LAST UPDATE | 2 Mar 2023
LUKE MCCANN HAS advanced to the 1500m final at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul.
McCann was the only one of four Irish athletes to prevail in Turkey on day one, with Mark English forced to pull out of the competition due to illness. English’s 800m counterpart, John Fitzsimons, and McCann’s 1500m team-mate Andrew Coscoran failed to progress from their respective heats.
McCann impressed in an extremely fast final heat at the Atakoy Arena, clocking a time of 3.41.51 as he finished fifth and booked his place in tomorrow’s final as one of three non-automatic qualifiers. They all came from his heat.
Great Britain’s Neil Gourley won it out in 3.41.08, with Jesús Gómez of Spain finishing second and Italy’s Ossama Meslek third. France’s Louis Gilavert and Jan Fris of Czech Republic also progressed alongside McCann.
Luke McCann impresses in a fast 1500m heat with a time of 3.41.51 to advance to tomorrow’s final as one of three fastest non-automatic qualifiers #europeanindoors pic.twitter.com/J4x7gCxE03
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 2, 2023
Coscoran’s 3.44.11 and fourth-place finish wasn’t enough to advance, the Dubliner finding himself boxed in on the final lap of a physical second heat. Pierto Arese of Italy won that one (3.43.97), while France’s Azeddine Habz was quickest in the first one (3.49.88). Norwegian superstar Jakob Ingebrigsten cruised home in third place in in 3.50.29.
Mark English, twice a European Indoors medallist, was viewed as one of Ireland’s best medal hopes this month. “I came here in great shape, but unfortunately I’m not in a position to do myself justice,” English said.
Athletics Ireland said in a statement they “look forward to seeing him back in the green singlet later this year”.
In English’s absence, Fitzsimons was the first Irish athlete on track in Turkey, but he failed to progress from the 800m heats.
John Fitzsimons on his way to a fourth-place finish in the 800m heats at the European Indoors Athletics Championships. A time of 1.49.36 was not good enough to progress to the semi-finals pic.twitter.com/IKgq6WHUjH
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 2, 2023
The Kildare man finished fourth in 1.49.36, with Belgium’s Elliot Crestan and Andreas Kramer of Sweden home first and second respectively for the automatic spots up for grabs in heat three. Netherlands star Tony van Diepen, silver medallist two years ago in Turnin, was next in, but he failed to make the semi-finals as a fastest third-place finisher. He clocked a time of 1.48.50.
14 athletes in total are due to represent Team Ireland in Turkey.
Israel Olatunde heads the championships fresh from setting a new Irish 60m record of 6.57 seconds earlier this month at the National Championships at Abbotstown. He will compete in the 60m Hurdles heats early on Saturday morning (6.20am)
