WEST CORK athlete Maeve O’Neill (Doheny AC) broke the Irish indoor 800m record overnight in the United States.

Competing at the Saucony Battle for Boston meet at the renowned Boston University track, the 21-year-old Ballinacarriga woman clocked a time of 2:00.33 to better Síofra Cléirigh Büttner’s national record of 2:00.58 which had been set in 2021.

Doheny AC star O’Neill comfortably won her heat at the meet, going through 400m in a swift 59.09 seconds and 600m in 1:29.74, maintaining her form excellently all the way to the finish line.

The Providence College student’s time is also inside the automatic qualifying standard for next month’s World Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland. Only six Irish women have ran faster for the distance outdoors.