Ireland's Darragh McElhinney outran expectations to finish a fabulous fourth in the final of the 3,000m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships as Norwegian superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen doubled up in Istanbul.
McElhinney, who was ranked ninth of the 15 runners coming into the final, raced at the rear of midfield for much of the way as Ingebrigtsen raced in first or second throughout.
Ingebrigtsen, Spain's Adel Mechaal and Serbia's Elzan Bibic were bossing affairs as the bell sounded for the final lap, but McElhinney made relentless progress on the race to the line, closing all the way on Bibic, who claimed bronze.
The UCD AC runner clocked a personal best of seven minutes 44.72 seconds, while Ingebrigtsen followed up his win in the 1500m by grabbing gold in 7:40.32, with Mechaal securing silver.
Darragh McElhinney comes agonisingly close to a medal in the 3000m final at the European Indoors Athletics Championships pic.twitter.com/b9mMuyEeKC
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 5, 2023
McElhinney experienced a maelstrom of emotions as a result of his performance, but admitted to finding missing out on a medal "gutting".
"I can't believe I came so close," the 22-year-old said. "I knew anyone who went with Jakob was going to die to a certain degree and that is what happened. I timed it perfectly, well nearly perfectly.
"If I'd gone a tiny bit earlier... but then I wouldn't have been as fresh as I was on the last lap.
"When I moved into fourth down the back straight, I thought I would get there. It's just a bit gutting."
A dejected Darragh McElhinney is lost for words in disappointment after coming to close to a medal in the 3000m final at the European indoors. pic.twitter.com/FvuIeblOGs
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 5, 2023
Sarah Lavin ran to her ranking in the 60m hurdles final by finishing sixth, but will be slightly disappointed with her time of 8.03 seconds after a slow start.
Finland's Reetta Hurske has discovered huge improvement this season and triumphed in a national record of 7.79.
Nadine Visser of the Netherlands, who was chasing a hat-trick of successes in the event, finished second, with Mujinga Kambundji of Switzerland third.
It's sixth place for Sarah Lavin as her good week concludes with a decent finish in the 60m hurdle final at the European Indoor Championships. pic.twitter.com/rut2C7g8HD
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 5, 2023
Ireland's 4x400m relay team of Sophie Becker, Sharlene Mawdsley, Cliodhna Manning, and Phil Healy finished fifth in their final as Femke Bol anchored the Netherlands to a gold medal in a dominant display.
Bol, who won the 400m individual event, crossed the finish line in a new championship record of three minutes 25.66 seconds, with Italy causing a surprise in second ahead of Poland third.
The Irish quartet clocked 3:32.61 as they pipped Great Britain, who finished sixth and last of the teams to line up.
Ireland finish fifth in the 4x400m final at the European Championships
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 5, 2023
Netherlands cruise to victory in a new championship record pic.twitter.com/1VgKyb3Vmp
