Athletics Ireland – Britton Delights with Bronze on Final Day of Euro Champs (Updated)

Fionnuala Britton (Kilcoole AC) ran a superb race to claim the bronze medal in the women’s 3,000m on the final day of the European Indoor Track and Field Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Wicklow athlete showed incredible grit and determination as she bagged the bronze medal in a dramatic last lap dust up.

The race began at a pedestrian pace with Portuguese athlete Sarah Moreira taking the pack through the 1,000m point in 3:13.85. Britton at this point was content to sit in eight position as all 12 athletes were still in contention. The next 1,000m saw Moreira and Belgium athlete Belete dictate the pace as the leaders passed the 2,000m point in 6.13.16. The last kilometre of the race was one to remember as the battle for the medals intensified and Britton produced the performance of her life.

The leaders took the bell with 200m remaining and Britton was lying in fourth place, however she was beginning to motor and eating up the ground on the athletes ahead of her. As the athletes raced around the final bend a gap opened up on the inside and Britton seized her opportunity. She drove for the line and passed the Russian athlete to claim a well deserved bronze medal in a time of 9:00.54. Sarah Moreira won the race in a time of 8:58.50.

Commenting afterwards Britton said “I’m so happy I didn’t come fourth as it was so close between us and the danger people were all amongst the medals. When you come away with a medal, a medal is a medal and it is not easy to get any of them. You take what you can get and move on I suppose. When you get a medal you love it and you want to come back. It is such a short season that it goes by so fast. It’s a good confidence boost (ahead of the World Cross-Country Championships in Poland later this month) and it’s good preparation.”

Women’s 800m

Ciara Everard (UCD AC) placed sixth in the women’s 800m final after attacking the race courageously from the offset. The British athlete Jennifer Meadows brought the field through the 400m point in 59.29 with Everard back in fourth place. Everard was still in fourth place as the athletes reached the bell and was running excellently on her debut at these championships.

Everard lost a bit of momentum on the final lap and finished in sixth place in a time of 2:02.55. It was a superb achievement by Everard to make the final and going forward into the outdoor season, quicker times are certainly on the horizon for the UCD student. The race was won by Nataliya Lupu of the Ukraine in a time of 2:00.26

Commenting afterward Everard said “I didn’t expect the Russian or the Ukrainian to go past me; I didn’t expect them to be that strong. The whole thing was a blur for me. There is a really great group of Irish girls in the 800m at the moment, I would love to go sub two minutes, and World student games is my main aim for the summer.”

Women’s 60m

Amy Foster (City of Lisburn AC) was drawn in the first semi-final of the women’s 60m and needed to finish in the top four positions in order to qualify for the final. Foster reacted from the blocks well however during the all important drive phase she lost valuable ground on the athletes inside her. Foster finished in seventh place in a time of 7.37, outside her personal best time of 7.30.

The 2013 European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg were a very successful championship from an Irish perspective. Along with the bronze medals of Ciaran O’Lionaird (Leevale AC) and Fionnuala Britton, Irish record holder Derval O’Rourke made a big impact and was un- lucky to miss out on the bronze medal in the 60m hurdles. There was agony for medal hope Brian Gregan (Clonliffe Harriers AC) as he was tripped in the semi-finals of the men’s 400m. Ciara Everard made a big breakthrough by making the final of the women’s 800m, while Roseanne Galligan and Amy Foster made their respective semi-finals.

Speaking of the Irish performance, High Performance Director, Kevin Ankrom said “I am very proud of this team, the bronze medals won by Fionnuala and Ciaran were great performances. Derval really showed her competitiveness and was unlucky to miss the bronze medal. I was gutted for Brian but this experience will stand to him as he goes forward to the outdoors. It was great to see Ciara make the final on her debut at this level and collectively the team have performed to a very high standard. I think the opportunities that were there have been full filled.”

The team will arrive back into Dublin Airport, Terminal 1 on Monday 4th of March at 18.10.

Related posts:

1. Brilliant Bronze for O’Lionaird on Day 2 of Euro Champs
2. Britton & Foster Continue Irish Momentum at Euro Champs
3. O’Rourke .01 away from Bronze at Euro Champs

 

 

Brilliant Bronze for O’Lionaird on Day 2 of Euro Champs

Saturday, March 2nd, 2013

Ciaran O’Lionaird (Leevale AC) provided the highlight on day two of the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden when he won the bronze medal in the men’s 3,000m. There was delight also for Ciara Everard (UCD AC) as she dramatically made the final of the women’s 800m. However disaster struck when medal favourite Brian Gregan (Clonliffe Harriers) was involved in a fall and failed to finish in the men’s 400m semi-finals.

