MAEVE O’Neill has advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s 800m at the World Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland.

The Doheny AC runner, on her international debut, learned that she had made the women’s 800m semi-final in the mixed zone. Having initially finished third in her heat in 2:03.20 she advanced to the next round after Valery Tobias (USA) was disqualified. 

The 22-year-old Ballinacarriga woman, who recently broke the Irish indoor record (2:00.33), will now prepare to race again in Saturday’s semi-final.

‘I’m over the moon. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be disqualified, I didn’t see what happened. It’s a big shock but to try and make a semi-final was my aim. That’s huge for me,’ she said.