ATHLETICS:NO EXPECTATIONS, no limitations. Is there no stopping Ciaran O'Lionaird? It's the attitude that's got him into the final of the 1,500 metres, and also sums up the brilliantly unscripted Irish performances on day six of the World Championships in Daegu.
Rarely, if ever, has Ireland produced three finalists on the same day – at least not in three banner events. O’Lionaird making tomorrow’s 1,500 metres final is about as sweet as it gets, given only one Irish athlete has done likewise, and that was Niall Bruton, way back in 1995. It is, after all, still the blue riband event.
Yet earlier in the day – or rather overnight – both Alistair Cragg and Deirdre Ryan made finals too: Cragg certainly defied expectations to make his first 5,000 metres final, having so often failed in the past, while Ryan defied the apparent limitations to become the first Irish woman to make a high jump final, breaking her own national record and securing the London Olympic A-standard of 1.95 metres in the process.
No one could have predicted it, especially as all three qualified so convincingly. O’Lionaird came to Daegu with no championship experience, yet ran his semi-final like a man in absolute control. Although only the top five were sure of progressing, he knew the first semi-final had been notably slow. So, with the two fastest losers also qualifying, he just needed to run smart.
“Yeah, I knew it was going to be a true run race, and I wanted to put my nose in it, stay near to the front,” he said, doing exactly that – staying in fifth position more or less throughout.
“When it comes to the last 100 metres usually the guys coming up behind you have the momentum, and that’s sort of what happened. But to come into the last 100 metres, in a good position, knowing you have another gear, with this crowd roaring, and to know you’re on the verge of World Championship final, well, that’s a tremendous feeling. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
O’Lionaird nailed sixth place in 3:36.96 – given the same time as fifth. But with the first semi-final a full 10 seconds slower he was always sure of going through. There were some serious quality athletes ahead of him – with Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop from Kenya taking the win in 3:36.75 – but more importantly behind him too, as Kenya’s other big hope Daniel Komen, the early leader, failed to progress, in ninth, as did the fancied Ethiopian Dererre Mekonnen, and the Spaniard Juan Carlos Higuero.
So, at 23, O’Lionaird goes into tomorrow’s final (12.15 Irish time) not expecting to be there, but yes, with no limitations either: “I always say it. ‘No expectations, no limitations.’ I’ll go out there and race as smart as I can, as hard as I can, and give it a good lash. There are 12 guys on the line, and I want to win. At the same time I know I could still race well and come last. I just want to compete the best I can, to beat people. Since I’ve come back to athletics I’ve taken it back to its roots, to get to the post ahead of the next guy.
“But it’s a great feeling. My heat and now my semi-final were two completely different races, and I feel has prepared me for anything now. Two races at World Championship level, both polar opposites. I’m just going to enjoy it like I have the two races so far, but at the same time I’ll bring a bit of confidence there too.
“And I’m so glad I stuck with it, came back after all the injuries, but I’m so lucky to have a great support base too. My family, my club back in Leevale, my college in Florida, and the Athletics Ireland staff here. They take a battering sometimes but I can tell you they’ve stepped it up on the high performance end, and I wouldn’t be here without them either.”
Cragg ran possibly his best championship race – outdoors anyway – since making the Olympic 5,000 metres final in Athens in 2004, looking strong and utterly determined, and finishing in the fifth automatic qualifying spot in 13:39.36 – just a few strides down on Ethiopia’s Imane Merga, and Britain’s Mo Farah.
“I ran for fifth, and got fifth,” he said. “I didn’t want to lead too much, but took it up early on to make sure the pace was solid. I think I’m close to my fittest ever, and the final now is like a box of chocolates, I don’t know what I’m going to get. But I’m excited to be there, and motivated to run as well as I can.”
Indeed at age 31, Cragg has the experience and class to make an impact in Sunday’s final (11.40 Irish time), again if the pace remains honest, but he’s one of only four Europeans to make the 12-man final, and it’s going to be tough – especially with Farah seeking to make amends somewhat for his silver in the 10,000 metres.
For Ryan, mixing it with the 12 best high jumpers in the world in tomorrow’s final (11am Irish time) is just reward for her persistency and self-belief: the 29-year-old from Dundrum south Co Dublin has been based in Germany for the last number of years, and finally put together the sort of consistency she’s long promised – clearing 1.80, 1.85 and 1.89 on her first attempts, 1.92 on her third, before clearing 1.95 on her second attempt.
“It’s been a really, really tough few years,” she said. “But I’ve been injury free since April now, done a lot of hard work to get here, and it’s paying off at last.”
