Ciara Mageean (City of Lisburn AC) and Rhasidat Adeleke (Tallaght AC) advanced to finals on day two of the European Athletics Championships in Munich.
Mageean produced a fine run to comfortably qualify for the final of the women’s 1500m on Friday evening.
The 30-year-old from Down made her 4.03.03 clocking look easy and was never in too much danger of failing to make the final.
Mageean finished second in her semi-final running a new season’s best, but she seems more than capable of stepping up a gear in the final, which could be required if she wants to win another European medal.
Polish athlete Sofia Ennaoui took victory in the heat.
There was disappointment for Sarah Healy (UCD AC) in her heat as she failed to advance to the final finishing in 11th in 4.10.75. Healy struggled and was far from pleased with her performance.
Rhasidat Adeleke ran another strong race to make the 400m final which takes place tonight.
Adeleke finished third in her semi-final running a time of 51.08s to obtain one of the two fastest non-automatic qualifier spots.
Cynthia Bolinga of Belgium passed Adeleke in the home straight to finish second, while Dutch star Femke Bol who is aiming to win both the 400m flat and 400m Hurdles at the championships won the race.
Adeleke has been given a difficult lane draw for the final. She will run in lane one. The race is scheduled to get underway at 9:02pm.
Chris O’Donnell (North Sligo AC) couldn’t produce the performance he wanted and failed to qualify for the men’s 400m final. He finished fifth in his semi-final in 45.73s.
Brian Fay (Raheny Shamrocks AC) and Darragh McElhinney (UCD AC) both raced in the final of the 5000m in the evening session.
Fay finished in eighth position, while McElhinney crossed the line in eleventh after a gruelling last lap where he doubted whether or not he would be able to finish.
The race was won by Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
Brendan Boyce (Finn Valley AC) produced a fine performance in the men’s 35km walk. Boyce was in 18th position after 20k but moved up nicely through the field.
Three Irish athletes are in action at the championships tomorrow. As mentioned, Rhasidat Adeleke goes in the final of the 400m.
Thomas Barr (Ferrybank AC) competes in the heats of the 400m Hurdles at 10:12am, while Kate O’Connor (Dundalk St. Gerald’s AC) who recently won silver at the Commonwealth Games faces the opening day of the Heptathlon.
O’Connor will compete in the 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, and 200m.
The European Athletics Championships are live on RTÉ and BBC
