Injury forces Cragg to pull up in 5000m final

Ireland’s Alistair Cragg was forced to retire from the men’s 5000m final at the Spar European Athletics Championships today.

Cragg had moved to the head of the field with 1300m to go, but running down the home straight with three laps to go, he noticeably began to tighten up then moved to the side of the track with his hopes of bagging a medal dashed by an Achilles tendon injury.

Spain's Jesus Espana went on to claim gold, with Great Britain’s Mo Farah second and Espana’s compatriot Juan Carlos Higuero taking bronze.

There was also disappointment for the Irish men in the 4x400m relay, they finished eighth. The French team took gold while Great Britain claimed silver pushing the Poles into bronze.

Elsewhere today, the Netherlands’ Bram Som took gold in the men’s 800m.

Stefano Baldini of Italy won the men’s marathon in a time of 2hrs 11:32mins and Russia’s Tatyana Tomashova won the women’s 1,500m.