Abdel Laadjel is one of Ireland’s most exciting young middle-distance talents. He was first junior in the Tom Brennan New Year’s Day 5km running 15.19, placing 8th, just 7 seconds and 2 places shy of Liam Brady – the 2019 national senior cross-country champion. Just prior to the Covid-19 restrictions he won the All-Ireland Schools intermediate grade cross-country championship. In 2019 he won the schools Under-16 One Mile and represented Ireland in the Celtic Games XC at Mallusk
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? Born 2003 in Dublin
WHERE ARE YOU BEING EDUCATED? I’m currently in 5th year in Kishoge Community College in Lucan
WHAT IS YOUR PLANNED CAREER PATH? I’d like to follow a career path in something based on computers or business
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? I joined Donore Harriers in 2017
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? I chose Donore Harriers because Gerry Naughton came up to me in the West Leinster Schools cross-country championships after I came 4th in my race. He asked me to come down and train with the lads. He has been the person why I’ve improved and achieved since then
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? No, I only started running when I joined Donore Harriers
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORT? I no longer participate in other sports. I stopped playing regular football in 2018 to focus on running. It was hard to balance the two sports and I wanted to do well in athletics. I still play GAA matches for my school
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? My favourite track event to watch is either the 400m or 1500m as they are two events that are very tense to watch
WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB? I am an athlete in the Academy Squad coached by Gerry Naughton and Ciaran O’Flaherty
WHO WERE/ARE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? My sporting inspiration have been Muhammed Ali for mental toughness, and Hicham El Guerrouj for dominating middle distance running. Zinedine Zidane is also a big influence, as he has been both a great footballer and the best coach. Not many ex-footballers can say that!
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? “Moroccan Success; The Kada Way” which I have yet to finish. It’s about all the success of Moroccan athletes and the brilliant coaching of Abdelkader Kada, focusing on how he coached Hicham El Guerrouj to greatness
WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? The last Concert I went to was John Gibbons, one the most famous Irish DJ’s in the Academy in Dublin
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?
- The Battle of Algiers
- Blue Story
- SpiderMan (the first one)
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? I would have to say that my favourite country visited is Spain, especially the Granada region and the ancient town of Alhambra, which is one of the most beautiful ancient towns I’ve seen. I’m really into going to historic places, so that probably influenced my choice
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? My interests away from sport are computers and coding with them. I’ve been interested in messing around with computers since I was a very young kid. It has always been my intention to keep learning more about coding and computers
<NOTE: coding is the way humans communicate with machines, and it allows us to create software like programs, operating systems, and mobile apps>
IF DISERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
- Juicy (The notorious B.I.G
- Unforgettable (French Montana)
- No Words (Dave)
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO ARE YOUR COACHES? My coaches are Gerry Naughton and Ciaran O’Flaherty
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? Probably winning my first Irish vest or my All-Ireland Schools cross-country win. Hopefully, many more achievements to come!
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIMES/MARKS (PBs)? My pbs are – 800m 2.00, 1,500m 4.10, Mile 4:34 and 5km road 15.19
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? Favourite session is either 6 by 1km or 4 by (4 by 4) 400m reps. They really hurt, but I enjoy getting them done and feeling the benefits
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? The most difficult session I’ve done is either ‘paarlauf in the park’, Kenyan hills or the steep hills in Watertown Park. It’s basically any session that has hills that I find the most difficult
WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN (pre-covid)?
Monday – Rest
Tuesday – an hour steady run
Wednesday – Track session or hills
Thursday – an hour recovery run
Friday- 45 min run (sometimes rest)
Saturday – Tempo session or Hills
Sunday – 12-mile steady run
DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/THE CLUB? When we were on the warm-weather training camp in Portugal last year, I dolphin-dived/belly-flopped into the steeplechase water pool after a session in front of the group.
Another is when I was on a Sunday long run with the lads. I fell once on my face and then 30 minutes later I fell again on my face and I looked like I just finished an MMA fight by the end of the run.
