Chamney sets sights on Irish record and place in 800m final

A PLACE in the 800m final and the six-year-old Irish indoor record will be top of Thomas Chamney’s agenda when the Tipperary man takes to the blocks at this weekend’s European Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

To achieve the former he will almost certainly have to break the latter — a time of 1:47.2 set by Daniel Caulfield back in 2001 — yet Chamney is even harbouring hopes of “sneaking a medal”.

The 22-year old sees Birmingham as an opportunity to exorcise the ghosts of last August’s European outdoor event in Gothenburg where he failed to progress from his heat with a time of 1:50.12.