DARRAGH MCELHINNEY took silver, while the Ireland team won gold in the men’s U23 race at the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin.
Cork man McElhinney produced a stunning performance, and was right in the mix across 8000m through a tough course at Abbotstown.
It was an exciting finish, with Great Britain’s Charlie Hicks coming out on top in 24:29 after leading for much of the race. McElhinney took command at times, before Ruben Querinjean made it a three-horse race in the closing stages.
Brilliant finish to men’s Under-23 race, silver for Darragh McElhinney, gold for the team. pic.twitter.com/d64X3EQ1n7
— Ian O'Riordan (@ianoriordan) December 12, 2021
Wonderful scenes in Dublin! 🥲
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) December 12, 2021
Led by Darragh McElhinney, Ireland 🇮🇪 are crowned team champions in the men's U23 race! 🙌🥇 #FingalDublin2021
(@irishathletics) pic.twitter.com/yFm6jjXo3e
McElhinney looked like he would have to settle for bronze, but a powerful finish saw him pick off Querinjean and take second in 24:33.
The UCD star spearheaded the Irish team to glory as they edged out Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Keelan Kilrehill next in in sixth, with Michael Power 13th, Donal Devane 40th, Jamie Battle 44th and Thomas Devaney 67th.
Medal Alert🥈
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) December 12, 2021
And it's SILVER for Ireland 🇮🇪
🥇Great Britain & NI 34 🇬🇧
🥈 Ireland 35 🇮🇪
🥉 Israel 37 🇮🇱
Live results ➡️ https://t.co/NQafh3nTiB pic.twitter.com/kXNPS03Or9
Earlier, Ireland won team silver in the men’s U20 6000m — and were just one point off gold, which GB & NI sealed. Abdel Laadjel was the highest Irish finisher in sixth, with Dean Casey and Nick Griggs in 13th and 16th respectively. Scott Fagan crossed in 21st, Sean Kay was 5oth and Cathal O’Reilly 77th.
With three medals from four races so far, the Irish record of four from Lisbon 2019 looks like it could be broken.
There was no medal joy for Sarah Healy or the U23 women. The excellent Healy finished fifth overall after a brave run, in which she was in the lead group all the way but fell just short down the home straight. The team were also fifth.
“I’m not overjoyed with it, the medals were within touching distance so that’s hard,” Healy told RTÉ Sport afterwards.
“Fifth is still really good, the girls had a really good run and it’s amazing to be here today. I told myself I wasn’t going to be crying afterwards like I was in the summer [at the Olympics] so it’s okay.”
Aoife McGreevy and Emma McEvoy were the highest Irish finishers in the women’s U20 4000m in 23rd and 24th respectively, though likewise, there was no medal joy for the team.
Irish Placing Summary in the Women's U20 400m 🇮🇪
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) December 12, 2021
23th Aoife MCGREEVY
24th Emma MCEVOY
30th Jane BUCKLEY
38th Rebecca ROSSITER
55th Laura MOONEY
77th Roise ROBERTS
Live results ➡️https://t.co/ZE7DULJ1lf#FingalDublin2021 pic.twitter.com/MSMYIdFo0R
- You can keep up to date with the live results here, and watch it on RTÉ Two.
