Sean Aigboboh of Tallaght AC, Dublin, centre, on his way to winning the U23 men 100m, ahead of Craig Duffy of Clonliffe Harriers AC, Dublin, left, and Emmanuel Akinrolie of Titans AC, right, during the 123.ie National U20 & U23 Championships at Tullamore Harriers Athletics Club in Tullamore Photo by Sportsfile
Tallaght AC’S Aigboboh to represent Ireland
TALLAGHT AC sprinter Sean Aigboboh has been selected to represent Ireland at the upcoming European Under 23 championships.
His most recent competition at the national under 23 championships in Tullamore saw him win gold in the 100m with a 10.85 finish time.
Aigboboh made his first international cap for Ireland only last month when he stepped in on short notice for Bori Akinola at the European Team Athletics Championships in Maribor, Slovenia.
The men’s 4x100m team had broken the original record in Geneva a week before with a time of 39.22, shattering a national record that had stood for 25 years.
Aigboboh was called in on late notice to step in for Akinola in Slovenia and the team managed to break their own record a week later with a time of 38.88 ensuring a second place finish overall in the tournament.
Aigboboh spoke on the experience of representing Ireland as a senior for the first time.
“It was amazing honestly, as of now it’s the best moment of my career so far.
‘It was something phenomenal. We definitely built a great understanding amongst the team with each other even though I stepped in at the last minute.
‘There was a bit of pressure but it was great to be able to deliver at that moment.”
Aigboboh also touched on the value of competing alongside an athlete the calibre of current Ireland’s fastest man Israel Olatunde who is a long time training partner also.
“I trained with him for about two seasons but I’m still very much a big fan of him. He’s someone I have always looked up to and enjoyed watching and he’s still a huge role model to me. A big inspiration.”
Heading into the U23 European Championships Aigboboh is confident that he has what it takes to perform.
“Confidence levels are high.I’ve run multiple 10.40s times and can consistently hit the standard. I’ve hit that multiple times this year and we are consistent with it as well.”
I feel like I’m building towards the perfect peak. I’ll be going in there with the hopes of breaking into that top 16 hopefully.”
The U23 European Championships are set to take place this weekend from 17 July to 20 July in Bergen, Norway.
