Brian Gregan stole the show at the Morton Games as Ciara Mageean missed out on breaking the magical two minute barrier.
Mageean was on course to become the first Irish woman to break the magical barrier of two minutes for 800 metres before tying up badly in the final 100 metres to eventually finish in third positon.
Great Britain’s Adelie Tracey won out in two minutes 1.59 seconds with New Zealand’s Angie Petty taking second place in two minutes 1.82 seconds. Mageean stopping the clock at 2.02.20.
“Yeah I’m happy with that I am a bit disappointed as you never won to come third” explained Mageean.”It was a better race than last year as there was a high calibre of athletes.
“To come through and be competitive was good running” added Mageean. “That sub two was always on my mind but Gerry (Kiernan) told me just to go out and focus on the race from the very beginning.
“I felt good at 400 and I felt good at 600 so obviously the girls just got the better of me in the home straight, but I am racing girls I imagine who are going to be making finals at the World Championships.”
Meanwhile, Gregan racing on his home track in Santry stadium brought the crowd to their feet as he posted a new personal best while winning the 400 metres in a meet record of 45.26 seconds.
Gregan powered around the track with an explosive kick in the final 200 metres, taking the tape ahead of Brazilian Anderson Henriques who clocked 46.51 seconds for second place with Britain Conrad Williams third in 46.78.
“It wasn’t ideally conditions, but it was on my home track, the lads in Morton Stadium did a fantastic job in getting the place right” brimmed Gregan. “This year I have really got my belief back.”
“Earlier in the year I sat down with my girlfriend and I said why can’t I win every race and I decided to get to that mentality” insisted Gregan having last won the Morton games in 2012.
“I’ve been struggling with injuries, it’s not just one bad day it’s been four bad years which I have put behind me today. I’m going to go out and aim to run a personal best in the World Championships.”
The main race of the day the Morton mile was won by Robert Domanic of the USA in a sub four minutes, 3:56.67 with a dive over the line to hold off Morgan McDonald of Australia with Sean Tobin from Clare becoming the latest Irish man to break four minutes.
Australian Stewart McSweyn broke Eamon Coghlan’s 37-year-old 5,000 metre stadium record with a powerful victory in 13 minutes 19.99 seconds, having broken with two laps remaining and shaving a second off Coghlan’s long time record.
Mark English’s decision to overlook the Morton games after a sub-standard performance at the London Diamond League last Sunday allowed Britain’s Kyle Langford win out in one minute 46.98 seconds.
