Israel Olatunde

Israel Olatunde (born 29 May 2002) is an Irish professional track and field athlete specializing in the sprints. He competed at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships, and reached the final of the 100 metres at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, the first Irishman ever to do so, and where he finished sixth in an Irish record time. He later broke the national record in the 60 metres in 2023.

Israel Olatunde
Olatunde in 2022
Personal information
Born (2002-05-29) 29 May 2002
Drogheda, Ireland
Sport
CountryIreland
SportTrack and field
Event(s)Sprints
ClubDúndealgan AC
Coached byDaniel Kilgallon (since 2019)[1]
Gerry McArdle (youth)[1]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)

Early years

Olatunde's parents, Elizabeth and Isaac, immigrated to Ireland from Nigeria in 1999 with their oldest son Gabriel.[2] Israel was born in Drogheda and raised in Dundalk along with his older sister Sharon, though he made three trips to his parents' homeland during his upbringing.[2][3] He played association football in his youth, where he "always knew [he] was faster than the other kids".[4] He also tried Gaelic games and basketball.[2] He gravitated towards the sport of athletics, though, because he "always copied whatever [his] sister did."[5]

Olatunde took up competitive sprinting under coach Gerry McArdle during his first year at St Mary's College, Dundalk,[1][4] where he would go on to earn his Leaving Certificate in June 2019.[6] Olatunde also joined his first athletics club, Dúndealgan AC, representing them at the Louth Championships in the under-17 category at age 14.[4] He enrolled at University College Dublin in 2019,[1] studying computer science on an Ad Astra Elite scholarship.[4]

Career

2018

In his first indoor meet, Olatunde won the junior (U20) national title in the 60 m with a time of 6.99 s at the National Junior and U23 Indoor Championships.[7] He also won the indoor juvenile (U17) national titles in both the 60 m and 200 m events.[8]

During the outdoor season, a fifteen-year old Olatunde captured the U20 national title in the 100 m.[9] He qualified for his first international event, the 2018 European Athletics U18 Championships,[4] where he competed in the 100 m event and was eliminated in the semifinals.[10] Olatunde also won the U17 national title in the 200 m.[11] In August, he set a new personal best in the same distance by clocking a 22.13 at the Celtic Games.[12]

Olatunde was named the 2018 Athletics Ireland Juvenile Star for County Louth.[13]

2019

On 27 January, Olatunde set a national U18 record in the 60 m by running 6.84 s to win his second consecutive Irish U20 title.[6][14] He also won the U18 title in the same distance at the National Juvenile Championships, setting a new championship best by running 6.90 s.[15]

On 29 June, Olatunde set the national U18 record in the 100 m with a time of 10.63 s at the Mannheim Gala in Germany.[6][16] He also helped the 4 × 100 metres relay team record a time of 40.40 s, which was the second-fastest time ever ran by an Irish U20 team.[16] Olatunde was selected to represent Ireland at the European Youth Olympic Festival in July, competing in the 100 m and the Swedish medley relay.[17] He placed seventh in both events.

2020

Olatunde won his third straight national U20 title in the 60 m with a time of 6.91 s.[18] He subsequently competed in the discipline at the Irish Universities Athletics Association (IUAA) Indoor Championships and the Irish Indoor National Championships, though his times were not fast enough to medal at either meet.

2021

On 21 February, Olatunde finished second in the 60 m at the Elite Micro Meet after clocking 6.73 s, breaking both the national U20 and U23 records.[19] He competed in the 60 m event at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland, but was eliminated in his heat with a time of 6.79 s in his major championship debut.[20]

In the outdoor season, Olatunde won the national U20 title in the 100 m in a time of 10.51 s.[21] A week later, he won his first national senior title in the same distance with a new personal best of 10.49 s at the Irish National Championships, beating the defending champion Stephen Gaffney in the final.[22] Olatunde competed at the European U20 Championships in July, where he ran in both the 100 m and the 4 × 100 metres relay but failed to qualify for the final in either.[23][24]

