Darragh McElhinney: 'To win team gold on home soil, you couldn’t write it'

Darragh McElhinney of Ireland with his gold medal, U23 men's team event, and silver medal, U23 Men's, during the SPAR European Cross Country Championships Fingal-Dublin 2021 at the Sport Ireland Campus. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Darragh McElhinney produced the star performance by the Irish at the European Cross Country Championships in Dublin today, the 21-year-old Cork star taking silver in the U23 race and leading the Irish men to team gold.

McElhinney brought a rapturous noise from the 7,000-strong crowd as he hit the front approaching the final lap of the men’s 8000m event at the Sport Ireland Campus, but in the end he found Britain’s Charles Hicks too strong, the Glengariff native nonetheless elated with his silver.