Nick Griggs finishes eighth as Jakob Ingebrigtsen makes golden European return

Irish vests were prominent throughout the men's 5000m final at the European Championships but Brian Fay, Darragh McElhinney, and Nick Griggs could not stick with the pace

Jakob Ingebrigtsen won his fourth consecutive European gold over 5000m. His seventh European gold in total. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

For 10 of the 12-and-a-half laps, Irish vests couldn’t have been more prominent at the front of the men’s 5,000m final.

Brian Fay went bravely and boldly after the early pace. He slotted in behind Finland’s Tuomas Heikkilä and Lithuania’s Simas Bertašius. And when this pair faded following a surge from Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu, Fay followed on the heels of the Swiss middle-distancer.

With five laps remaining, the 27-year-old Dubliner was positioned second.

A change of gears ensued. This race was only warming up. 10,000m World champion Jimmy Gressier tabled the gear change.

Having spent the first half of the race tactically tucked in behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen at the back of the Birmingham field, the French maverick was now at the head of proceedings.

With Fay unable to fire again, Darragh McElhinney moved his green vest into greatest prominence. The Glengarriff native was fifth with two laps to circle. Was a first Irish 5,000m medal since Mark Carroll in 1998 running into reality?

No, was the answer. Not even close.

McElhinney’s expenditure in ensuring prominence so late into the race saw him blow right back the way for an 18th-place finish in 13:37.62.

The third and youngest of the Irish contingent, Nick Griggs, stayed the course the longest, despite losing a shoe along the way. The 21-year-old crossed in 13:21.07, for eighth. Fay was six spots further back in 13:31.15.

And your winner?

Who else but Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Toeing the line for his first race in 323 days and six months after undergoing surgery on his Achilles tendon, the almost year-long absent king reminded the crowd of 13,623 that he is still very much the king.

His fourth consecutive European gold over the distance. His seventh European gold in total. Double that tally when you add in the seven indoor podium summits.

“I dreamt of this moment two weeks ago when I put my name on this list,” said the returning and fully returned 25-year-old.

Sarah Lavin was the first green singlet into the Alexander Stadium for the first evening session of these championships. And in a 13-second snapshot of the “turbulent” summer the 32-year-old hurdler has put down, she exited in the opening round.

From a best of 12.76 in 2025, Lavin’s eight outdoor races coming into these Europeans saw her fail to break 13.3. In sprinting terms, that is many, many metres of track. And for an athlete who was a finalist at the last two Europeans - both outdoors and indoors - this 15th-place heat finish represented a significant dip on her most recent outings on the European stage.

A 13.07 season’s best was pulled out, for sixth in Heat 2, but it fell six hundredths of a second shy of putting Lavin into the top 12 fastest times progressing onto Tuesday’s semi-finals.

Currently without a coach after parting company with long-time guide Noelle Morrissey following the conclusion of the indoor season, Lavin expressed disappointment with a time that was not at all “hot”.

“Disappointed, obviously. I really thought I could get out of a heat here. It has been a very turbulent couple of weeks, a couple of months. A lot of different scenarios and things to overcome, and I am proud I got to the line, and I am proud that I delivered a season's best, and a significant one at that,” she said.

“I knew I had to be sub-13, to be honest, to qualify, and even psychologically as I was preparing for this and trying to get myself in the right mindset, I just kept trying to gather all the evidence that I had.

“I've gone under 13 [seconds] 52 times in my life, so you can imagine running 13.07 doesn't feel so hot, particularly the last three hurdles, my legs just don't lift to the same capacity.

“What's really heartening was that I was nervous and I was present and in the moment, I kind of know what I can do to fix this, and unfortunately it is time. I need more time and if I could try and get to the end of the season and get back under 13 seconds, that would be a fantastic building block for next year.” 

Ciara Neville, after a wind-assisted 11.29 (3.2m/s) to finish a qualifying fifth in her morning heat, came home eighth in the evening’s semi-final in 11.57.

Eric Favors placed 10th in the men’s shot put final. His best launch was 19.59m. Abbie Sheridan’s 9:57.50 for 14th in her 3,000m steeplechase heat was a distance outside the top eight moving on.