Silver for Griggs at the U20 European Championships in Jerusalem

On the first day of the competition, Monday 7^th August, Nick Griggs was in the 3000m heat where he cruised to the finish line fist-pumping Norwegian athlete Andreas Halvorsen as he crossed the line in 2^nd place in 8:32.22, qualifying for the final which was a couple of days later.

Lagan Valley AC’s Lughaidh Mallon (Jim McKeown) competed in the 1500m heats on the same day, finishing 11^th in his heat in 4.00.86 but with only the top six making it through to the final, he unfortunately did not progress further.

Wednesday 9^th August was the final of the 3000m with Griggs coming 2^nd in 8:45.67. The Tyrone teenager hit the bell well positioned before kicking with 300m to go in a tactical race. Jonathan Grahn of Sweden stayed on the heels of Griggs with both athletes side by side coming into the home straight. The Swedish athlete managed to pass the defending champion in the final 80m to cross the line in a winning time of 8:44.67.

Fintan Dewhirst’s (Tir Chonaill AC, Brian McGonagle) had an outstanding performance in the 400mH heats getting a PB of 51.49 for 3^rd place, and automatically progressing onto the semi-finals the following day. Unfortunately, he finished 7th in 56.64 in the semi-finals, not making it through to the final. He has already shown that he knows how to win medals at European level and is sure to take much from his 51.49 PB in the heat.

The next day, Wednesday 9^th August, saw Hannah Murray (Finn Valley AC, Rosemary Finn) and Renee Crotty (Annalee AC, Damian Lalor) in the Women’s 4x400m relay team who came 3^rd in their semi-final in 3:39:02 (SB) to progress as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers. Murray and Crotty were in the Women’s 4x400m team for the final, finishing 7^th in 3:39.39.

Fantastic performances from our NI & Ulster athletes competing at the U20 European Championships.