Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Sport
Staff reporter

Israel Olatunde targets 10 second barrier after becoming fastest Irish man ever

Israel Olatunde believes he can be the first Irish athlete to break the sub-10 second barrier after breaking the national 100m record on Tuesday.

The Dundalk sprinter became the first Irishman to reach a 100m final at the European Athletics Championships before breaking Paul Hession's 15-year record in a time of 10.17 seconds in the decider.

And the Irish youngster was only .04 of a second off a medal in what was a hugely encouraging performance for Irish athletics.

Read next: Ciara Mageean outlines toll Covid took on her body ahead of Commonwealth Games

All eyes will be on the 20-year-old with the Paris Olympics just two years away.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Olatunde spoke of his reams to run even faster and break that 10 second barrier.

"100%, it's been a dream of mine since I was a young kid so I definitely have my eyes on that for sure," Olatunde said.

"I'm going to keep working towards it with my coach and see where we can end up."

Hession was 24 when he broke the record in 2007 and he knows Olatunde can go on to bigger and better things.

"The fact that he's only 20 is amazing really. I think back to when I was 20 and how much I still had to do and the world is his oyster," he said.

"He has a great chance now to not just make it at European level but to try and push on maybe do what I didn't do and make an Olympic final and push for even more.

"I guess to get there, he just needs to keep doing what he's doing and keep the head down and try and stay injury free. I think that's going to be the key over the next 2-3 years up until the next Olympics, to try and stay healthy, keep doing what he's doing and who knows where he'll get to."

READ NEXT:

Sign up to our free sports newsletter to get the latest headlines to your inbox.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.