O'Sullivan and Pen Freitas to run 1500m at European Team Championships in Poland...

The European Athletics Team Championships are now underway in Silesia, Poland with two athletes with ties to the Seattle area competing in the meet that began Tuesday and ends on Sunday.

Thursday, University of Washington middle distance runner Sophie O'Sullivan (Paul Merca photo), who will represent Ireland, runs in the Division 3 finals in the women's 1500 meters. That race starts at 12:20 pm in Silesia (3:20 am in Seattle), and will be streamed via links on the European Athletics website.

The European Team Championships format has one athlete from each of the 15 countries in their division, with 15 points given to first place, all the way down to 1 for 15th place.

After 25 of 37 events contested, Ireland leads with 327 points, followed by Austria at 320, then Israel with 290.

The top three countries in Division 3 earn promotion to Division 2, with the last three countries in Division 2 relegated to Division 3. After 25 of 37 events in the Division 2 competition, Estonia (172), Moldova (121) and Luxembourg (118) are in danger of relegation.

O'Sullivan is the top seeded runner in the Division 3 race at 4:08.06, which she ran at the NCAA West Regionals in Sacramento.

This makes her comfortably the fastest on paper ahead of Israel’s Sivan Auerbach whose lifetime best stands at 4:17.13.

A win by O'Sullivan would emulate the feat of mother Sonia, who won the 1500 three times at the European Cup Second League three times between 1993-95, and would help put Ireland back in the Second Division after being relegated two years ago when the Irish federation didn't participate due to Covid 19 complications.

The meet marks Sophie's first appearance in an Irish kit at the senior level. She last ran for Ireland in the 2018 European U-18 championships.

Meanwhile, Marta Pen Freitas of Seattle's Brooks Beasts will represent Portugal in the First Division women's 1500 meters, which will be run on Sunday as the final individual event of the meet at 6:15 pm local time (9:15 am in Seattle).

The European Athletics First Division meet includes European powerhouses Great Britain, Spain, France, Germany, Finland, Poland, Greece, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and Türkiye. In the First Division, the bottom three countries are relegated to the Second Division and replaced by the top three countries in the Second Division meet.

Based on current season bests of the 16 women in the field, Pen Freitas is seeded ninth at 4:06.05, which she ran in Nancy, France on Sunday.

The home page for the European Athletics Team Championships, including links to live results and live streaming coverage, is available here.

NOTE: European Athletics contributed to this report.

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