Reale books final spot with gutsy run

LIAM REALE, in his first appearance at a major championship, qualified for the final of the men’s 1,500m with a never-say-die performance at the European Championships in Gothenburg last night, finishing eighth in 3:41.97 in a heat that produced all four fastest losers.

In a rough and tumble first semi-final, James Nolan finished one place from the end after an altercation with the gold medal favourite, Ukranian Ivan Heshko, that shot him out of the top three and back through the field.

The Irish team management considered lodging a protest but, after watching a video of the race along with Nolan, decided not to proceed.

But Reale, a 23-year-old member of the new look Irish squad who hails from Hospital, Co Limerick, never put a foot wrong through a race that was always going to be the faster of the two semi-finals.

He settled into third place and stayed comfortable with the pace, as Aleksandr Krivchonkov from Russia led an opening lap of 60.64 secs and was still tracking the leaders when Manuel Dakmiao led at 800m in 2:2.91.

Defending champion, Mehdi Baala from France, threw down the gauntlet going into the final lap and Reale got involved in the race for the qualification placings.

“I knew it was going to be a fast race and there was no point in me being down the back because they were always going to be a bit quicker than me over the last 400m,” he said.

He was passed but fought back again to contest fourth position before Sweden’s Rizak Dirshe came bursting through.

Reale said: “I could feel the lactic in my legs but I dug deep for the last 50m and just held on.”

Baala won in 3:39.74 from Mykola Labovsky (Ukraine), 3:40.10, and Juan Carlos Higuero (Spain) 3:40.97. Reale was eighth with the top 12 all inside the Heshko’s winning time of 3:47.12 in the first heat.

“I was probably the least expected to make the final of the 1,500m,” Reale admitted.

“My goal at the start of the season was to make the championships. Now I am in the final so I am just thrilled.”

His performance came on the back of a 55.5 last lap.

“Hopefully getting to the final can give me a bit of a boost. I had a disappointing season last year. I bombed out of the heats at the European Under-23 championships. I sat myself down and talked to my coach, Ray Treacy, after that.

“We decided to start training harder and that’s what we did. He’s here today and he’s delighted. This really is the highlight of my career so far.”

James Nolan was always going to find a 39-second last 300m difficult to handle but the 29-year-old Offaly man was well in contention on the back straight until Ivan Heshko came storming through and blew him away.

The Irishman was in second position heading for the final 200m when the damage was done and Heshko went on to win from two Spaniards, Arturo Casado and Sergio Gallardo.

Marie Davenport finished 22nd in the final of the women’s 10,000m in 33:05.48. There was an exciting sprint for the medals with the gold going to Inga Abitova (Russia) in 30:31.42. Susanne Wigene (Norway) was second and Lidiya Grigoryeva (Russia) took bronze.

Irish in action today

(Irish time)

9.55 am Round 1 Women¹s 400m: Joanne Cuddihy.

10.50 am Round 1 Women¹s 100m: Anna Boyle and Emily Maher.

5.45 pm Qualification Rounds Women¹s High Jump: Deirdre Ryan.

5.55 pm Semi-finals Men¹s 400m: David Gillick.

7.20 pm Final of Men¹s 10,000m: Martin Fagan.