Costello and Darcy claim Irish one-two
Some superb tactical running by Darcy left the two Irishmen battling it out for first and second places over the final 200m.
It was a race to savour and one had to go back to the final of the 3,000m at the inaugural world indoor championships in Indianapolis in 1987 for the only other time Irish athletes took gold and silver in the one event at a major championship.
Since early in the season Darcy had been singled out as a possible medallist at either 800m or 1,500m. He opted for the 1,500m, however, and after both boys qualified for the final from Friday’s heats, expectations were high.
Spain also had two runners, in what was a strong field, to add to the excitement but when Darcy sprinted into an early lead and opened up a substantial margin of 20 metres on the pack going into the first bend, it was clear that something drastic was called for.
Then, on the first lap, one of the Spaniards, Alvaro Rodrilguez, was spiked from behind and, in reaction, almost brought Costello down. The Spaniard ran off the track, removed his spike and threw it into the crowd in disgust.
When they suddenly realised that Darcy was not coming back to them, Costello, leading the chasing group, raced away in pursuit, reeled him in, edged into the lead and built on it to win in a personal best time of 3:45.25. Darcy was a clear second in 3:46.07 with Adrian Danilewicz a remote third in 3:47.22.
Linda Byrne broke the national junior 3,000m steeplechase record for the second time in two days when she finished fourth in the final in 10:21.00, 11 seconds faster than her semi-final performance.
The Dubliner was up disputing second position for much of the race before being overtaken in the finishing straight when she had to settle for fourth place.
Newbridge schoolgirl, Rose Anne Galligan, finished seventh in the final of the 3,000m to round off a great day for the Irish athletes.
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