High Performance Director Kevin Ankrom said “I am delighted for Ciaran we have stuck with him through the good times and the bad and we are privileged to be able to support him. I am gutted for Brian Gregan as he was so unfortunate and I truely believe he had a chance in the final. Ciara Everard’s performance was excellent and collectively the team have performed brilliantly so far.”

Men’s 3,000m

Ciaran lined up in the men’s 3,000m with ambitions of achieving a podium position as he took on Europe’s best athletes over 15 laps of the track. The early pace was dictated by pre race favourite Hayle Ibrahimov and Turkish athlete Polat Kemboi Arikan. O’Lionaird at this point was running his own race back in eight position, staying firmly out of trouble. The leading athletes swept by the 2,000m point in 5:19.52 with O’Lionaird now taking closure order.

The race really began when Ibrahimov produced a devastating kick with just over 400m remaining to open up a slight gap on the rest of the field. O’Lionaird was now in full flow as he picked off the athletes ahead of him. When the athletes took the bell with 200m remaining it looked like O’Lionaird was on for the gold medal as he closed the gap on Ibrahimov. He continued to apply the pressure and ran strongly to the finish to win a well deserved bronze medal. Ibrahimov managed to hold on for gold with the fast finishing Juan Higuero of Spain taking the silver medal. O’Lionaird’s time of 7.50.40 was a new personal best and Ireland’s first medal at the 2013 European Indoor Championships in Sweden.

Commenting afterwards O’Lionaird said “I am not going to go to bed tonight and think I’ve done well, I am still angry and I want to go and beat those guys next time. It was my first competition in the 3000m and I really wanted to win, but these guys were too good. My goal for Moscow (at the World Championships in August) is to get to the final and set a new personal best.”

Men’s 400m

Brian Gregan who was one of Ireland’s biggest medal hopes heading into these championships suffered an agonising fall during the semi-finals of the men’s 400m. Gregan was drawn in lane six with Czech athlete Pavel Maslak in lane five and British athlete Nigel Levine in lane three. Maslak blasted from the blocks and ate up the stagger on Gregan outside him.

When the athletes made the break for the inside lane disaster struck and Gregan was involved in a tussle with Ukranian athlete Volodymyr Burakov who clipped him from behind. Gregan did his best to stay on his feet however it wasn’t to be and he collapsed dramatically onto the infield of the track. It was a very unfortunate series events for Gregan who suffered a severe spiking as a result of the incident. Coincidently the race was won by Maslak in a time of 46.18.

Commenting afterwards Gregan said “I saw the Ukrainian guy in the corner of my eye and he came across me. I felt really easy, what can you do, I didn’t have any time to get back into it. I should be ok. If I had of let the Ukrainian go past me I would have still got second.”

Women’s 800m

The women’s 800m saw both Roseanne Galligan (Newbridge AC) and Ciara Everard (UCD AC) take to their marks as they aimed to qualify for the final. The criteria required to reach the final was to be in the top three positions in their respective semi-finals.

Ciara was drawn in the second 800m semi-final as she eyes firmly set on reaching tomorrow’s final. The early laps of the race were dictated by Anita Hinriksdottir of Iceland. At this stage Everard was running strongly in the pack as the leaders reached the bell in 1:32.99. Both Kotulskaya of Russian and Lupu of the Ukraine started to pull clear and subsequently went on to finish first and second respectively. Everard showed tremendous grit and determination to out dip Lenka Masna of the Czech Republic and grab a coveted spot in the 800m final.

Commenting afterward Everard said “It was suck a messy race, the speed went up and down, a lot of elbows every were. I am going to rest up now and look to give it my best shot tomorrow. I am top six in Europe now regardless of what happens”

Roseanne Galligan was drawn in the first semi-final as British hope Jennifer Meadows blasted through the first 200m in 28.54. Galligan was sitting back in fifth position at this stage as Meadows continued to apply the pressure and reached the 400m mark in 58.65. Galligan battled all the way to the line and finished in fifth place in a new personal best time of 2:02.84.

 

 Athletics Ireland