European Championships 2016 - Day 5 - Athletics Ireland Report
Magical Mageean wins Bronze
Athletics Ireland Report
The Athletics Ireland Reports from the Championships were written by Feidhlim Kelly
Interview with Ciara Mageean
Ciara Mageean (UCD) produced a magnificent performance to win the bronze medal in the women’s 1500m final in a tactical 4:33.78 on the final day of the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam (July 10).
After years of injury troubles Mageean delivered on some of her huge potential even though she felt she could have finished even higher.
“I just wish there was another 10 metres,” said the ever-competitive Mageean. “I’ll take everybody’s advice and enjoy this achievement. It’s great to win a medal for Ireland and I hope it will be the first of many. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the support of my coach Jerry Kiernan and the support of Sport Ireland with physio Emma Gallivan who’s been with me for over five years.”
Mageean was a sliver off the silver medal – race favourite Sifan Hassan (Netherlands) just held off the UCD athlete by two hundredths of a second for silver with 4:33.76. Poland’s Anglelika Cichoka won the gold with 4:33.00.
Women's 1500m Final
European Championships 2016 - Mens 4x400m Final
The men’s 4x400m relay team of Brian Gregan (Clonliffe Harriers), Craig Lynch (Shercock), David Gillick (DSD) and Thomas Barr (Ferrybank) produced a sterling effort to finish 5th in the men’s 4x400m relay with 3:04.32 – equalling their placing from the Europeans in Zurich in 2014.
Official Splits:
Brian Gregan 45.9
Craig Lynch 46.2
David Gillick 46.13
Tom Barr 45.98
The women’s 3,000m steeplechase final saw history created with three Irish women in the final. Michelle Finn (Leevale) had a big last lap to finish 7th in a personal best of 9:43.19. Sara Treacy (Dunboyne) was 9th in 9:45.19 with Kerry O’Flaherty (Newcastle) 12th in 9:45.88.
Video - European Championship 2016 - Womens Steeplechase Final
European Championships 2016 - Mens 5000m Final
Kevin Batt (DSD) finished 17th in the men’s 5,000m final in 14:20.50.
European Championships 2016 - Mens Half-Marathon
Earlier in the day the men’s half marathon team finished 7th lead home by Paul Pollock (Annadale Striders) in 17th with 64:58. He was followed by Mick Clohisey (Raheny Shamrock) in 32nd with 66:00, Kevin Seaward (St Malachy’s) in 66:20 and Sergiu Ciobanu (Clonliffe Harriers) in 67:46.
European Championships 2016 - Womens Half-Marathon
In the women’s half marathon Claire McCarthy (Leevale) finished 48th in 76:02 and Gladys Ganiel (North Belfast Harriers) finished 71st in 78:06.
Ciara Mageean becomes the 9th Irish athlete, and third woman, to medal at the European Athletics Championships.
High Performance Director Kevin Ankrom was delighted with the result. “This was a great result for Ciara, her coach Jerry Kiernan and the high performance team around her. The system in place is paying off and there are a lot of athletes who have gained good experience from these championships. The men’s 4x400m relay team put it all on the line and there were a number of season’s bests and competitive performances. This helps evolve the High Performance programme going into Rio and another Olympic cycle afterwards.”
Irish team manager Patsy McGonagle added: “It was a magnificent performance for Ciara and it was great to win a medal on the final day. Every athlete has put in a competitive effort with a number of standout performances. It’s a good stepping stone for Rio."
Irish Medallists
1958 Ronnie Delany BRONZE 1500m
1969 Frank Murphy SILVER 1500m
1978 Eamonn Coghlan SILVER 1500m
1994 Sonia O'Sullivan GOLD 3000m
1998 Sonia O'Sullivan GOLD 10,000m
1998 Sonia O'Sullivan GOLD 5000m
1998 Mark Carroll BRONZE 5000m
2002 Sonia O'Sullivan SILVER 5000m
2002 Sonia O'Sullivan SILVER 10,000m
2006 Derval O’Rourke SILVER 100m Hurdles
2010 Derval O’Rourke SILVER 100m Hurdles
2010 Robert Heffernan BRONZE 20km Walk
2014 Mark English BRONZE 800m
2016 Ciara Mageean BRONZE 1500m
