European Indoor Championships - Day 1 2021
European Indoor Championships 2021 - Irish Highlights from Day 1
Torun, Poland,
Friday March 5th 2021
Livestream on European Athletics Website
The European Indoor Championships will also be covered on RTÉ Player and RTÉ2, with the morning sessions on RTÉ Player. There is also coverage on BBC
Phil Healy Progresses with Commanding 400m Run
Phil Healy, Bandon AC, has advanced from Heat 5 of today's opening round of the Women's 400m, with a commanding run of 52.00 secs. Unfortunately, Sharlene Mawdsley (5th Heat 7, 53.68) and Sophie Becker (3rd Heat 2, 53.31) did not progress.
Athletics Ireland Report
Healy dominated heat 5 and claimed her place in the 400m semi-final by setting the fastest qualifying time. The Bandon AC athlete posted an impressive ‘from-the-front’ performance to clock 52.00 which was just one hundredth of a second outside her personal best. She will go in the semi-final later this evening (18:33pm Irish time).
Sophie Becker was in action in the second of the 400m heats and was unlucky not to progress with a 53.31 which was just outside of her personal best. The Raheny Shamrock AC athlete was in contention for the automatic qualifying places for much of the race but had to settle for 3rd place in her heat which was not enough to progress to the semi-final stage.
Sharlene Mawdsley went out hard and claimed a front ranking position at the bell in heat 7 of the 400m. The Newport AC athlete faced a tough task to make the semi-final but battled bravely to come home in 5th in a time of 53.68 which was just outside of her PB.
Womens 800m
Nadia Power was ultra-impressive in negotiating her way through round one of the 800m heats, securing her place in tomorrow’s semi-final with a 2:03.16 performance. The DCH AC athlete will be back in action for the semi-final which is scheduled for 18:00pm tomorrow (Saturday 6th).
Power Qualifies from 800m Heat 5
A comfortable second and place in tomorrow's 800m European indoor semi-finals for Nadia Power after running 2:03.16 in her heat #Torun2021 pic.twitter.com/srm02RZgtg
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 5, 2021
National 800m record holder Siofra Cleirigh Buttner went in heat 3 of the 800m and looked well in contention until the final lap but was unable to reel in the eventual first three athletes home. She crossed the line in a time of 2:04.47.
Georgia Hartigan made her senior debut in heat 6 but was just run out of the top 3 qualifying spots to eventually finish 4th (2:04.74)
Evening Session:
All eyes will be on the semi-final of the Women’s 400m where Phil Healy will look to make it to tomorrow’s final. She is set to take to the starting blocks at 18:33pm (Irish Time – Live on RTE2).
The Men’s 800 is set to start at 18:55pm where we’ll see Irish 800m record holder Mark English line up with in the heats with recent rivals Cian McPhillips and John Fitzsimons.
Attention then turns to the Men’s 1500m final (20:35pm Irish time) where Paul Robinson and Andrew Coscoran will go toe to toe with the elite of Europe’s 1500m athletes.
Friday Evening
Saturday's Program
Womens 400m Semi-Finals
Phil Healy Qualifies for 400m Final
Phil Healy, Bandon AC has qualified for the Women's 400m Final, winning her Semi-Final in 52.41, in a photo-finish from Romanian Andrea Miklos, who was credited with the same time. Miklos came fast on the outside, and appeared to catch Phil by surprise, as Phil could be seen berating herself before the results came up on screen, obviously thinking that she had been pipped for the win. (Finishing position impacts on the lane draw for tomorrow's final)
Mens 800m Heats
English & McPhillips Qualify for Mens 800m Semi-Final
Mark English and Cian McPhillips both advanced from Heats 3 & 4 this evening, however John Fitzsimons (5th in Heat 4, 1:51.00) bowed out dropping from 3rd to 5th at the line, missing out by just 0.03 sec.
Paul Fitzsimons (far side) in blanket-finish for third place
800m Heat 4 Results
McPhillips ran an incident-free race, to finish 2nd from Heat 3, in 1:49.98
Cian McPhillips coasts across the line
800m Heat 3 Results
English made it difficult for himself, clipping the rail, when under no pressure, coming off the final bend, to finish 3rd in Heat 2, in 1:49.79
800m Heat 2 Results
Mens 1500m Final (Post Updated)
Marcin Lewandowski and Jakob Ingebrigtsen
There was a sting in the tail at the end of this race, with winner Jakob Ingebrigtsen initially being disqualified. Ingebrigtsen had taken the lead from early on, with reigning champion, Marcin Lewandowski in pursuit. Ingebrigtsen finished in 3:37.56, with Lewandowski in 3:38.06. But, with the DQ, Lewandowski was elevated to 1st. However following protest from the Norwegian Federation, he was reinstated as winner nd Champion
1500m results
Full 1500m results
With the battle at the front, we didn't see much of the action behind, with Andrew Coscoran and Paul Robinson, just getting brief glimpses of the Irish lads in the pack.
Early stages of 1500m
Coscoran finished in 7th place, in 3:40.38, while Robinson was 10th in 3:40.74. So Ireland had two finishers in the top 10 at the 1500m final.
Paul Robinson being introduced to the media before the 1500m Final
A 'camera shy' Andrew Coscoran tries to avoid being introduced to the media before the 1500m Final
