We are pleased to bring back our weekly selection of Irish sports performances that deserve recognition.
This weekend, in our first feature of this series for 2026, we highlight action in Gaelic Football, Cycling, Athletics and Boxing.
This week’s Champions of the Weekend is brought to you by SSE Airtricity, one of Sport for Business’s key partners and a supporter of our coverage of Sustainable Sport.
Kerry GAA
Kerry clubs An Gaeltacht and Ballymacelligot made Croke Park a Green and Gold zone over the weekend, winning both the AIB Intermediate and Junior Club Football Finals and perhaps pointing towards a clean sweep next Sunday when An Daingean take to the same stage in the Senior Final.
Dean Harvey and Freya Whiteside
Dean Harvey, riding for McConvey Cycles, made it four consecutive national titles in the National Cyclo-Cross Championships, which took place at Castle Sanderson in County Cavan on Sunday. Freya Whiteside won the Women’s title on Saturday, our first National Champion of 2026.
Efram Gidey
Efrem Gidey got his 2026 racing schedule off to a dream start on Sunday morning by breaking his own Irish 10k road record in Valencia, Spain. The 25-year-old clocked a time of 27:37 in the world-renowned 10K Valencia Ibercaja race, taking six seconds off his previous best, which was set at the same event last year. Gidey finished 12th overall, with Andreas Almgren (Sweden) winning in a European record time of 26:44.
Brian Fay
Olympian Brian Fay produced a standout performance to finish 16th in the Senior Men’s 10km race at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida on Saturday afternoon. The 27-year-old Dubliner, who was 10th at the recent European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal, ran a great race, moving from outside the top 40 in the early stages to a top-20 finish.
Irish Boxers
12 boxers have booked their places in the 2026 National Elite Championship finals next Saturday, following Friday’s first day of semi-finals, which included the return to the National Stadium of double Olympic champion, Kellie Harrington.
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