Luke McCann (UCD AC) has broken the national 1000m record this evening at the Monaco Diamond League meet.
McCann ran a time of 2.16.40, taking exactly one second off the time he ran Indoors in February in Louisville, Kentucky.
The 24-year-old finished seventh in a competitive race which was won by 1500m world champion Jake Wightman (Great Britain) in 2.13.88, a new meeting record and world leading time this year.
McCann sat nicely in with the pack who had been chasing Canada’s Marco Arop and finished well.
The previous national record outdoors for the distance was held by David Matthews and dated back to 1996 when he ran 2.17.58 in Sarajevo at the age of 22.
It has been a fantastic season for McCann who is coached by his father Clark. Last month he ran a 1500m PB of 3.35.65 to move to ninth on the Irish All-Time list in the event. He is the fastest Irish athlete in the event this season ahead of Andrew Coscoran (Star of the Sea AC).
Luke McCann heading to European Championships
His new national record is timely, coming just a week away from the European Athletics Championships in Munich. McCann will compete in the 1500m where he will be looking to advance through the rounds and possibly then mount a challenge for a medal.
On Monday two Irish athletes competed in Hungary at the Gyulai István Memorial – Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix. The meet is World Continental Tour Gold event and was held in Székesfehérvár.
Louise Shanahan (Leevale AC) competed in the 800m. The Cork woman has had a busy season, running 1.59.42 to break the national record back in May and ran well at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. In what was her final race before the Europeans, Shanahan finished sixth running a time of 2.02.10. The race was won by Diribe Welteji (Ethiopia) in 1.59.33.
John Fitzsimons (Kildare AC) also got one final race into his legs before Munich. The former European U20 medallist ran the second fastest time of his lifetime to finish fourth in the race. His 1.45.70 was just 0.04s outside his PB set back in May which shows he is in good form heading into the championships. Fitzsimons also recently ran an impressive time of 47.98s for 400m at the AAI Games in Tullamore which puts him inside the Irish top ten for the event this season. He will have his eyes on a place in the European final.
