A very busy and special weekend at the European Athletics Championships in Rome.
We waited 26-years for a gold medal at these championships and two came in the one weekend.
They’re were brilliant performances from the four Raheny Shamrock athletes.
On Friday night, Eric Favors posted a best of 19.60m in the men’s shot put. Which was just two places off making it through to the final.
Favors has recently returned from injury and will be fully focused on using this as a springboard for the remainder of the outdoor season.
On Saturday night, Brian Fay finished 14th in the 5,000 meters posting a very sharp 13:29.48.
On Sunday, Sophie Becker posted the second fastest time of her career to finish fourth in her 400m heat. Becker posted 51.54 seconds just missing out on a place in the final. Another great performance from Becker.
While Mark Smyth produced a superb performance in the men’s 200m, clocking a season’s best time of 20.93 seconds for a place in the evening sessions semi-final.
Smyth posted a second seasons best of 20.86 seconds to take fifth place in his semi-final unfortunately not enough to progress to the final.
However, the performance ranks Smyth as the 16th best 200 metre sprinter in Europe. He also gave a good interview to RTÉ.
‘It’s a bit of gimmick to be honest. European Athletics are one step away from adding a golden snitch to this event’ – Mark Smyth qualifies for the semi-finals after running a season’s best in the 200m though criticises the qualification criteria #Roma2024 #IrishAthletics pic.twitter.com/K5LSVdF5hS
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 9, 2024
That is not all for Becker, Smyth and Fay.
Sophie Becker is back in action tomorrow in round one of the Women’s 4x400m Relay at 10:15. While Smyth is part of the Men’s 4x100m Relay team in round one at 11:00.
Brian Fay is set to race in the 10,000 meters in Wednesday’s evening session.
Finally major congratulations to the Ciara Mageean, Thomas Barr, Chris O’Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley on their victories. A brilliant achievement and fantastic for Irish athletics.
