Less Than 1 Week to Doha 2019
24 September 2019
The IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha will begin on Saturday 28th September and will finish on Sunday 6th October 2019, in what is expected to be an impressive show of the World’s athletic talents with over 1900 athletes competing from 209 different teams.
A total of 8 athletes have been confirmed to represent Ireland in Doha, with 4 athletes from Northern Ireland and Ulster in their ranks- Finn Valley AC’s Brendan Boyce; City of Lisburn AC’s Ciara Mageean, Clonliffe Harriers’ Stephen Scullion and UCD AC’s Mark English.
The first NI athlete on our TV screens will be City of Lisburn AC’s Ciara Mageean who currently holds 4 Senior Northern Ireland Records- for the 800m, 1500m, the Mile and 3000m. She will be competing against 42 other athletes from across 23 countries in the 1500m. With Ciara’s current PB of 4:01.21, she will first take to the track for the 1500m Heats on Wednesday 2nd October at 3.35pm (All times given are UK times). The Semi Finals for the Women’s 1500m will be on Thursday 3rd October at 9pm, with the finals happening on Saturday 15th October at 6.55pm.
The next event will be the Men’s Marathon on Saturday 5th October at 9.59pm which will see Clonliffe Harrier’s Stephen Scullion (PB: 2:14.34) take to the road. Stephen will be competing against 81 athletes from around 44 countries. This will be the first ever World Championships Midnight Marathon and it is set to be an impressive event, taking place along Doha’s iconic corniche, with the illuminated City as a backdrop.
First on the Road to Doha from Ulster will be Finn Valley AC’s Brendan Boyce in the 50k Walk on Saturday 28th September at 9.30pm. Brendan will compete in a field of 47 athletes from across 26 countries. Brendan recently competed in the European Race Walking Cup in Alytus, Lithuania finishing 5th in the 50k Walk with his PB time of 3:48.13.
The next Ulster athlete will be UCD AC’s Mark English in the Men’s 800m Heats, which will take place on Saturday 28th September at 3.15pm. Mark will be competing in a field of 47 athletes from across 30 different countries, with a current PB of 1:44.84. The Semi-Final will be on Sunday 29th September at 7.55pm, and the Final will be on Tuesday 1st October at 8.10pm.
We wish the best of luck to all the athletes taking part across the week’s events and thank Sport Northern Ireland for their continued support of both Ciara and Stephen through the Sporting Winners Programme. Viewing details for the BBC and Live Streaming are given below:
Available to view on the BBC:
Saturday 28th September- 14:15-16:30 – 800m Heats - BBC One (Mark)
21:25-02:15 - 50K walk - BBC Red Button (Brendan)
Sunday 29th September- 17:30-22:00 – 800m Semi-Finals – BBC Two (Mark)
Tuesday 1st October- 13:45-21:00 – 800m Finals - BBC Two (Mark)
Wednesday 2nd October- 13:45-20:00 & 21:00-22:05 – 1500m Heats - BBC Two (Ciara)
Thursday 3rd October- 13:45-23:30 – 1500m Semi-Final - Connected TV and online (Ciara)
Saturday 5th October- 18:00-21:30 – 1500m Final - Connected TV and online (Ciara)
22:00-00:30 - Men's Marathon - BBC Red Button (Stephen)
Full schedule here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/49487303
Live stream available: