Israel Olatunde bidding to become Ireland's fastest ever man

At times, Israel Olatunde can scarcely believe his rapid rate of progression.

The 20-year-old heads to his first outdoor senior championships in Munich next week and not only does he harbour realistic ambitions of making his mark, Paul Hession’s 100m national record is in serious danger of falling.

"I never thought that I’d be at this stage of my career so quick," he told RTÉ Sport ahead of the European Championships, which run from next Monday, 15-21 August.

"Obviously I still have a long way to go, but it’s great to be able to look back on how far I have come. I know the 14-year-old Israel would be very proud of where I am now, and I’m not done yet."

It isn’t hard to find the pedigree in his family. Elizabeth Olatunde, who immigrated to Ireland from Nigeria in 1999 with her husband Isaac and oldest son Gabriel, was a sprinter at school and represented her state in southwestern Nigeria.

Israel and his sister Shannon were born and raised in Dundalk, with Israel coming up through Dun Dealgan Athletics Club and now UCD, where he will shortly embark on his final year of a computer science degree.

A schools title never came his way, but the sprinter has blossomed in the last couple of years. A month after turning 19 he won his first national championship at 100m and backed it up again this year.

His indoor form has been equally impressive, with a number of underage records falling and Hession is the only Irish man to record a faster time over 60m. The 6.61secs set in Birmingham 15 years ago is just one-hundredth of a second quicker than what Olatunde knocked out twice this year already.

Hession’s time at the top of the standings over 100m (10.18) is also looking under serious threat. Olatunde set a PB of 10.24 in Tullamore last