![\"Ashton-Eaton\"](\"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Ashton-Eaton.jpg\")
<\/a>Ashton Eaton, the Olympic decathlon champion and world record holder, is the headliner at the AIT International Arena Grand Prix on 26 February.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old, who was dubbed \u201cthe best athlete to ever walk the planet, hands down\u201d at London 2012, is part of an international field \u2013 including Eaton\u2019s wife Brianne Theisen-Eaton \u2013 that will compete in the AIT International Arena, Athlone.<\/p>\n
One of the highlights of the evening will undoubtedly be the Senator Eamonn Coghlan Mile, which is sure to attract a top-calibre field looking to run the first four-minute mile in the Athlone venue. A prize fund of \u20ac500 is on offer for the winner of the race if he achieves the elusive sub-four minute time.<\/p>\n
Amongst those already signed up to compete in the race are John Coghlan, David McCarthy, John Travers, and Joe Warne.<\/p>\n
President of AIT, Professor Ciar\u00e1n \u00d3 Cath\u00e1in, said:<\/p>\n
The grand prix is attracting a growing list of national and international talent. People are really excited about the opportunity to see athletes who have succeeded at the highest level, whether that be in the Olympics, the World Championships or the European Championships. We\u2019re really confident that this will be a sell-out event<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The AIT International Arena has established a reputation as a fast track, something which Prof. \u00d3 Cath\u00e1in says is proving to be \u201ca decisive factor in attracting the sporting elite\u201d to the midlands venue. \u201cIn the year since we opened the International Arena, new records are continuously being set, including most recently a new world record for over-60 in the 800m set by Joe Gough, as well as Mark English\u2019s new national senior and u-23 indoor record in the 800m. Just last Friday, 12 indoor athletics intervarsity records were broken. That bodes well for some really keen times at the Grand Prix,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n
Events confirmed for the meet include the 60m, 400m, 600m, Senator Eamonn Coghlan Mile, 3000m, as well as the long jump, shot put and 60m hurdles.
\n
<\/p>\nInternational athletes<\/h2>\n
Amongst the international athletes competing at the AIT Grand Prix will be:<\/p>\n
\n
- Ashton Eaton (Olympic decathlon champion and world record holder),<\/li>\n
- Brianne Theisen-Eaton (heptathlete, 2012 Olympian and 2013 World Championship silver medalist),<\/li>\n
- Tabarie Henry (three-time World finalist \u2013 400m),\n<\/li>\n
- Shara Proctor (2013 Diamond League Champion, British indoor and outdoor record holder, 2012 World Indoor Bronze medalist \u2013 long jump),\n<\/li>\n
- James Ellington (London 2012 Olympian, current 2xBritish 200m champion),\n<\/li>\n
- Donald Sanford (fourth at European Championships in 2012 \u2013 400m),\n<\/li>\n
- Damar Forbes (2013 NCAA Champion and World finalist \u2013 long jump),\n<\/li>\n
- Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (member of GBR 4x100m relay that won bronze at World Championships), and\n<\/li>\n
- William Sharman (Captain of the GB athletics team and World 110m hurdles finalist).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Further information about the AIT International Arena Grand Prix can be found at www.aitsport.ie. The event starts at 7pm on Wednesday 26 February. Tickets are priced at \u20ac10 for adults and \u20ac5 for children, and will be on sale on the door. Highlights of the event will be shown on Setanta Ireland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World\u2019s ‘Best Athlete’ to Compete in AIT International Arena Grand Prix. [blockquote style=”style-1″]Olympic gold medalist, Ashton Eaton, heads international field competing in Athlone on 26 February.[\/blockquote] Ashton Eaton, the Olympic decathlon champion and world record holder, is the headliner at the AIT International Arena Grand Prix on 26 February. The 26-year-old, who was dubbed \u201cthe best athlete to ever walk the planet, hands down\u201d at London 2012, is part of an international field \u2013 including Eaton\u2019s wife Brianne Theisen-Eaton \u2013 that will compete in the AIT International Arena, Athlone. One…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":2455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ennistrackathleticclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}