Sport

Ireland's Israel Olatunde smashes his own Irish athletic record in London

Rome , Italy - 8 June 2024; Israel Olatunde of Ireland after finishing 6th in his semi-final of the men's 100m during day two of the 2024 European Athletics Championships at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. (Photo By Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Ireland's fastest man, Israel Olatunde, broke his own Irish record at the NEB Open last weekend. The 22-year-old sprinter clocked a time of 10.12 seconds (with a 1.7 m/s wind) to win the 100-meter race in London.

Olatunde shattered his previous record of 10.17 seconds, which he set during the 2022 European final.

Representing Tallaght AC, Olatunde finished first, ahead of Great Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Stephen Baffour, who recorded times of 10.14 and 10.17 seconds, respectively.

OLATUNDE SMASHES NATIONAL 100M RECORD💥

Israel Olatunde (Tallaght AC) has lowered his own Irish 100m record with a stunning 10.12 at the NEB Open in London earlier today (Aug 18th)🙌

Full result: https://t.co/DirCSzdvCp #IrishAthletics pic.twitter.com/khqnFrySd2

— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 18, 2024

Another Irish sprinter, Marcus Lawler, placed seventh with a time of 10.35 seconds.

Olatunde's win comes after his seventh-place finish in this year's European semi-final in a time of 10.40. This meant that he missed out on qualification for the Paris Olympics

NEB OPEN RESULTS

1. Israel Olatunde: 10.12
2. Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake: 10.14
3. Stephen Baffour: 10.17
4. Delvis Santos: 10.22
5. Luke Dorrell: 10.31
6. Adam Thomas: 10.34
7. Marcus Lawler: 10.35