Athletics- European Championships Day 2

28th July 2010 – 11.45 am

McSweeney and McCarthy Qualify in Barcelona

Ireland's Ailis McSweeney (Leevale AC) finished fourth in her heat of the women's 100m and has qualified for the semi finals. McSweeney ran 11.52 which is well outside her Irish record of 11.30 set two weeks ago.

David McCarthy was delighted to secure qualification for the semi-finals of the men's 800m as a fastest loser after an unfair incident in his heat. McCarthy led for most of the race and looked to be in a very dominant position with 200m remaining when he was knocked off his stride by the Netherlands' Robert Lathouwers who tried to pass McCarthy on the inside. With no gap available Lathouwers ran 20 metres off the track and rejoined the race with just over 100m remaining and again jostled with McCarthy and knocked him off his stride. Lathouwers was subsequently disqualified and even though McCarthy lost his rhythm he still managed to finish in a time of 1:49.53 and qualify for the semis.

Fionnuala Britton(Sli Chulainn AC) is through to the final of the women's Steeplechase. Britton managed sixth place in her heat and qualifies as a fastest loser thanks to a time of 9:44.84. Stephanie O'Reilly could only manage tenth in her heat though with a time of 10:13.94.

Olive Loughnane (Loughrea AC) meanwhile failed to finish the 20km walk final. Last year's world championship silver medallist was expected to challenge for a medal but was suffering with a bug and had to retire from the race after a half an hour of competition. Russia went on to take all three medals on offer with Olga Kaniskina first in a time of 1:27:44, Anisya Kirdyapkina a whole 1min11secs further back in second and Vera Sokolova third.

Tori Pena meanwhile went out of the Pole Vault competition. The Californian, who qualifies for Ireland through her Derry grandmother, managed to equal the Irish record of 4.15 on her second attempt. Pena (Finn Valley AC) set an Irish record at the recent Woodie’s DIY Senior Track and Field Championships.

Colin Byrne

Marketing Executive

Athletics Ireland

Tel: 01 886 9963

Mob: 087 0632326