68th Cork City Sports - Wednesday August 14th 2019
68th Cork City International Sports
CIT Athletic Stadium, Cork
5:30pm Wednesday August 14th 2019
Tickets are available NOW from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and instore at John Buckley Sports and Con Murphy's Menswear. There is FREE entry for accompanied kids (Under 12's)
Pat Fitz Band
The Pat Fitz Band will be performing throughout the evening, at the BAM Cork City Sports International Athletics Meet, at CIT Athletics Stadium, on Wednesday August 14th. Gates open at 5pm
Men's Mile
Ryan Gregson and Sam Prakel have been confirmed for the BAM Cork City Sports Mile
Ryan Gregson, Australian 1500m record holder, is a former winner of the Mile in Cork, and is back on August 14th to try to take the title once more. Gregson has been successful on the Diamond league circuit for many years, and, this year, ran 3:53 in Oslo and 3:54 in London for the mile. He will need to be in top shape to take the title back from an in-form Sam Prakel, who has won this race for the past two years.
Prakel has had a breakthrough season this year, running a blistering 3:50.94 indoors for the mile, and was a 1500m finalist at the recent US Championships, along with Eric Avila. Both will contest the Mile at the BAM Cork City Sports on Wednesday evening next.
Others to watch for in this race are Robert Domanic USA, Justyn Knight CAN, Llorenç Sales ESP, Andrew Coscoran IRL
Mens 800m
Jake Wightman will race in the mens 800M, against Ireland's Mark English, at the BAM Cork City Sports, on 14th August.
Jake Wightman, GBR, has been one of Britain's top middle distance runners in recent years. He has run a 3:52 mile and a 1:44 800m, in the past year. He recently finished third in the Emsley Carr Mile, at the London Diamond League meeting, in a stellar field. He was the 2017 winner of that prestigious race.
Mark English, IRL, Bronze medallist over 800M, at the European Indoors, last March, is finding form ahead of the World Championships in Doha. He will be up against two top Americans Isaiah Harris, and Eric Sowinski, who was second in this race last year. There are several athletes in the field looking for qualifying times for Doha, so it is guaranteed to be a fast race if the weather allows.
Mark English who recently won his seventh National Men's 800m title, is racing in the BAM Cork City Sports on 14th August.
400m Hurdles
This years BAM Cork City Sports 400M Hurdles race, will be the best in the country in many years. Two of the top four finalists at the recent US Championships, Amere Lattin, 48.66, and David Kendziera, 48.69, will contest this race, along with returning South African Cornel Fredericks, 48.14, who is at his best.
Last years winner Jacob Paul, GBR, will return to defend his title, from a strong and evenly matched field. This race will be close.
Amere Lattin, David Kendzera and Cornel Fredericks have also been confirmed for the mens 400M Hurdles at the
Womens 800m
Top British and American athletes have been confirmed for the Womens 800M at BAM Cork City Sports.
British athletes Alex Bell, Adelle Treacy and Hanah Seagrave, are set to go against finalists at the American Championships, Olivia Baker and Samantha Watson, and number one in the Canadian rankings, Lindsey Butterworth. Irish athletes Siofra Cleirigh Butner and Nadia Power will also provide strong opposition.
Mens 3000m
Patrick Tiernan will lead the line up for the Mens 3000m at the BAM Cork City Sports. Tiernan, a Villanova graduate, and coached by Cork's own Marcus O'Sullivan, was the 2016 NCAA Cross-Country Champion. He has been running very successfully on the Diamond league circuit this year, with a 13:12 clocking for 5000m, in London recently. He has his sights set on fellow Australian Craig Mottram's meet record.
His main opposition will come form Antonio Abadía, ESP, Benjamin DE HAAN, from the Netherlands, Julian Oakley from, NZL. and Ireland's John Travers.
Women's High Jump
Priscilla Frederick, world renowned High Jump athlete, is competing in the BAM Cork City International Athletics Meet
Men's Long Jump
World Champion, South African Luvo Mayonga, who is in winning form, has picked the Cork Meet for his Long Jump test ahead of upcoming World Championship title defence in Doha.
Luvo Manyonga (South Africa) is one of the greatest Long Jumpers in the history of this event. Current World Champion, Manyonga's list of achievements is staggering. Having won the Silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, he became World Champion in London, in 2017, and Commonwealth Games Champion in 2018.
In 2018 he also became Diamond League Champion, having won five Diamond League titles, and world number one ranking. He has maintained his position in the top two in the world for the last four years. His personal best is a mind-blowing 8.65m when 8m is considered world class. He comes to the BAM Cork City Sports on the 14th August on foot of a win at the London Diamond League on 20th - 21st July, having jumped an early season 8.37m into a headwind of -1.1m/sec.
The Cork field will include Jacob Fincham-Dukes - current British number one; Tim Duckworth GBR, world class decathlete, and an 8m long jumper; Adam McMullen IRL, number two on the Irish all-time list; Shane Howard and Colm Bourke both in the top ten list of all-time Irish performers.
Manyonga’s very special Irish connection is well known. He credits a Waterford born man called John McGrath with saving him from the risk of drug addiction and early death as a young man in the townships of South Africa. In five years, he rose to become Olympic Silver Medallist, and eventually Commonwealth and World Champion.
Manyonga is a true personality of the sport of athletics and engages the crowd with his charm and amazing athletic ability. He will be defending his world title in Doha (27 September – 6 October) in great form, but before that the Cork crowd will be treated to a master class in Long Jumping with the very real possibility of a meet record on August 14th at the CIT stadium.
Mens 200m
Clarence Munyai and Sydney Siame have been confirmed for BAM Cork City Sports on August 14th.
At the 2018 Cork City Sports, Sydney Siame, ZAM, set a new Meeting Record, Irish all-comers record, and Zambian National record while winning the mens 200M in 20.18 secs. Siame is back on August 14th to defend his title and has already run faster this season running 20.16 in Switzerland at the end of June.
However he will probably have to run even faster than that, to cope with the speed of Clarence Munyai RSA, one of South Africa's greatest sprinters of recent years. Munyai is a regular on the Diamond League circuit, and has a quite sensational best time of 19.69, which would rank him in the top ten fastest 200m runners ever. This year he has already run 20.04, in Belgium last week, and will be competing at the World Championships in Doha, at the beginning of October.
These two outstanding athletes, coupled with the top three Irish 200m runners of Leon Reid, Marcus Lawler and Stephen Gaffney, should make this race one to watch.
There has never been a sub 20.00 second 200m run on the island of Ireland. With the right weather conditions and a good crowd to support for these athletes, we might see that mark broken on Wednesday evening August 14th.
