Citizenship delay to cost Ciobanu place at Euros

One of Ireland’s best long-distance runners has all but given up hope of competing at the European Championships in Zurich in two weeks’ time as his application for Irish citizenship has yet to come through.

Moldovan-born Sergiu Ciobanu, who has lived in Ireland for the last eight years, secured the qualifying time for the marathon alongside Paul Pollock (Annadale Striders AC), Sean Hehir (Rathfarnham WASF AC), and Thomas Frazer (St Malachy’s AC).

“I’ll be very disappointed to miss the championships. Normally it takes six months for the application to go through, and I applied back in February and the six months has elapsed. I was sure I would get it. I was talking to my coach Jerry [Kiernan] and he said, ‘I’ll be on TV for the championships and I will talk about you Sergiu when you are in Zurich’, and I was so excited. It’s hard to believe I won’t be there. I cannot believe I won’t make it. I tried so hard to make the time; in April I went to Rotterdam and I was sick going there, I picked up a cold a few days before the race so I dropped out. But three weeks later I went to Hamburg and ran 2:17, which would be the second fastest if I am on the Irish team. Paul [Pollock] has 2:16.