And another is something called T.T.S, which was created by Louis O’Loughlin. It stands for ‘topless training session’. It’s a tradition in our training group at this point
WHAT ONE CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT DONORE HARRIERS? One change I’d like to see at Donore Harriers is a 400m track and/or a club physio
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME (all sports)?
- My top of all time must be Eamonn Coghlan for setting the mile indoor world record 3 times and he was renowned for destroying the field on the indoors track
- Roy Keane for what he’s done in football and with the national team
- Micheal Conlan (boxing) after being robbed in the Olympics went back and fought the same guy in a professional fight and beat him
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
TELL US ABOUT YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH FOOTBALL AND WHY YOU DECIDED TO QUIT THE GAME? I was involved in football at a very young age as my Dad was really into football. I loved football since I can remember and always enjoyed putting on my Liverpool jersey. It was very hard to give up football, but I eventually did so as to concentrate more on my athletics. I am still a huge football fan. I watch a lot of games and play the odd times with my mates
WHAT DISTANCE DO YOU PLAN TO CONCENTRATE ON IN THE FUTURE? The distances I plan to concentrate on in the future are the 1500m and 5000m as I think I’m built for those two distances. I know I have the endurance for the 5,000m and the strength for 1,500m
THE NATIONAL UNDER 17 CROSS-COUNTRY RACE IN DECEMBER (2019) PROVED TO BE A DISAPPOINTMENT, WHAT DO YOU RECALL ABOUT THE RACE? The national U17 cross-country race at Cow Park in Dunboyne was a huge disappointment. I went into the race going for the win and came out in 12th place. I knew I was in top shape. I felt good! But when I got into the race I didn’t feel right. I got tired before the halfway point and lost focus. As my coach Gerry (Naughton) says “It doesn’t matter how you feel before the race, it’s how you feel when you are out there in battle” which is one the truest thing I’ve heard. Nevertheless, I didn’t let the disappointment get to my head. It probably made me to feel more motivated. I believe everything happens for a reason, so it was meant to happen that day
ON THE OTHER HAND, THE ALL-IRELAND SCHOOLS INTERMEDIATE RACE IN MARCH 2020 WAS A GREAT RACE FOR YOU! TELL US ABOUT THAT DAY? The All Ireland schools in March was a big win for me after losing out so badly in the under 17 nationals as I was racing against the same top 3 from that race. I wanted to redeem myself and prove that I deserved to be up there. I was very motivated going into the race and I was going for the win. I spoke to my coach Gerry before the race. Gerry had just got off a plane the same morning and came to watch the race. He told me that it would be close race with 4 or 5 serious contenders and that I should not make my big move until the last lap. In the race I was very relaxed and let everyone do the work for the first 3.5k. I broke clear from the pack in the last 1.5-kilometre lap. I knew I had it in the bag. It was a good feeling crossing over the line because I knew all the months of hard work in the winter months was worth it
WHAT IS IT LIKE TRAINING WITH LOUIS O’LOUGHLIN? HE’S OBVIOUSLY A VERY GIFTED ATHLETE! Louis O’Loughlin is one the best training partners and best mates to have. He’s the best junior 800m runner in Ireland without a doubt – and he still has so much more to come. His talent extends to every event from 400m up to cross-country. He can pretty much do it all. I know Louis has much more to give and will keep improving from what is already a crazy PB in the 800m of 1.50. We love pushing each other in training and challenging each other. We all want to improve together with the other lads like Gavin (Curtin), Sean (Kinsella) and Zak (Sekeriye Ahmed). A big shout out to Louis’ music, everyone should hear him play the piano!
TRACK OR CROSS-COUNTRY? As much as I run cross-country, I must say I prefer the track for racing and championships. I am more of a track person in general than a cross-country runner. But the atmosphere in cross-country is something else!
IS IT TRUE THAT YOU HAVE A FAN CLUB IN ALGERIA? It was taken down by Noureddine Morceli as he is scared that I would take all of his records in the future – LOL! Hopefully one day I’ll race in Algeria while on a visit to my family there
