At the Stratford Speed GP3 Track Open this afternoon in Newham, Israel Olatunde set a new Irish record in the 100m, clocking a time of 10.12. This takes .05 off the old record, which Olatunde set at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, where he finished 6th in the final. 10.15 would have been good enough to not only make the 100m final in Rome but to also finish 4th. The Tallaght AC sprinter beat local sprinter Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake who clocked 10.14 and Stephen Baffour who finished 3rd in 10.17. Also competing in the same heat was Clonliffe AC’s Marcus Lawlor who finished 7th in 10.35.
We were given a preview of what was to come, when Olatunde recorded 10.18 in round 1 earlier in the day, just .01 off his record. This marks a series of progressive improvements that Olatunde has been demonstrating this summer. Olatunde recorded 10.31 at this years European Championships in Rome and followed this up with a 10.27 when taking gold at the National Senior Championships in Dublin in June. Nine days later he ran 10.25 at the Cork City Sports. After tough 2023 this is good news for Olatunde who has all the signs of returning to the form he produced in 2022.
The Dundalk native is coached by Daniel Kilgannon and has won seven national senior titles over 60m and 100m and has previously competed in the European Youths, u20s and u23 championships along with European and World Indoor Championships. We look forward to more improvements that could take lead him to further progression on the World stage.
