Everard breaks indoor mark

Ciara Everard turned mishap into magic at the Athlone Institute of Technology indoor arena yesterday as she sped to a new national indoor 800m record of 2:02.54 and a European Indoor qualifying time (2:03.5) in a incredible weekend for Irish athletics.

Her performance followed Brian Gregan’s stunning victory against Olympic 400m silver medallist Luguelin Santos over 400m in Belgium.

Everard (UCD), who was competing in an invitational 800m race as part of the Woodie’s DIY National Junior and U23 Indoor Championships, ended the disappointment of months of injury and a fall two weeks ago at the AAI Games in Athlone to rewrite Aisling Molloy’s national record of 2:02.87 set in Glasgow in 1990.