Sprinting star Israel Olatunde failed to make the 60m final at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Istanbul as he finished seventh in a fast semi-final.
Having secured automatic qualification this morning with a time of 6.68 seconds, the Dundalk sprinter never looked at his best drawn wide in lane 8 of the first of three semi-finals.
A time of 6.69 was good enough only for seventh as Italy's Samuele Ceccarelli won in 6.47 seconds, a finish 0.1 of a second faster than Olatunde's Irish record set at the nationals last month.
The Italian qualified fastest for the final, ahead of his compatriot and Olympic champion Lamont Jacobs and Britain's Reece Prescod, with Olatunde 18th of the 24 semi-finalists.
Disappointment for Israel Olatunde as he finishes seventh in a fast 60m semi-final, which is won by Italy's Samuele Ciccarelli.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 4, 2023
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An unspecified passport issue meant Olatunde arrived in Turkey later than ideal, but the 20-year-old wasn't too downcast despite missing out on a place in the final.
"I'm really proud of myself," he told RTÉ Sport. "To be here at a European Indoor Championships, I've made it further than I did two years ago, that's a plus.
"But it wasn't really the preparation that I wanted coming to the championships – I only arrived in 12 hours before my heat this morning.
"Hopefully I can just build on this towards the outdoor season and keep going."
'It wasn't really the preparation I wanted before these championships, arriving in 12 hours before my heat this morning'
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 4, 2023
Israel Olatunde reacts to his performance, which wasn't helped by passport issues en route
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Meanwhile, Darragh McElhinney (3,000m) and Sarah Lavin (60m hurdles) advanced from their morning heats.
World Indoor finalist Sarah Lavin showed her potential as she finished second in 8.03.
Lavin, who has improved consistently throughout the winter, finished only 0.01 of a second behind Switzerland's Mujinga Kambundji and will be confident of progressing from the semi-finals.
Lavin will be back on track tomorrow for her semi-finals, as will UCD AC athlete McElhinney, who was fourth in his 3,000m heat, crossing the line in 7:51.11.
Lavin said of securing automatic qualification for the semis: "It was a solid performance to get the big 'Q', I'd have liked to have won it, but I'm in and that's all I could do this morning.
"I'm grateful just to come through, I think the first round is so scary. You're thinking to yourself, 'I just need to do nothing wrong', that's all I have to do, but that's pretty difficult to actually do. Job done, reset and we go again."
McElhinney's performance was one of an athlete at pains not to exert himself more than necessary.
"I was in control the whole time," he said. "I'm happy to get the big 'Q', but I wouldn't have cared if I'd come eighth and got the small 'q', which is probably evident in the way that I ran.
"I just wanted to get through to the next round as unscathed as possible."
"I was in control the whole time," a confident Darragh McElhinney speaks to David Gillick after securing his progress from the hearts of the men's 3,000m at the European Indoor Championships. #RTEsport pic.twitter.com/dAVisbPs98
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 4, 2023
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