Nick Griggs of Candour Track Club has signed for the University of Oregon, with the 21 year old set to enter American collegiate athletics.
Cathal Dennehy reported on Friday in the Irish Independent on Friday that Griggs had signed for Oregon, with three years of NCAA eligibility.
It is a move that gives the NCAA season another compelling storyline for Irish athletics fans. Griggs brings European titles, senior international experience and the kind of times that make him a significant addition to any university squad.
His breakthrough came at just 16, when he won European U20 3000m gold in Tallinn in 2021. Further European medals followed on the track and in cross country, alongside appearances at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest and the 2024 European Championships in Rome.
In 2025, Griggs added European U23 5000m silver before winning individual and team gold at the European U23 Cross Country Championships in Lagoa. He carried that progress into 2026, claiming his first Irish senior indoor 3000m title and finishing 9th at the World Indoor Championships. Those results give Oregon a recruit with considerable international experience already behind him.
There is championship substance behind those times, too.
Last December, Griggs won the European U23 cross country title in Lagoa, becoming the first Irish man to claim an individual title in the history of the European Cross Country Championships. He finished the 5.96km course in 17:47, a commanding 12 seconds clear of France’s Aurélien Radja, and helped Ireland secure team gold.
That ability to deliver in championship racing makes this signing particularly interesting. Fast track times attract attention, but Griggs has also proved he can manage a crowded race, judge his moment and pull clear with a medal on the line.
His breakthrough came at just 16, when he won European U20 3000m gold in Tallinn in 2021. Representing Mid Ulster AC at the time, he ran 8:17.18 to beat athletes several years his senior. Five years later, the Oregon move opens another chapter in a career Irish supporters have followed closely since that remarkable afternoon.
Oregon offers a setting with considerable weight in the sport. Based in Eugene and home to the famous Hayward Field, the university’s men’s cross country programme is led by Jerry Schumacher, whose coaching career includes NCAA team titles at Wisconsin and international medal success with the Bowerman Track Club.
The immediate question is when Griggs will make his competitive debut.
That leaves the timing of his first appearance to be established, but the significance of the move extends well beyond this autumn. Three years of reported eligibility offers scope to settle into a new training environment and build towards several collegiate campaigns.
For Oregon, this is the arrival of an athlete who already knows how to win on the European stage. For supporters on the other side of the Atlantic, it is a substantial new reason to keep an eye on the Ducks.
