More Great Performances on Day 4 of U20 European Championships
Curtain Comes Down on Magnificent Irish Performance at European Under 20 T&F Championships 2021
Tallinn, Estonia
Sunday July 18th 2021
Diarmuid O'Connor celebrates with is fellow Decathletes after the event
Ireland finished in third place on the Medal Table at the end of a Major Championship - did we ever think we'd see this day?
Well done to all the athletes and coaches!This didn't just happen by turning up on the day!
For anyone who watched these Chamionships, the performances across the board, by the Irish, was stirring and uplifting. I think a lot of people will have taken notice!
Final Medal Table
Final Medal Table
Decathlon - Diarmuid O'Connor
Final Decathlon Table
Bandon AC's Diarmuid O'Connor came into today's second day of the Decathlon in fifth place, having set four PB's in his five first-day events... a seemingly difficult feat to continue. But...continue he did, setting a 14.36 sec PB in the 110mH, before most of us were even up. Not long afterwards, he followed up with a 39.73m PB in the Discus.
Decathlon Discus Results
Next up was the pole vault, where he opened on 3.8M and appeared to struggle to move towards his 4.2m PB. However the 'Heaven's Opened' in Tallinn and, when vaulting resumed after a brief recess, Diarmuid was 'on fire', quickly clearing 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4m, for yet another PB.
Diarmuid attempting 4.2m in the Pole Vault
...And he wasn't finished setting PB's, casting a massive PB of 49.02m in the Javelin - a PB by almost 9m
Diarmuid urging his Javelin on, for his 49.02m PB
Diarmuid's standing after 7 events
Lining up for the Start of 1500m
He went into the final event, the 1500m, with a hefty gap to the Bronze medal, and took it out at 4:30 pace, quickly opening up a relatively big lead. Diarmuid was one of the leaders in the 1500m, with a PB of 4:30. His lead was cut somewhat by two slower laps, around 4:40/4:45 pace. Diarmuid upped the pace going into the final lap, but was caught by Belgian Misplon, who appeared to be urging Diarmuid on over the final metres, with Diarmuid finishing in 4:31.63, just behind Misplon, on 4:31.39.
Diarmuid finished in Fourth place, and set a new National Junior Record of 7604 points, surpassing Barry Walsh's 1987 record of 7336 points, and on the way he set eight (8) PB's - a stupendous performance from the Bandon AC Man
Barry Walsh's 1987 Irish Junior Decathlon Record
Ireland's 4x400 Women Go Close in Final
Lauren McCourt, Caoimhe Cronin, Maeve O'Neill and Rhasidat Adeleke
Ireand's Womens 4x400 team of Lauren McCourt, Caoimhe Cronin, Maeve O'Neill and Rhasidat Adeleke almost produced produced a major upset today, having qualifed as one of the non-automatic qualifiers, at the expense of the much fancied Poles.
Bandon AC's Lauren McCourt took the first leg, and after a start that saw her well up, the strength of the other teams saw her in a tussle with Ukraine and Czech Republic to keep Ireland in contention. Caoimhe Cronin took over and handed over to Maeve, in 8th place. Maeve O'Neill ran the third leg, bringing Ireland back to sixth, falling back to 8th, but produced a tremendous finish to hand over in 6th place.
Rhasidat Adeleke ran a powerful anchor leg and, with the leading five teams powering away, and a 25/30m gap, Adleke's task seemed insurmountable. Yet a tremendous effort, reminiscent of Phil Healy's "Depths of Hell" 400m relay leg, saw Rhasidat go into second place entering the final bend. She appeared to alter her stride coming off the final bend, to go around/avoid the runners on the inside, and in doing so, seemed to tie up over the final 80 metres, losing two places. Nevertheless it was a fabulous performance from her, particularly as this was her sixth race of the Championships.
Women's 4x400m Final
Cork Athletics Report Day 1 - Irish Progress on Day 1 of European U20 Championships 2021
Cork Athletics Report Day 2 - Adeleke is European 100m Champion on Day 2 of U20 Championships
Cork Athletics Report Day 3 - Irish Triple Crown on Day 3 of U20 European Championships
Athletics Ireland Report - Day 4
National Records Fall on Day 4 of European U20 Championships
National records fell on the 4th and final day of the European U20 Championships in Tallinn today, with Diarmuid O'Connor (Decathlon) and the Irish Women’s 4 x 400m relay team rounding off Ireland’s most successful ever championships in fitting style.
The Irish Women’s 4 x 400m Relay team of Lauren McCourt (Bandon AC), Caoimhe Cronin (Le Cheile) Maeve O'Neill (Doheny AC), and Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght AC) secured a 5th place finish in an U20 NR time of 3.37.39.
McCourt and Cronin safely transitioned the baton to O’Neill for the third leg which saw the Doheny athlete move from 8th place to 7th before making the final handover to Adeleke who had a substantial gap to make up to the leading five athletes.
True to form Adeleke clocked a 52.54-second final leg (fastest of anyone in the field) to help the Irish women to fifth and the new U20 NR.
Relay team success is very much about the squad and a special mention must go Kate O'Connell (Lucan Harriers) and Blanaid Fogarty (Enniscorthy AC) who played their part and were there to roar their teammates home.
Diarmuid O'Connor (Bandon AC) put together a breath-taking series of performances in the Men’s Decathlon over the last two days to secure a 4th place finish in a new national U20 record score of 7604 points.
O’Connor picked up where he left off on day 1, securing lifetime bests in the 110m Hurdles (14.36), Discus (39.73), Pole Vault (4.30), and a huge 9-meter PB in the Javelin (49.02). It moved the Frank Stam trained athlete within touching distance of the podium places heading into the final event (1500m).
The 1500m is one of O’Connor’s stronger events and the Bandon athlete went out in from the gun and gave his all to cross the line in 4:31.63 to round out a stunning two days of competition. It resulted in O’Connor finishing in an agonising 4th place overall on the back of 8 PBs from his 10 events.
The final score of 7604 points set the new Irish U20 record in style, taking over from the record of Barry Walsh which had stood since 1968.
Aoife McGreevy (Lagan Valley AC) & Laura Mooney (Tullamore Harriers) were also in action this afternoon in the Women’s 5000m split final which would see the A and B final times amalgamated. The Irish duo went in final A which was by the quicker of the two.
Mooney finished in a brilliant 6th place overall having gone with the leading pack from the gun. The Tullamore Harriers athlete was still in touch with two laps to go but an injection of pace in searing heat saw a gap open to the podium places. Mooney crossed the line in a 16:41.87 to claim yet another top 10 placing for the Irish at these championships.
McGreevy raced patiently to the rear of the main pack and was unlucky to just miss out on a top 20 finish, crossing in 17:20.49 for 22nd place overall.
The Men’s 4 x 100m Relay team were out on track early this morning. The team of Cillian Griffin (Tralee AC), Israel Olatunde (UCD AC), Charles Okafor (Mullingar Harriers), and Adam Sykes (Orangegrove AC) finished in a time of 41.06 for 6th place in the heats. It was a smooth run by all and offered more championship experience for the young sprinters, but ultimately it was not enough to advance to the evening’s final.
These championships will be remembered for some time to come, and credit must go to all those who have helped to support the athletes in getting to this stage over the last number of years. Team Ireland will return to Dublin with 4 gold medals, a national senior record, several national U20 records, as well as another six top-6 placings.
