Gillick sixth in Berlin

Irish athlete David Gillick has finished sixth in the final of the 400 Metres at the World Championships tonight.

David Gillick finished sixth in tonight’s final of the 400m at the World Championships in Berlin. The Dundrum South Dublin runner came home in a time of 45.53. The final was won by America’s LaShawn Merritt in a time of 44.06, the fastest in the world this year and he was followed in second by Jeremy Wariner in a time of 44.60 to make it an American one-two

Gillick’s achievement in making the final was an excellent one and the race finally began after a thunderstorm delayed it by 40 minutes. He made a strong start gaining ground on the first bend. Over the back straight Gillick was unable to make up sufficient ground to challenge the medal contenders but in the home straight he had typical strong finish and was close to taking fourth or fifth position with only tenth of a second between fourth and sixth. In what was Gillick’s first major outdoor final the 26-year-old finished as top European starting from a traditionally difficult lane.