Sonia O’Sullivan: Welcome to the NCAAs, where winning is all that matters

It’s already been an exciting couple of months for indoor athletics, with world and national records broken across many events, and there’s every chance the best is yet to come.

The American college indoor championships, better known as the NCAAs, take place this weekend at the Convention Centre in Albuquerque. Hosted by the University of New Mexico, in the high Chihuahan Desert, the interesting thing about this location is the altitude – around 1,600m above sea level, effectively a mile high.

This can have a big impact in how races are run and won, especially up to 400 metres, where the high altitude offers an advantage when it comes to running fast times. For the longer events, it can be a disadvantage, given there is less oxygen in the air, which typically slows the athlete down.

I remember running in the Athletics World Cup final in Johannesburg, around 1,750m above sea level, where all the distance running races quickly turned into slow, tactical affairs. Who would be the most patient, waiting for the opportunity to pounce?

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Running the 5,000m, representing Europe, I waited as long as possible, kicking around the last bend to win in 16:24, which ranks as one of my slowest ever winning times. But this race was all about winning, being in the best position, knowing that times would count for nothing.

Albuquerque will be all about winning, and about racing, which makes it particularly exciting to watch

So far, the American indoor season has been all about running fast times, with NCAA records broken across many events – the sprints, the distances, even the distance medley relay. Albuquerque will be all about winning, and about racing, which makes it particularly exciting to watch.

For many, qualifying for Albuquerque meant chasing fast times across the US. Countless teams have made the pilgrimage to the Boston University facility since early December: that fast track is most likely to produce a coveted spot in the top 16 best times across all individual events for Division One colleges.

In recent years, very few Irish athletes have qualified for the NCAA indoor finals. When they do, times go out the window, particularly in the distance events: without an even, steady pace, the more canny and tactically astute student athletes will shine. The result is never as predictable as one might think.

All Irish eyes this weekend will be on Rhasidat Adeleke. Last year, in her second indoor season competing for the University of Texas, she finished fourth in the 200m and eighth in the 60m, before running a 51.27 split in the 4x400m relay team that finished runner-up to Arkansas.

The duel returns again this week, between Texas and Arkansas in the relay. This season Rhasidat has moved up properly to the 400m, having already broken the Irish record twice this year, taking it down to 50.33 seconds, also an NCAA collegiate record.

[ Rhasidat Adeleke continues her record-breaking form in South Carolina ]

That collegiate record was broken again the same afternoon by University of Florida athlete Talitha Diggs, running 50.15, and the title this weekend is likely to be between these two.

There is a greater expectation on Rhasidat’s shoulder this weekend, coming in ranked number two, but she’s been getting better with every race she runs. The Albuquerque track lends itself to fast times over 400m so this is set to be a cracker of a race, with a semi-final also to navigate.

The last Irish female athlete to win an NCAA indoor title was Maria McMahon, over 5,000m, running for Providence College in 1996. These titles don’t come around very often. Rhasidat has won gold medals at every stage of her development on the European stage, finished fifth in the European final last year in Munich, and just missed out on a place in the World Championship finals.

Rhasidat has always approached her races in a calm and measured way, always putting herself in the competition and never failing to deliver

This will be the biggest test of her career so far: the NCAA Indoor Championships in most events are on a similar level to the recent European Indoor Championships, where Rhasidat is ranked second in Europe, and third in the world.

Rhasidat has always approached her races in a calm and measured way, always putting herself in the competition and never failing to deliver. Even just this past summer, after close to 50 races throughout the college season she finished up with a national record 50.53, and fifth place at the European Championships when she was still very new to 400m running.

Other Irish athletes in action in Albuquerque this weekend include Brian Fay with the University of Washington over 3,000m and the mile, Barry Keane with Butler University over 5,000m, and Sophie O’Sullivan, also with the University of Washington, anchoring the distance medley relay.

There was a time when indoor racing felt a bit inferior to outdoors, almost like its second cousin. That’s all changed now as people realise the indoor season brings great opportunities to qualify for the World Championships, and even to set national and world records.

Interestingly, in the US college system they have an adjustment factor for altitude, so some schools would choose to race at altitude. If, say, you ran 4:37 for a mile it would be converted to 4:31 and you would jump straight into automatic qualifying.

If you can just focus on relaxing and not stressing, then you will be able to get the best result

Normally you would not choose to race at altitude, but when the Championships are there you have to go, just like the Mexico City Olympics in 1968.

Some coaches and athletes will overthink the situation and run in fear. Whereas if you can just focus on relaxing and not stressing, then you will be able to get the best result and within striking distance of the finish and use that thin air for a final sprint, which does help if you haven’t cooked yourself in the early laps.

Most athletes run spectacular one-off races throughout the season. What matters now is how they cope with the pressure expectation and repeated effort over two days – just like running for your country changes the emphasis, and some rise to the challenge better than others.

College athletes in America will do everything for the team. Most will be on some form of scholarship, and this is where they are expected to perform and deliver on the biggest stage.

This is also the biggest shop window for many looking to continue their athletics career after college, where your value rises and falls depending on the race outcome. The decision-makers are all watching and taking notes.

Indoor racing always presents perfect conditions, no wind and ideal temperature. The facilities are also now state-of-the-art, not like the old days when it was 11 laps to the mile on bare wooden tracks. What ultimately makes the NCAAs so exciting, like any proper championship, is that winning times don’t count nearly as much as simply winning.