Calm reflection required after eternal highs of Rome

Unprecedented success for the Irish team at the European Athletics Championships opens more doors to ongoing progression of athletes and fuels anticipation of Olympic success, but a pause for reflection is maybe now required.

Ireland sent a strong team capable of winning four medals in Rome and that's the number they came home with – the bonus being the more-than-expected glittering composition of two golds and two silvers which saw Ireland finish in the top 10 of the medal table ahead of such track and field powers as Germany, Ukraine and Sweden.

Those medals should be celebrated and the nation’s joyful response to the Irish storylines which emerged from Rome will energise the notion that Ireland can win a first track Olympic medal in almost a quarter of a century in Paris in just seven weeks' time.

However, the true gauge for that kind of prospect cannot realistically or accurately be based on what was witnessed at the Stadio Olympico in the Italian capital.

Only in certain field events is European athletics a barometer for global success so a more authentic source were the World Championships in Budapest ten months ago and the World Relays held in the Bahamas in early May. From that well of performance, we can draw upon three top-four finishes with real prospect for improvement in all.

One thing which was clear in Rome was the progression in Rhasidat Adeleke by comparison to the athlete who was ranked fourth in the world over the women’s 400 metres in 2023.

Since then, she has left the compulsory grind of having to honour her scholarship duties representing the University of Texas which effectively left her running on fumes in taking fourth place in the Hungarian capital at the World Championships.

Turning professional, as