Judging by the way Mo Farah won another European 5,000m
title he might well have earned a spot on Britain’s 400m relay team, or at least given someone a run for it.
He wouldn’t be the only athlete to break the mould: Ireland’s 400m relay men proved themselves fifth best in Europe here yesterday, breaking the national record for the second time in 24 hours, with two athletes who strictly speaking aren’t even proper 400m runners.
Among them was Mark English, who ran the second leg two days after winning the European bronze medal in the 800m, although he has no intention of dropping down a distance. Indeed English has already been invited to run the 800m back in Zurich on Thursday week, at the Weltklasse, also known as the one-day Olympics, where the star attraction is Usain Bolt.
Spirits lifted
And anchoring them here was
Thomas Barr
, the man still disappointed not to have made his 400m hurdles final, but who certainly lifted his spirits here by leading the Irish quartet home in 3:01.67, easily bettering the 3:03.57 set less than 24 hours earlier.
Also in the mix were Brian Gregan, who opened with a 45.7 second split, and Richard Morrissey, who ran the third leg in 45.3. English was the quickest with his 45.0, with Barr also running a 45.3, which helped him fight off the German team for fifth.
“Even when we were out of the medals, placing and time still mattered,” said Barr. “I could feel someone coming up on me. I wasn’t sure who it was, and it was just about keeping my kick.
“Coming down the homestretch, I was looking at the clock, thinking: What are we coming in for here?”
Gregan could hardly believe the time either: “I always knew top five was possible. To me, it was basically my European final, and my leg, and that meant giving it the best I can. But it took 12 years to break that, and 24 hours later we break it again, by two seconds.
“But a 3:01 isn’t far off making an Olympic final. And the average age here is only 23. So we’ve a great future ahead of us if we can get camps together, practice baton changes and roll on to Rio, because our aggregate times now are serious. I think we can only get faster and faster.”
English admitted he felt a slight twinge in his hamstring not long into his leg: “The last 24 hours have been crazy, barely getting any sleep, but it has been amazing, an incredible feeling. Running 400m is a bit easier for me so I was looking forward to this, was excited about it.
Farah’s last lap of 52.23 seconds, meanwhile, his 5,000m winning time an otherwise pedestrian 14:05.84, earned him a fifth European individual gold medal. He is also the first athlete to hold Olympic, World and European doubles in the 5,000m-10,000m simultaneously.
The final day started with the longest race of all, and saw Ireland’s Sean Hehir finishing 20th in the men’s marathon – won by Italy’s Daniele Meucci in 2:11:08.
Hehir clocked 2:17.59, just off his best of 2:17.35, and had good reason to be satisfied: “On paper I wouldn’t have been ranked top 50 here, but this is championship running, and you don’t have to be the fastest man in the field to deliver here.”
Kevin Seaward also did well to come through the field to finish 28th in 2:20:30, in only his second marathon. Thomas Frazer was 35th in 2:22.32, meaning the men finished seventh in the team competition.
