Brian Gregan will line up for today’s final of the men’s 400m at the European championships in Helsinki as a live medal hope after another impressive performance in the semi-finals that saw him claim automatic qualification by finishing second.

There was a mix of joy, drama and heartbreak for the Irish athletes in action on the opening day of the European track and field championships in Helsinki yesterday.

DAVID GILLICK ran to within two hundredths of a second of his national record to win his semi-final in 44.79 secs and earn his place in tomorrow’s men’s 400m final which promises to be the race of the European championships.

OLIVE LOUGHNANE gets the programme under way in the women’s 20k walk at 7.05am (Irish time) when she faces a field of just 23 in her quest to add a European Championship medal to her world championship medal and only Sonia O’Sullivan and Eamonn Coghlan have done that in outdoor competition before.