2022

In his first competitive run of the season, Olatunde ran 6.67 s in round one of the National Indoor League to break his own national U23 record in the 60 m.[25] Two weeks later in round two, he shaved three-hundredths of a second off the record with a time of 6.64 s.[26] Olatunde rounded off January by winning the Irish University title in 6.66 s.[27] At the National Championships, he ran a personal best of 6.62 s to set a championship record and claim his first national indoor title.[28] It was only one-hundredth of a second slower than the Irish national record, but it secured his spot in the following month's World Indoor Championships.[28] After capturing the national U23 title in a championship-record time of 6.63 s,[29] Olatunde travelled to Serbia to compete in the 60 m event at the World Championships.[30] He finished fourth in his heat after clocking 6.66 s and did not advance to the semifinals.[31]

Olatunde opened the outdoor season with a gold-medal performance at the Irish University Championships, posting a time of 10.50 s in the 100 m.[32] On 14 May, he ran a new personal best of 10.35 s to win gold at the Belfast Irish Milers Meet.[33] On 2 June, Olatunde improved his time to 10.27 s, setting a national U23 record and moving him into third-place on the Irish all-time list.[34] Later that month, he captured his second consecutive national senior title in the 100 m distance,[35] followed by the national U23 title in July.[36]

On 15 August, Olatunde ran a new personal best of 10.19 s in the 100 metres preliminary round at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, breaking his own U23 national record.[37] The following day, he finished 6th in the final and set a new Irish record of 10.17 at the distance. It was the first ever appearance by an Irishman in the 100m final at a European Athletics Championships.[38][39]

Personal life

Olatunde is a Christian.[2] He is good friends with fellow Irish sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke.[2][1]

Achievements

Personal bests

All information taken from World Athletics profile.[40]

Type Event Time Date Place Notes
Outdoor 100 metres10.1716 August 2022Munich, Germany+0.1 m/s (wind), NR
200 metres21.804 August 2021Belfast, Northern Ireland+0.6 m/s (wind)
4 × 100 metres relay39.2724 July 2022Tullamore, Ireland
Indoor 60 metres6.5719 February 2023Abbotstown, IrelandNR
200 metres22.3927 January 2019Athlone, Ireland

International championships results
Representing  Ireland
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTimeWind (m/s)
2018European U18 ChampionshipsGyőr, Hungary5th (sf)100 m11.09-0.9
2021European Indoor ChampionshipsToruń, Poland44th (h)60 m6.79—
European U20 ChampionshipsTallinn, Estonia3rd (sf)100 m10.51+0.9
6th (h)4 × 100 m relay41.06—
2022World Indoor ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia4th (h)60 m6.66—
European Championships Munich, Germany 6th 100 m 10.17 +0.1
– 4 × 100 m relay DNF —
2023 European Indoor Championships Istanbul, Turkey 18th (sf) 60 m 6.69 —
European U23 Championships Espoo, Finland 8th 100 m 10.44 +2.1
5th 4 × 100 m relay 39.51 —

National titles
  • National Championships
    • 100 m: 2021, 2022
  • Indoor National Championships
    • 60 m: 2022
  • IUAA Championships
    • 100 m: 2022
  • IUAA Indoor Championships
    • 60 m: 2022
  • U23 National Championships
    • 100 m: 2022
  • U23 Indoor National Championships
    • 60 m: 2022
  • U20 National Championships
    • 100 m: 2018, 2021
  • U20 Indoor National Championships
    • 60 m: 2018, 2019, 2020
  • Juvenile National Championships
  • Juvenile Indoor National Championships

