David Gillick reaches World Indoor 400m final
Friday, 12 March 2010 22:30Ireland's David Gillick has progressed into the final of the 400 metres at the World Indoor Athletics Championship in Doha.
Dublin's Gillick finished strongly to claim second place in his semi-final, 0.2 seconds behind Bershawn Jackson, who won in 46.13s.
The 400m final takes place tomorrow at 3.05pm.
However, Brian Gregan is out of the competition after he finished third in his heat, just outside the qualifying places. Gregan clocked a time of 47.26s.
Gillick admitted after his semi-final that he may have to show more patience to win the gold medal.
Gillick nearly saw his chances of making the final ruined when he cut in and tried to take the lead ahead of Bershawn Jackson.
The US champion repelled Gillick's strong challenge and the Irish star had to quickly regain his balance.
Gillick, who fell at last year's European Indoors and missed out on a third title, battled bravely to reassert himself and was closing Jackson down quickly towards the finish.
But the former world 400m hurdles bronze medallist maintained his momentum to win by just 0.02 seconds in 46.13secs.
Gillick said: 'I'm a little frustrated because I wanted the best position to get the best possible lane, but I was chopped at 200m and almost came to a halt before I could start running again.
'In the final I'll try to be maybe a little more patient, but if there's a gap I'll still likely go for it because this is where races are won or lost.'
In other Irish news, Claire Brady qualified for the women's 60m semi-finals, which will take place on Sunday.
The Celbridge AC woman came home fifth in her heat, clocking a time of 7.45s. Brady missed out on the four automatic qualification positions in her heat, but her time took her into the semis as the fastest loser.
Deirdre Ryan has failed to qualify for the women's high jump final.
David McCarthy has failed to qualify from the men's 800m heats. He finished fourth, missing out on the two automatic qualification spots. However, his time of 1:51.88 was a season best.
Deirdre Byrne and Hazel Murphy failed to qualify from their respective 3,000m heats. Murphy finished ninth in her heat, while Byrne could only manage tenth. Byrne's time of 8:58.94 was a personal best for the Dundrum South Dublin athlete.
Rose Anne Galligan and Kelly McNiece-Reid both finished seventh in their women's 1,500m heats, eliminating them from the competition.
