Ireland's Brian Gregan Wins Again Over 400m, Gothenburg, Sweden

Irish international athlete Brian Gregan (Clonliffe Harriers AC) maintained his winning ways on the track so far this season when the big Tallaght man won again over 400m this afternoon in Gothenburg, Sweden.

In challenging windy conditions in the charming Swedish city, Gregan, 25, pushed out hard from the gun to 300m and developed a comfortable 3 metre lead going into the home straight. Driving on through the final 100m and the line, the Clonliffe Harrier athlete stopped the clock in a time of 45.65, his 3rd fastest time ever for the competitive one-lap contest, and nearly six-tenths ahead of the second place athlete, Denmark's Ekelund-Arenander who clocked a respectable 46.26, a season's best.

Gregan: "Considering the wind here today, that was my best run so far this season."

Coach John Shields: "Brian is very pleased with his performance today, another win in a good time, but in done so in more difficult conditions with the strong wind. With more competition and better conditions, he will definitely improve his on his PB again soon. Now it's back to Dublin to get ready to compete well for Ireland at the European Team Champs next weekend."

Gregan only set a new PB time for the 400m event of 45.53 three nights ago, in Huelva, Spain, and that performance too arrived hot on the heels of his 200 PB of 21.05 set on Sunday last in Dublin at the Woodie's DIY AAI Games in Santry.

The Irish International's consistent run of excellent form will only further drive the already growing momentum for a strong Irish performance at the upcoming European Athletics Team Championships in Santry, June 22/23rd.


Kerry's Laura Crowe (An Riocht AC) was also in action in Sweden today over 1500m, fresh from her PB of 2.02.69 set over 800m in Olso Thursday night.

In a tactical race early on, Crowe (25) had difficulty staying with the sharp change of pace over the final 500m and finished 7th in a time of 4.16.64, behind the winner Meraf Bahta of Eritrea, who took the race in 4.09.60.

Crowe will be disappointed with her performance today as she has been in good form all year, and was a runaway winner of the 1,500m at the British Milers Club meeting in Manchester last month. Her winning time of 4:12.25 was the fastest by an Irish woman so far this season and improved on her 4:16.48 PB she set in Athlone in February 2013.

Crowe's time of 2.02.69 from Oslo though on Thursday night though will stand to the ambitious athlete from Kerry over the 1500m distance and improve her chances of getting closer to the World Championship's B standard time of 4.09.0 later in the season, which is only just over three seconds away from her current PB.

Crowe will be competing for Ireland in the women's 3000m event at the forthcoming European Athletics Team Championships in 7 days time, where her recent PB's over 800m and 1500m will certainly give her grounds for confidence on in the competitive longer event.