Recent success and upcoming opportunities for NI athletes in European Competition

Nick Griggs (CNDR) running in the men’s 5000m final added his sixth individual European medal to his collection by finishing in the silver medal position in a time of 13.45.80. His teammate Callum Morgan (CNDR) finished tenth in 13.53.18. Lughaidh Mallon competing in the men’s 1500m heats just missed out on the final by 0.6 seconds finishing fifth in 3.46.73. In the women’s 1500m heats Cara Laverty (Finn Valley) finished ninth in 4.23.66.

Jenna Breen (COLAC) was part of the women’s 4x400 relay squad that set a new national U23 record, running 3.34.81 to finish 6^th in the first heat. Callum Baird (Ballymena) and Adam Courtney (Ballymena) were also part of the men’s 4x400 squad that finished 5^th in the men’s final in a new national U23 record of 3.06.31.

Bronze for Ben Sykes at the EYOF:

Ben Sykes (Orangegrove) produced the performance of his life to snatch the bronze medal in the 100m final at the EYOF held in Skopje North Macedonia. After several false starts from other competitors, Ben held his nerve running a lifetime best of 10.57 seconds. He will compete again for Ireland in the European U20 Championships in Tampere where he will be part of the 4x100m relay squad.

European U20 Selections:

Three local athletes have been selected for the European U20 Championships which are being held in Tampere, Finland from the 7^th to the 10^th of August.

Conor Kelly (Finn Valley) has been selected for the 400m individual and the 4x400m relay and goes into his individual event ranked number two. Frank Buchanan (St Michaels) has been selected for the men’s 1500m, and he is joined by EYOF bronze medallist, Ben Sykes (Orangegrove) who has been selected for the men’s 4x100m relay team.