Ireland men fall short despite great Euro show

By Stephen Leonard

TALLAGHT’s Brian Gregan together with DSD star David Gillick, Shercock’s Craig Lynch and Ferrybank’s Thomas Barr just missed out on Olympic qualification despite finishing fifth in the European Championship’s 4x400m Relay Final in Amsterdam on Sunday.

While their time of 3:04.32 was enough to see them equal their placing from the 2014 Europeans in Zurich, it was just short of the 3:04.25 they at least needed to clock in order to make it into the top 16 Olympic qualifying positions.

“We left everything out there on the track. There was just nothing more we could have done” Gregan told The Echo.

“For a little country like Ireland to finish fifth in a European Championship was great, but to miss out on the Olympics was a real kick in the teeth.

“I didn’t even know where we finished. I was just concentrating on times and it was only later that I realised we finished fifth.
“The stadium is very open, it’s like a bowl. It’s a nightmare for a 400m relay team because you just don’t want wind in your face on the back straight and that was the case every time.

“There were no really fast performances. Even the winning time was two to three seconds slower than the previous Europeans and that was the way it was right down the field.

“We knew we were going to be up against it, but everyone on the team gave it their all and it was just a breath of wind that was the difference [in making the Olympic time]” he said.

The team found themselves positioned 17th heading into the final following an impressive performance in Heat One that saw them finish fourth in 3:04.42 and make it through as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers.

Meanwhile Irish women’s 4x400m relay team of Sinead Denny (DSD), Phil Healy (Bandon), Jenna Bromell (Emerald) and Ciara McCallion (Clonliffe Harriers) came up short of reaching the final but still carded a season’s best time of 3:34.02 to finish eighth in Heat Two.

Denny provided the team with a solid start following a 53.5 second split before Bromell, who will be heading to the World Junior Athletics Championships, ran the third leg in 53.82. while Ciara McCallion anchored the team with 53.96 seconds.

In the Men’s 5000m Final, Kevin Batt, also of DSD, finished up 17th in a time of 14:20.50.