Last month, on the 30th January, Nadia Power broke the Irish indoor 800m record with a time of 2:02.44. Today, just 17 days since her record-breaking run, Power knocked almost a second and a half off her own record with an epic display in Poland.
Competing on the same track where next month’s European Indoor Athletics Championships will take place, the Dublin City Harriers athlete crossed the line in third place with a stunning time of 2:00.98.
Watch the full race below - starts at 50:00.
Since 1990, only five Irish women have run under 2:03 in the 800m indoors. Síofra Cléirigh Büttner is the closest Irish woman to Power – having previously held the record with a time of 2:02.46 since 2018. If you include both the indoor and outdoor times, the DCU track star’s time is comfortably 6th on the all-time Irish 800m list.
Running in lane two, Power finished third behind Ethiopia’s Habitam Alemu (1:58.19 – new meet record) and home crowd favourite Joanna Jozwik (2:00.42). Significantly, the 2019 European U-23 bronze medallist receives more world ranking points which will have a crucial impact on whether she qualifies for the Tokyo Olympics. The 48-top ranked 800m runners will qualify for the Olympics.
Power will now return to Dublin before she heads back to Poland for the European Indoor Athletics Championships from 5-7th March.
It has been an incredible few months for Power, who last year set a new Irish U-23 record in Italy to she move her up to 6th on the all-time 800m list. A month later Power, moved to 9th on the all-time Irish list for the mile after running a 4.32.5 in Barcelona.
Power's recent surge has been astonishing. She has previously spoken about the new found passion and drive she has for athletics thanks to her coach, Enda Fitzpatrick. Fitpatrick is a former international 1,500m runner and was formerly the Athletics Academy Director at DCU.
Happy to start my season with a big indoor PB and new National Indoor Record of 2.02.44 today☘️Excited for more racing opportunities over the next few weeks, next up i’m racing in Metz, France on the 6th of Feb pic.twitter.com/lXwT0zVkrc
— Nadia Power (@NadiaPower6) January 30, 2021
