MAEVE O’Neill certainly made an impression on her senior Ireland debut.

The Ballinacarriga woman (22) hit her main target as she qualified for the women’s 800m semi-final at the World Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland.

With her heat and semi-final on successive days, O’Neill got a taste of life at this level – and loved it.

‘Coming back in 24 hours, it’s something I am starting to get more used to. I’m only going to have to run faster in those rounds from here on out. I am happy with it,’ O’Neill smiled after her semi-final on the Saturday morning, promising to learn from her first senior major international championships.

‘It’s a lot more intense, and feels a lot bigger than U20 and U23 championships. It’s been a really cool experience.’

The Doheny AC athlete has been in terrific form for Providence College in Rhode Island as she booked her ticket to the World Indoors. Top of her highlights this year include breaking the Irish indoor 800m record with a stunning 2:00.33 at the Saucony Battle for Boston in February, and racing to 800m gold in a record time at the BIG EAST indoor championships.

Naturally, O’Neill travelled to Poland high in confidence and produced a strong performance in her heat. With the top two to qualify for the semi-final, she initially finished third in 2:03.20. But there was a twist: American Valery Tobias was disqualified, and O’Neill was promoted to second place.

Maeve looked at home on the world stage.

‘I’m over the moon. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be disqualified – I didn’t see what happened. It’s a big shock, but to try and make a semi-final was my aim. That’s huge for me,’ said O’Neill, who was back on track 24 hours later for the semi-final.

Again, the West Cork woman battled hard and made strong moves, but ultimately faded in the final lap. While she finished sixth in 2:02.46 and missed out on a place in the final, she can bank the experience of two races at the World Indoors.

‘I knew I had to get out hard, so that’s what I did,’ O’Neill explained.

‘I went through 200 metres faster than I usually would and tried to hang on for as long as I could, but it wasn’t there today. I wouldn’t change it – that was the best chance I had of trying to qualify for the final.’

Next up is the outdoor season, and O’Neill can’t wait to continue her best campaign yet.

‘The Irish indoor record was really unexpected – I was shocked after it. I didn’t know I was going to run that fast. It makes me excited for outdoors. I love outdoors.’