‘THE YOUNG IRISH lad may have just stolen it on the near side, he came through really late. I’ve a funny feeling the boy from Kildare may have taken it by the tiniest of margins.’
That boy from Kildare is eight-year-old Bernard Ibirogba, who on Saturday night beat some of America’s fastest kids to win the 55m sprint at the prestigious Millrose Games in New York.
Ibirogba and Emily Kelly from Donegal represented Ireland at the annual indoor athletics event after beating off competition from thousands of hopefuls from around the country.
Kelly produced a fine run to finish third in her 55m race in a time of 8.97 seconds before Ibirogba became the star with an incredible performance in the boys’ race.
The Scoil Naomh Pádraig pupil, in Lane 1, conjured a late surge to take the title by just one thousandth of a second in a time of 8.41.
Ibirogba’s parents moved to Ireland from Nigeria 17 years ago and were said to be in attendance in New York on Saturday to watch their son storm to glory with the race also shown live in America on NBC.
Remember the name: Bernard Ibirogba.
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