Notes
  1. U17 events
  2. U18 events

References
  1. Dennehy, Cathal (22 February 2022). "Sprint star Israel Olatunde takes nothing for granted ahead of National Indoor Championships". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  2. O'Riordan, Ian (23 January 2022). "Bravado-free Israel Olatunde sets sights on Irish sprinting records". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  3. Bray, Allison (17 August 2022). "Israel Olatunde: Who is Ireland's fastest man?". Irish Independent. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  4. Osborne, Jason (29 April 2021). "Running races in time and eternity". The Irish Catholic. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  5. "Israel's Olympic Dream". Dundalk Leader. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  6. "Israel represents Ireland". Dundalk Leader. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  7. McLaughlin, Gavin (31 January 2018). "Israel storms to national gold for Dundealgan AC at his first indoor event". Dundalk Sport. Medium. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  8. "Results of Irish Life Health National Juvenile T&F Championships Day 3 2018". Cork Athletics County Board. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  9. Dennehy, Cathal (2 July 2018). "Morland displays her class with Tullamore treble". Irish Independent. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  10. "Irish debut win for Sophie O'Sullivan". Fast Running. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  11. "Juveniles produce more fine displays in Tullamore". Athletics Ireland. 22 July 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  12. "Louth athletes shine for Ireland in Celtic Games". Irish Independent. 11 August 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  13. "Juvenile Star Award Winners 1970-2019" (PDF). Athletics Ireland. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  14. Browne, PJ (29 January 2019). "Watch: 16-Year-Old Sets New Irish U18 Record For 60m". Balls.ie. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  15. McLaughlin, Gavin (4 April 2019). "Fantastic weekend for young athletes at National Indoor Athletics Championships in Athlone". Dundalk Sport. Medium. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  16. "Irish Under 20 Team at the Mannheim Gala - Update". Athletics Ireland. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  17. McLaughlin, Gavin (26 June 2019). "Israel selected on Irish team for European Youth Olympics in Azerbaijan next month". Medium. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  18. "Neville stars at U20 and U23 Indoor Championships". Athletics Ireland. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  19. O'Riordan, Ian (21 February 2021). "Irish athletes turn Elite Micro Meet into festival of national records". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  20. Downing, Will (6 March 2021). "Phil Healy clocks personal best snatching fourth in 400m final". BreakingNews.ie. The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  21. Dennehy, Cathal (21 June 2021). "'Dream to break 13 seconds' for Tokyo-bound hurdler Lavin". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  22. "Tokyo quests continue as young sprint stars shine". Athletics Ireland. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  23. Dennehy, Cathal (16 July 2021). "Dublin teen Adeleke can take golden opportunity in Tallinn". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  24. Collins, Frank (20 July 2021). "Ireland Athletes won 4 Gold Medals at the European U20 Championships in Tailinn, Estonia". The Irish Post. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  25. O'Riordan, Ian (9 January 2022). "Israel Olatunde runs new Irish under-23 60m record". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  26. Paterson, Conor (29 January 2022). "UCD Ad Astra Scholar Adds New Irish under-23 60m record". College Tribune. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  27. O'Riordan, Ian (30 January 2022). "Three Irish athletes break four minutes for the indoor mile". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  28. Dennehy, Cathal (27 February 2022). "Molly Scott smashes Irish 60m record and Phil Healy dominates 400m to take seventh title at national championships". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  29. "Cork Athletes Set Four Records at National Junior & Under 23 Indoor Championships". Cork Athletics County Board. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  30. "Belgrade Bound for Team Ireland ahead of World Indoor Championships". Athletics Ireland. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  31. O'Riordan, Ian (19 March 2022). "Sarah Lavin the shining light on a tough day for Ireland at World Indoors". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  32. Hooper, Dave (9 April 2022). "College Medals For Raheny Athlete's". Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  33. Dennehy, Cathal (14 May 2022). "Sensational Shanahan sets new Irish 800m record in Belfast". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  34. "New U23 100m record for Israel Olatunde". Athletics Ireland. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  35. Dennehy, Cathal (27 June 2022). "Adeleke shakes off Scott and jetlag to claim 100m crown". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  36. Dennison, Tessa (20 July 2022). "Kerry athletes set the gold standard at National Junior and U-23 Championships". Irish Independent. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  37. O'Brien, Brendan (16 August 2022). "Israel Olatunde happy to spearhead Irish sprint revolution". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  38. "Ireland's Olatunde makes history at European Championships". The42. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  39. "European Championships: Israel Olatunde creates history with new Irish record in 100m final, Brian Fay eighth in 5,000m final". RTÉ Sport. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  40. Israel Olatunde at World Athletics
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