Sunday was the fourth and final day of competition at the eighth European U23 Athletics Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and Ireland had its final two competitors in action in their respective finals.
First up was Kourosh Foroughi (Star of the Sea AC) in the men’s High Jump final. The young and talented Foroughi had done well to qualify for the final, and he gave a reasonable account of himself by placing seventh with 2.18m, just short of his best height of 2.20m.
The former fifth place finisher at the European Junior Championships cleared all his opening jumps on the first attempt, from his first height of 2.05m to his fourth clearance of 2.18m.
However, he failed to clear 2.21m with his three attempts, and had to settle with his 2.18m, six centimetres behind Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko.
Moynalvy AC’s Sara Treacy contested the final of the women’s 1500m. Treacy, too, had done well to make the final of this highly competitive event by posting a new personal best of 4:16.32 in her heat on Saturday to finish seventh, and to claim one of the fastest loser places for the final.
In a slow and tactical affair, Treacy was challenged for pure speed on the last lap but gave it everything on the day to finish tenth of 12 starters, in 4:25.97. Gold went to Turkey’s Tugba Karakaya in 4:20.80.
Treacy has grounds to feel satisfied with her performance in Ostrava, and will no doubt be eager to dip below 4:15 for the event before the season concludes.
Overall these Championships have seen some good performances from this Irish team. Ireland had 6 finalists in different events, and 6 personal bests set from 6 individual athletes.
Brian Gregan’s excellent silver medal in the men’s 400m final on Saturday has been the major highlight.
