The tide began to turn for the Irish at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul on Saturday morning as Darragh McElhinney, Sarah Lavin and Israel Olatunde all advanced through their respective heats.
or McElhinney, it would have taken a calamitous performance not to advance to the 3000m final, given he was drawn in the second heat, which was run at a pace that meant he only had to finish in the top nine (of 10 athletes).
But the Cork native was nonetheless foot-perfect throughout, biding his time at the back of the field through the opening two kilometres before showing an impressive change of gears over the final lap to coast into the final in fourth place, clocking 7:51.11.
“Job done,” he said. “It was nice being in the second heat, knowing what I had to do. It was not the tallest of orders: beat one person and run 7:57.”
In Sunday’s final he will go up against Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, along with Spain’s 2017 European Indoor 3000m champion Adel Mechaal, and while they look a class apart, it’s anyone’s guess who will take the bronze medal.
“There’s nobody outside of the two who are way better than me so I’ll throw the legs up, get a bit of sleep, and I’m confident enough,” said McElhinney. “I want to be in and around it. I have the finishing speed and even if I’m not at the back, if I can get to the last few laps relatively comfortable, I should be thereabouts. It’s usually a 2:20 last kilometre and a gradual wind-up from Jakob, so you’re trying to get the balance between going with it and not overdoing it either.”
McElhinney said his focus will be on doing the “easy part easy” in tomorrow’s final, getting through the opening two kilometres and conserving his energy for when he’ll need it most.
Israel Olatunde endured a few nervous moments after his heat of the men’s 60m this morning, the Irish record holder waiting for his result to flash up to see if he’d secured one of the four automatic qualifying spots for Saturday night’s semi-final.
He did, just about, his 6.68 well down on his recent Irish record of 6.57, though sprinters are rarely at their best at breakfast time. The semi-finals will take place at 6:45pm local time (3:45pm Irish time) today.
There was no such worry for Sarah Lavin, the Limerick athlete blasting into the 60m hurdles semi-finals with a strong performance to finish second in 8.03, the seventh quickest athlete overall in the heats. “I would have liked to win, I’m not overly enthralled by that performance,” she said. “I’d like to go closer again in the semi-final, but I’m right in the mix.”
Lavin believes it will take 7.93 to make the final tomorrow night, but she believes she’s capable of that. “When you’re looking for that extra performance, not that you’d do anything unsafe, but you have to go somewhere that might not be comfortable,” she said. “Round one is pretty scary, you just have to not do anything wrong – 8.03 is a good run but we need to go 7.95 or under tomorrow.”
A World Indoor and European outdoor finalist last year, Lavin now feels at home amid the bright lights of championship racing – not that it ever gets any easier. “I think nerves are fantastic; it’s free adrenaline, and the day I stop getting nervous and don’t feel my heart racing on the line, I should be concerned,” she said. “I think I’m more comfortable racing these girls now, and you get more confident within yourself. But ultimately, I need to throw out the performance of my life tomorrow; I need to do it on that stage.”
Irish in action, Saturday (all times Irish)
Israel Olatunde, men’s 60m semi-finals, 3.45pm; *men’s 60m final, 5.55pm
*Pending qualification
