Power, Cléirigh Buttner and Hartigan produce stunning runs ahead of Euros
By Hayden Moore
RECORDS have crumbled in the Irish Women’s 800m Indoor discipline in recent weeks, with local athletes consolidating their places in the Ireland team for next month’s European Indoor Championships in Poland.
Mere days after Templeogue woman Nadia Power smashed the 800m indoor record, Dundrum South Dublin athlete Síofra Cléirigh Buttner lowered the mark again in Arkansas last Sunday.
Georgie Hartigan of DSD produced a superb performance at the AAI Elite Micro Meet for a personal best time of 2.01.48 in the 800m
Cléirigh Buttner originally held the record from 2018 until Power ran a full three seconds faster than her previous personal best to clock a time of 2:02.44 in Vienna in January to claim the national best.
Power continued to make positive strides at the World Indoor Tour in Tórun last week when she crossed the line in a time of 2:00.98, shattering the Irish record that she had registered just 18 days previous.
Cléirigh Buttner has also been in emphatic form, carding the second fastest time in Irish history over 1500m two-weeks-ago before reclaiming top spot in the 800m event this past weekend.
The Villanova graduate was racing in the American Track League and finished just .06 behind World Number Six, Heather Maclean.
The 2011 European Youth Olympic Festival silver medallist shaved milliseconds off Power’s record to cross the finish line in 2:00.58.
Templeogue athlete Nadia Power has been in blistering form in races across Europe
In the space of five days, five different athletes have clocked the five quickest indoor runs in the history of the Irish Women’s 800m.
Four of those athletes, Cléirigh Buttner, Power, Georgie Hartigan and Louise Shanahan, are ranked in the top 20 in the world – a feat unmatched by any other country.
A glimpse at the all-time records of the Irish Women’s 800m event sees local athletes round out the top three.
Síofra Cléirigh Buttner won back the Irish Indoor 800m record in Arkansas
Cléirigh Buttner is top with her blistering 2:00.58 run last Sunday, Power is behind her with 2:00.98 and Georgie Hartigan is in third.
Buttner’s DSD clubmate Georgie Hartigan clocked 2:01.48 at the Elite Micro Meet at the Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena last weekend.
It marked a new PB for Hartigan en route to securing her berth at the upcoming European Indoor Championships.
A bumper Irish team of 24 athletes have been selected for the tournament that will run from March 5-7, with the Women’s 800m cohort standing out for its overall strength.
For Power, she will be returning to the venue where she beat her Irish record earlier this month.
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