HOW THE IRISH FARED:WHETHER OR not something like five season bests, four national records, three personal bests, two fourth-place finishes and one silver medal represents a disappointing European Championships for the Irish is probably a matter of personal judgment.

But there’s no denying the disappointment of Alistair Cragg dropping out of another major championship final.

Truth is the distance running in Barcelona this week has been fairly red hot, just like the afternoon temperatures. Britain’s Mo Farah was back in the Olympic Stadium yesterday evening to accept his second gold medal of the week, having won the 5,000 metres on Saturday night to add to the 10,000 metres gold he won four days previously. This was a case of Jesus beaten by a man named Mohammed, as Farah had beaten the big Spanish hope Jesus Espana to claim a first men’s distance running double since Italy’s Salvatore Antibo’s feat in Split in 1990.

But Cragg’s failure to finish the race – having dropped out with four and a quarter laps to go – marked another worrying setback for the man who five years ago won the European Indoor title over 3,000 metres, and has since deteriorated with quite shocking consistency. This time, Cragg blamed a mild stomach complaint, which he didn’t consider bad enough to seek any medical assistance, but did, he said, take his mind off the race to the point that he reckoned he was no longer capable of finishing.

The less said about that the better – but in the meantime team manager Patsy McGonagle has hinted that there are some Irish athletes here in Barcelona who have been quietly informed that their championship days might be over. As for Farah, his 5,000 metres victory in a tactical 13:31.18 reversed the result of four years ago, when Espana struck gold.

So, the only positive note to end on outside of Derval O’Rourke’s silver were the two national records – and World Championship qualifying times – set by the Irish women in both the 4x100 and 4x400 metres relay.

The 100-metre quintet of Amy Foster in the lead off, Niamh Whelan, Claire Brady and Ailis McSweeney in the anchor had mixed feelings after breaking the Irish record in their heats, yet narrow missing out on the final – their time of 43.93 breaking the previous record of 44.27 set last month. Later, the 4x400-metre team of Marian Heffernan, Joanne Cuddihy, Brona Furlong and Michelle Carey placed fifth place in 3:30.11, more than a full second inside the old record of 3:31.59 set in 2002 in Munich. The men’s 4x400, without the expected services of David Gillick, finished sixth in their heat in 3:07.21.