Efrem Gidey became the first Irish athlete to triumph at the European 10,000m Cup in winning the senior men’s race on the track in Pacé, France on Saturday night.
Coming just over a month after placing fourth over the half marathon at the Brussels-Leuven 2025 European Running Championships, it was another excellent result for the 24-year-old, winning in 27:40.47.
Second place went to Valentin Gondouin, who pipped Gidey to bronze at Brussels-Leuven, the French athlete outsprinting his international team-mate Felix Bour as they took silver and bronze in 27:41.95 and 27:42:00 respectively.
Gidey, already the joint Irish half marathon record holder with his 60:51 time last September, had already broken the Irish 10,000m record on the track last month.
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The Clonliffe Harriers runner was clearly delighted with his performance, having also finished sixth in the 10,000m at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, and also winning bronze in the under-20 race at the European Cross-Country in 2019.
Gidey, who arrived in Ireland as a refugee from Eritrea in 2016 and gained Irish citizenship in 2019, is unquestionably in the form of his life.
He is now benefiting from training full-time, still based largely in Dublin while under the guidance of London-based coach Andy Hobdell.
