Andrew Coscoran through to 1500m final as Sarah Lavin misses out
FINAL BOUND: Andrew Coscoran has booked his place in the 1500m final at the World Athletics Championship after his fifth plcae finish in the semi-final. Pic: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
Andrew Coscoran had long dreamed of a day like this. He’d envisioned it, believed in it, then worked assiduously towards it. And when it finally became real – as he lay on the track at the Japan National Stadium, gazing up at the result of his 1500m semi-final on the big screen – the agony of his effort very swiftly turned to ecstasy.
The Dubliner had produced the performance of his career at the World Championships in Tokyo on Monday night, unleashing a vicious finishing kick to run down the home straight shoulder to shoulder with many of the world’s best, securing his spot in Wednesday night’s final with a fifth-place finish in 3:35.65.
“I’m absolutely chuffed,” he said. “I’ve been trying to make a final for a long time, I put a lot of work in and made some mistakes along the way. It’s new territory for me now. I’ll go in there and give it socks.”
Coscoran needed a top-six finish to advance, and he positioned himself perfectly to achieve that, nestling mid-pack on the inside and saving every metre over the first three laps. “I’d have preferred to be slightly higher up but there was no choice,” he said. “If you panic, the race is over. With 400m to go I was looking to get out. You’re fighting the whole way, looking for gaps.”
He was eighth with a lap to run, the field bunched due to the steady pace, but as the gears began to shift he went with the cluster of middle-distance stars that surrounded him, surging up to fifth in the home straight. Dutch star Niels Laros, the 1500m favourite, took victory in 3:35.50 ahead of the last three world champions: Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman and Timothy Cheruiyot.
Next in was Coscoran, who’s been training since last autumn under coach Helen Clitheroe in Manchester, having previously spent several years training under Feidhlim Kelly at the Dublin Track Club.
Coscoran had made semi-finals at both world and Olympic level before, but this was his first time achieving the goal he prized the most. “I felt like I was moving well the last three years or so and the last two years, I got sick at the worst possible time, picked up chest infections,” he said. “This time around, I came in healthy.”
With Sarah Healy advancing to the women’s final, it’s the first global championships in history where Ireland will have representatives in both 1500m deciders. Coscoran is confident he can contend there. “It could be a more tactical affair and if it is, it plays into my hands,” he said. “I’m prepared for any kind of race.”
Meanwhile, Nicola Tuthill was in action in the final of the women’s hammer – a landmark achievement for the 21-year-old from Bandon. She was disappointed not to surpass the 70-metre barrier with her three efforts but could hold her head high after an 11th-place finish with 69.49m – with gold going to Canada’s Camryn Rogers with 80.51m.
“I felt really good in my warm-up so I was hoping to sneak out a PB, but 11th in the world is still amazing and I’m really proud,” she said. “You could barely hear yourself breathing out there, the noise was on top of you, but it fuels you. You want to put on a good show. I’ll take a good break now but then get straight back into training for next year. I’m excited to keep building.”
Sarah Lavin turned in a solid performance to finish fourth in the semi-final of the women’s 100m hurdles, the Limerick hurdler clocking 12.86 (-0.5m/s), which was not enough to advance to the final.
While her time did put her in contention for one of the time qualifier spots – only the top two went through in each heat automatically – it was bettered by five athletes in the subsequent race, bringing her championships to a close with a 13th-place finish.
The Limerick hurdler finished fifth in the world semi-final in Budapest two years ago, running the Irish record of 12.62, but she was slightly down on that this year with a season’s best of 12.76. “Disappointment at the performance and the time,” she said. “Coming up short – you just get sick of it. I’m just a bit deflated. Thirteenth isn’t the worst, it’s better than I finished in Paris.”
Lavin had made changes to the start of her race following the indoor season, keen to get closer to the world’s best over the first barrier, but she felt it might have impacted her speed between the barriers later in the race. “Hopefully I can keep the faith in the changes,” she said. “You have to just hold the confidence in the training, the changes, in yourself.”
Elsewhere on the night, Swedish superstar Mondo Duplantis thrilled the capacity crowd by clearing the 14th world record of his career, soaring over 6.30m to win his third straight world title in the men’s pole vault. “It’s better than I could have imagined,” he said. “To give you guys this world record is amazing. The crowd were so loud. Thank you so much.”
12.02pm: Cian McPhillips, men’s 800m heats
12.12pm: Mark English, men’s 800m heats
1.23pm: Sharlene Mawdsley, women’s 400m semi-finals
2.05pm: Sarah Healy, women’s 1500m final
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