IRELAND’S BRIAN GREGAN has failed to qualify for the 400m final at the World Athletics Championship, after finishing in sixth place in his semi-final.
The Clonliffe Harriers athlete took an impressive third-place finish in his heat yesterday in a time of 45.37 seconds.
But it wasn’t to be today.
Gregan clocked a time of 45.42 seconds in a competitive field. The Dubliner was off the pace, but finished strong up the home straight, storming past 2008 Olympic champion and Rio bronze medallist LaShawn Merritt to take sixth place.
“It was going to be a near impossible task to make the final,” Gregan said afterwards. “I would have had to run 44-mid, smash the Irish record, get very close to the European record to even have a chance.
“Now I know what it feels like to run at that pace, and what I need to work on for next year. It was a positive enough experience at the end.
“It was always going to be a massive ask to make the final. You’re racing the best guys in the world but that’s what you want to do.
“That run yesterday in my legs made a difference. I could have done with a day off to get myself fully recovered. When you’re running fast it’s always difficult to run fast again the next day.
“I left everything on the track, that’s what I always do. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be today.
“Even if I had to have ran 45:2 or 1 it still wouldn’t have made a difference.
“I went out there and I had the best guys in the world around me. That was every bit as much an Olympic final as you can imagine.
“I had the gold and silver medallists from the last Worlds and the gold and bronze from last year’s olympics.
“It was tough but I ran as much of my own race as I could, and I was fairly satisfied.”
Wayde Van Niekerk, Baboloki Thebe, Abdalelah Haroun finished one, two and three in the semi-final.
- Reporting from Will Downing in London
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