It was a fantastic night for Irish athletics on Tuesday. Not only did Reece Ademola break the Irish U20 Long Jump record at the World U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia but closer to home in Nembro in Italy, Darragh McElhinney (UCD AC) broke his own Irish U23 3000m record.
McElhinney delivered yet another fantastic performance to win a competitive race at the Italian International Meet clocking a time of 7.42.86.
The sensational run also saw McElhinney run a 53 second last lap.
Darragh McElhinney runs new national U23 record
The Glengarriff native’s previous lifetime best was only set at last month’s Cork City Sports when the 21-year-old ran 7.44.01 to claim victory on his home turf.
McElhinney, who is coached by Emmet Dunleavy, will now turn his attention to the European Athletics Championships in Munich where he will race in the 5000m.
Earlier in the summer he ran an Irish U23 record in that event also, crossing the line in 13.17.17 in Belgium. The young athlete also has a 1500m PB of 3.37.72 to his name this season.
McElhinney’s race can be watched here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CSlZdmfnBg&t=11842s
Also competing in Italy were Claire Mooney (Naas AC) and Mark Milner (UCD AC).
Mooney finished sixth in the Women’s 800m in a time of 2.05.61, outside her Season’s Best of 2.03.91 set back in May. The race was won by Ludovica Cavalli of Italy in 2.03.71.
Milner who originally represented Tullamore Harriers before moving to Dublin for his studies finished fifth in his 800m race. The bronze medallist at June’s National Senior Track and Field Championships ran a time of 1.48.08, outside his PB of 1.47.50 which was set in Belgium last month.
Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) will compete in the Diamond League Meeting in Silesia, Poland on Saturday. The Limerick woman who made the semi-final at the recent World Championships in Eugene, Oregon will return to action in the 100m Hurdles.
Lavin has had a fantastic season running three outdoor PB’s, most recently lowering her best to 12.84s at the Cork City Sports back in July. She will be looking to make the final at the European Championships in Munich later this month but will face strong competition.
Lavin will race in the heats of the 100m Hurdles on Saturday at 1:20pm, with the final just over an hour later at 2:33pm. The action will be shown live on the Diamond League YouTube channel, with deferred coverage on the BBC Red Button on later in the day.
