean was locked in a battle to 9k but was then passed and dropped into third, a position he maintained to the finish, comfortably clear of fourth place, to win a World bronze medal [CW/GD].