When is fourth place never not agonising. Faraway, so close – and so clichéd by now as to feel redundant. Only spare the thought for Darragh McElhinney.
On the final session of the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, one of the last Irish medal chances too, McElhinney ran an all-out heart buster to finish in that most lonely of positions – just more than half a second off bronze, over the 15 laps of the 3,000 metre final.
So close indeed, although in truth he was always that bit far away. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, at 22 years old, the same age as McElhinney, won from the front, improving his best by eight seconds to win in 7:40.32 – with that completing another 1,500m-3,000m double and winning European senior title number 11. Incredible.
Spain’s Adel Mechaal, always the most likely challenger to the Norwegian, took second in 7:41.75, Serbia’s Elzan Bibić rewarded for his bold move in trying to stick with them, nailing third in 7:44.03.
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Then came McElhinney, closing fast on Bibić, just not quite fast enough. Hands on his head, shaking it in disbelief, understandably wondering what might have happened had he made that move earlier.
Still, his 7:44.72 improved his best by a second, the Glengarriff runner ranked only ninth of the 15 starters. Ireland has won three medals in this event in the past, gold for Mark Carroll in 2000 and Alistair Cragg in 2005, bronze for Ciarán Ó Lionáird in 2013, and McElhinney’s time was faster than all three.
“If I’d gone a tiny bit earlier,” he wondered out loud afterwards, “but then I wouldn’t have been as fresh as I was on the last lap. When I moved into fourth down the back straight, I thought I would get there. I timed it perfectly… well nearly perfectly.”
There’s little doubt he had the beating of Bibić, visibly tiring over the last lap, still McElhinney’s effort was terrific, given the quality of opposition around him. It also puts his European cross-country disappointment in December firmly behind him, his outdoor prospects soaring.
Sarah Lavin later lined up in her third championship final of the 60m hurdles within 12 months, knowing only something very special would win her a medal, her time of 8.03 seconds falling short of that. She ended up sixth, not helped by a shaky start, still mixing it with the best in the sprint hurling business.
Finland’s Reetta Hurske denied Nadine Visser of the Netherlands a third straight time, winning with a national record of 7.79, Visser came second in 7.84, Mujinga Kambundji of Switzerland third; for Lavin, having run 7.99 in her semi-final earlier in the day, there was some tinge of regret.
“Wasn’t my best run, so disappointed,” Lavin said, “I really tried to find it, but it was the first hurdle, and in major finals you can’t give anyone anything.”
In a straight final of the women’s 4x400m relay, the Irish quartet of Sophie Becker, Sharlene Mawdsley, Cliodhna Manning, and Phil Healy ended up fifth, clocking 3:32.61, some five seconds off the Irish record.
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Femke Bol, fresh from winning the individual 400m 24 hours early, anchored the Dutch team to gold in a new championship record of 3:25.66 seconds, Italy holding on for silver, Poland nailing bronze – the Irish effort starting well, Mawdsley running 51.1 on her leg, before Healy moved from sixth to fifth on the last leg.
Israel Olatunde missed out on the final of the 60m on Saturday. Looking to repeat his outdoor heroics of last summer, when he made the European 100m final. It wasn’t to be for the 20-year-old UCD student, seventh in his semi-final in 6.69.
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Given the absence of Mark English (800m), Ciara Mageean (1,500m) and Rhasidat Adeleke (400m) – and their bests would have won medals in Istanbul – McElhinney’s fourth place is a positive. Just when is fourth place never not agonising.
