No joy for Irish in 1500m heats

It’s not the end of the road, with all non-qualifiers going into the repechage tomorrow evening

Andrew Coscoran of Team Ireland in action during the men's 1500m Round 1 at the Stade de France during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

It was a disappointing start for the Irish athletics team on the opening morning of action at the Stade de France today, with Cathal Doyle, Luke McCann and Andrew Coscoran all falling short of qualification for the 1500m semi-finals.

Doyle was first up and on his Olympic debut, he got a baptism of fire against the world’s best, getting shuffled back in the pack on the third lap and hitting the bell 14th of 15 athletes at a time when the gears were shifting fast up front. He ran into all kinds of traffic as he tried to close down on the leaders and secure a top-six finish to advance, chopping his stride on several occasions. The Dubliner had a typically strong finish and clawed his way up to ninth place, in 3:37.82, the race won by world champion Josh Kerr of Britain in 3:35.83.