Flotrack will be taking our talents to Europe this week, as we will LIVE stream both the AIT Grand Prix in Ireland as well as the Birmingham Grand Prix in the UK to give you the fans full access to the best track and field competitions going on world-wide. The first of these will be LIVE on Flo tomorrow starting at 1:00pm CT, so swap your afternoon cup o’ joe for a nice pint of Guinness, because some of the biggest names in athletics are coming to your computer screen all the way from Westmeath, Ireland.

WATCH LIVE ON FLO: Mutaz Barshim jumps for the World record!

 

The big attraction in Ireland will undoubtably be Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim, the high jump star who will take another crack at the 2.43m indoor world record after jumping 2.40m two weeks back in Slovakia. The 23-year-old became the 2nd highest jumper in history in 2014 by leaping 2.43 outdoors, and won the Diamond League in an epic duel with Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko. 

 

Here’s what to watch Wednesday in Ireland: 

 

MEN'S HIGH JUMP

The most impressive fact about Mutaz Essa Barshim’s crazy high 2.40m jump in Slovakia is that he cleared that height after only beginning his training “a couple months ago,” as the 2014 indoor World champion told IAAF.org after his Asian record leap in early February. If the 23-year-old could reach that height two weeks ago with minimal training, what will he achieve 14 days later after showing such excellent early season form?

 

The Asian record holder was remarkably consistent in 2014, leaping over 2.40m at four different events, while never jumping below 2.30m throughout the entire season. Barshim beat the Ukrainian Bondarenko in the race for the Diamond League title by winning the final two competitions in Birmingham and Brussels. 

 

WATCH: Mutaz Essa Barshim clears 2.40m in Slovakia!

 

MEN'S MILE

Top Irish miler Ciaran O’Lionaird returns to his homeland to try and become the first man to ever run sub-4 indoors on Irish soil. The 26-year-old former Florida State All-American has run 3:52 indoors, and should have no problem breaking that barrier in his native country. 

OTC's Ciaran O'Lionaird returns to his native Ireland on Wednesday

While O’Lionaird won’t need the luck of the Irish to make history, he may need such good fortune to beat his American training partner Ben Blankenship. If you missed this pair’s WOW, stop reading now and CLICK HERE. 

 

Blankenship has been in rare form early on in 2015, having run 8:16.53 for 2-miles at the Armory, and then cracking off a 3:53.13 mile at the New Balance Grand Prix one week later. Both of those marks were huge PB’s, as the 26-year-old knocked more than 3.5 seconds off his old indoor mile best in Boston. He’ll be tough to beat in Westmeath, even if his OTC buddy O’Lionaird has the home crowd behind him. 

 

The rest of the field will be made up of the top milers in Ireland. John Travers broke 4 in NYC last month (3:59.62), while defending AIT champion Eoin Evarard will have his hands full as he tries to thrill the Irish faithful again in 2015. 

 

60m DASH

Asafa Powell is a rare sighting on the indoor calendar, as the 32-year-old Jamaican has only run a handful of 60’s in his 15 year career. The former 100m World record holder (9.74) has never run under 6.50 in the distance, but came very close just two weeks back in Boston, placing 2nd in the New Balance Grand Prix in 6.52. Powell had an abbreviated outdoor season in 2014 after his suspension from a doping ban was lifted this past July. 

 

35-year-old Carmelita Jeter struggled through injuries in 2014, but no one should doubt her ability to still run fast as the American has won World medals at every outdoor competition since 2007. Jeter has a 10.64 PB in the 100m from 2009, which ranks her as the 2nd fastest woman in history.