New Irish 200 metre national champion Benjamin Richardson has revealed he always wanted to represent Ireland and tried contacting Athletics Ireland to make the move as a 16-year-old - only to send an email to the wrong address. RecommendedA national South African champion at 200m, his 100m PB of 9.86 is the second-fastest in South African history, topped only by Akani Simbine's 9.82 clocked at the Paris Games. Last year, it emerged that Athletics Ireland had formally applied to the World Athletics Nationality Review Panel on behalf of Richardson, with the waiting period to be enforced by World Athletics starting with his participation in the 2024 Olympics. AdvertisementAfter claiming the win, Benjamin Richardson outlined that his wish to represent Ireland had been longstanding - revealing that he sent a message to the wrong Athletics Ireland email address as a 16-year-old when he was already looking to switch allegiances. I wanted to put my name out there so I was just like I might as well represent South Africa and hopefully I can represent Ireland in the future.