O'Rourke narrowly misses out on medal

A remarkable opening day for Ireland at the European Indoor Athletics Championships was narrowly denied a golden finish when Derval O’Rourke was edged out into fourth in the final of the women’s 60 metres hurdles.

On a day when four other Irish athletes won heats, the four-time Championship medallist finished one-hundredth of a second outside both silver and bronze, with Turkey’s two-time outdoor European champion Nevi Yanit taking the honours.

O’Rourke, in the lane alongside the eventual winner, led by the third hurdle but was reeled in by Yanit in a blanket finish.

Yanit’s winning time of 7.89 seconds was the fastest in Europe this year, and a new Turkish national record – it was also sufficiently far ahead of the rest for Yanit to be certain she had won gold. The rest could not be so sure.

Alina Talay of Belarus edged the silver, with Veronica Borsi in the bronze-medal position, both on 7.94. Next was O’Rourke on 7.95.

“I wish good wishes alone could give me a medal, but I’m afraid not tonight,” O’Rourke said after the race.

“I was a hundredth away from silver, a hundredth away from bronze – it was just a singlet. It’s not a whole lot of space. That’s life.

“I thought I might have had silver, and that’s not too incorrect as I was a hundredth off.

“I’m gutted. It’s the quickest I’ve run since 2006. I won a medal in this four years ago, it was quicker than that.

“I’ve maintained my record of never finishing lower than fourth in a major Championship, even when I’m ranked down around eighth!

“I have to be happy, but I’m a competitor. I come here to win. I thought I could win, and I wasn’t too far off.”

Earlier in the day, there were heats victories for Brian Gregan (400m), Ciarán Ó Lionaird (3000m) and for 800m pair Rose Anne Galligan and Ciara Everard.

The latter two both won in similar fashion, surging to the front in the final lap.

Everard’s winning time of 2:04.34 was edged by Galligan’s 2:03.62 in the following heat. It’s good news particularly for Cheltenham-based Galligan of Newbridge AC, who lost over 15 months through a virus

Both have been drawn apart in tomorrow’s semi-finals.

Gregan won his first-round heat of the 400m in 46.97 seconds, dangerously easing up on the line as Ukrainian Vitaliy Butrym and Mamoudou Hanne of France charged towards the finish.

The Clonliffe Harrier has pledged not to do that again, citing the lack of a big screen behind the finish line for today’s tactic.

Gregan won in 46.97, and still holds the fastest indoors time in Europe this year, set at Athlone IT’s AAI Games, and has had his chances improved with the withdrawal of Belgium’s Borlée brothers, who he beat recently in Gent.

Ó Lionáird pounced at the right time to win his 3000m semi-final , which at one stage was led for a couple of laps late on his Ireland colleague Stephen Scullion, who finished eighth and who missed out on a spot in the final by a second.

The Leevale AC star – tenth in the 1500m at the Daegu World Championships 18 months ago - moved up the rankings in the final three laps, taking the lead with 300m to go.

Tori Pena bowed out in pole vault qualifying, with three failures at 4.36m, while also departing were Claire Tarplee in the 1500m, fourth in her semi, and John Travers in the 3000m.

* Will Downing, Gothenburg