LAST UPDATE | 18 Aug 2022
ANDREW COSCORAN FINISHED ninth in the men’s 1500m final at the European Championships tonight, a race won by the utterly dominant Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
Coscoran – a semi-finalist at the World Championships – crossed the line in a time of 3:39.91, some way short of his Personal Best of 3:35.66. Ingebrigtsen, however, set the pace of the race and he set it high, leading from start to finish and crossing in a Championship Record of 3:32.76.
Great Britain’s Jake Heyward took silver, while Spaniard Mario Garcia clung on for bronze, fading in the home straight having tried to match Ingebrigtsen’s pace.
“It’s not the result I was looking for”, Coscoran told David Gillick of RTÉ. “Ninth in Europe wasn’t bad and I gave it socks, but I didn’t have the legs today. I should have had them. I guess you can’t be good in every single race..I’m a bit disappointed.
“The only thing you can do is sit in, relax, stay on the pace and hopefully have enough to close at the end”, he said of the tactical approach needed in a race with the extraordinary Ingebrigtsen.
“I just need to get a bit fitter maybe and keep working, keep grinding.”
Also on the track tonight, Ireland’s Roisin Flanagan finished in the women’s 5,000m final, clocking 15:33.72. Her PB of 15:26.76 was set only earlier this month.
A thrilling race was won by home-town favourite Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who chased down Turkey’s Yasemin Can, overtaking her with 600 metres to go and then stretching out her advantage to the backdrop of an arena going wild. There was some celebration in the RTÉ studios too, as Klosterhalfen is coached by Sonia O’Sullivan.
“Thank you Sonia so much, I send you lots of love! I think you won the title in Munich as well, so to win it too is so special for me”, an excited Klosterhalfen told RTÉ. GB’s Eilish McColgan took bronze.
