Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght AC) and Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn) were named as the joint Athlete of the Year winners at the 123.ie National Athletics Awards in Dublin on Wednesday.
Adeleke and Mageean took top honours on the back of their respective record-breaking seasons, which were highlighted with fourth-place finishes at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
An outstanding season for Mageean now sees the Portaferry athlete boast national records at 800m (1:59.27), 1000m (2:31.06), 1500m (3:55.87) and the mile (4:14.58), while 2023 NCAA 400m champion Adeleke also lays claim to a host of Irish national records including 60m (7.17), 200m (22.34), 300m (36.87), and 400m (49.20).
Mageean also walked away with today's Track Athlete of Year award, fending off strong competition from Irish relay star Sharlene Mawdsley (Newport AC) and fellow record breakers Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) and Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC), who all enjoyed exceptional years.
Adeleke (Tallaght AC) also picked up the Under-23 Athlete of the Year gong ahead of the exciting trio of Sarah Healy (UCD AC), Sophie O'Sullivan (Ballymore Cobh AC), and Nicola Tuthill (UCD AC).
European Under-20 long jump champion Elizabeth Ndudi (Dundrum South Dublin AC) was named Under-20 Athlete of Year, following her superb gold medal performance in Jerusalem back in August..
Irish relay has enjoyed another stellar year, and it was fitting that the mixed relay team of Callum Baird, Chris O’Donnell, Jack Raftery, Roisin Harrison, Sharlene Mawdsley, and Sophie Becker picked up the Team of the Year award on the back of their performance at the World Championships in Budapest.
Mark Carroll was a very popular inductee into the Hall of Fame for 2023.
Carroll enjoyed a glittering career, announcing his arrival on the international scene by taking the European Junior Men’s 5,000m title in 1991 before going on to claim bronze in the 5,000m at the European Championships in Budapest in 1998.
Carroll would fulfil a lifelong ambition in the 2000 when he won gold in the 3,000m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Ghent.
