Coscoran and Robinson Progress to 1500m Final - Torun 2021
Good Day for Irish on Day 1 of European Indoor Championships
Torun, Poland
Thursday March 4th 2021
There were four Irish athletes in action on Day 1 of the European Indoor Championships, in Torun, Poland.
Womens 3000M
First into action was Michelle Finn, Leevale AC, in Heat 1 of the Women's 3000m. Michelle started prominently, leading for most of the first lap, and was well placed after 1k, reached in 3:06, but gradually drifted back in the lead pack, nevertheless she was still in the race. After that the pace wound up. Unfortunately coverage went off the race for much of the second km, showing highly interesting bits like high jumpers gesticulating to their coaches, and shot putters donning tracksuits <sigh!> When action returned to the track, Michelle had fallen several metres adrift of the lead pack, eventually finishing 9th of the 12 women, in 9:05:44, a few seconds off her 9:02.34 PB, and 16th overall in the field of 25.
Mens 1500m
The three Irish men, Andrew Coscoran, Luke McCann and Paul Robinson were all in separate heats, 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
1500m Heat 2
All three gave great effort and were competitive throughout. Coscoran finished third in 3:39.00, just 0.12 sec off the second automatic qualifying spot, so had to sweat things out.
1500m Heat 3
Luke McCann was next up, in Heat 2. He made much of the running, and was unfortunate to be caught up in two incidents that effectively decided his race. The first was when he was in the lead, and was passed by Ingebritsen, who cut in early, impeding McCann, causing him to chop stride and lose momentum. The second incident was on the final bend, when he was vieing for a place. He was caught form behing, causing him to lose rhythm, letting others past. He finished 5th, on equal time with 4th, in 3:41.25.
1500m Heat 4
Paul Robinson went in the 4th and final heat, and was always in the first three. Coming into the final bend, he was caught by two thers, but immediately shifted gears and regained third, chasing down runner up Sasinek, but, with 3:40.07, fell just 0.03 sec short of the automatic spot.
There outcome was happy for Coscoran and Robinson though, with both qualifying on time - Ireland will have two men in tomorrow evening's 1500m Final
