Tyrone's Nick Griggs adds to Ireland's medal haul at the European U-23 Championships
Having won silver and gold at European U-20 level in the past, Griggs was a marked man as he lined up for the 5000m final and he took the pace out from the gun, passing 3000m in 8:28.
After missing several months of training earlier in the year due to an infection in his knee, Griggs' bounced back to form in impressive fashion last month with a 3:55 mile in Belfast before lowering the Irish U-23 record to 3:52.42 in Dublin last week.
In Bergen, he wanted to make it a stern test for his rivals and he delivered an impressive performance.
'We walked out the first few hundred so I was like, 'let me just take this out,'' he said. 'I was risking losing the medal to go and get to win, but I wanted to do that.'
Griggs was the fastest Irish U-20 athlete in history at 1500m, the mile, 3000m and 5000m and he currently holds all the Irish U-23 records over the same distances.
While he built a short lead early in the 5000m final, his rivals were keen not to give too much leeway, with the overwhelming favourite, Dutch star Niels Laros, towing them back to catch Griggs.
Laros recently ran a 3:45 mile to win at the Eugene Diamond League and with wheels like that, the gold was all but secured once he took the lead with a lap to run, winding the pace up and unleashing a 12.1-second last 100m to win in 13:44.74.
Griggs utilised his vast range of gears to hold off a large chasing pack to take silver, with Will Barnicoat – who had beaten Griggs to U-23 gold at the European Cross Country last December – taking bronze with 13:46.11.
'I'll take it' – Rhasidat Adeleke sets her sights on the World Championships after an encouraging display in London
British relay team handed gold medals 28 years after they were denied by USA team disqualified for anti-doping violation
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Extra.ie
13 minutes ago
- Extra.ie
How this Lions tour could help Ireland do something special at the next World Cup
Let's park all the Lions chat for now. There will be plenty of time to dive into the next stage of the tour in the coming days. The selection permutations for Saturday's rematch in Melbourne, whether Joe Schmidt's side have the capacity to level the series. And so on… We're in the midst of Lions mania at the moment but if you can take a step back and look at this entire series in a wider context, it's working out very well for Ireland's World Cup ambitions down the line. Will Joe Schmidt's side have the capacity to level the series in the next Test? Pic: INPHO/Tom Maher Andy Farrell, the sizeable number of Ireland backroom staff and an even greater number of players are all likely to be back in this part of the world in two years' time. Australia are hosting the next global showpiece and this Lions series has felt like something of a dress rehearsal for what's coming down the line. We've had a suspicion for quite some time that Farrell has targeted this tour as a key building block towards the next World Cup. There was plenty of criticism aimed at the Ireland head coach when he decided to take a sabbatical and turn his attention towards this project for the best part of a year. We've had a suspicion for quite some time that Farrell has targeted this tour as a key building block towards the next World Cup. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile Those noises grew even louder when he decided to bring Simon Easterby, Andrew Goodman, John Fogarty and Johnny Sexton along for the journey, too. Plenty of backroom and support staff got the call as well, including chief analyst Vinny Hammond and Aled Walters, the national team's head of athletic performance. Meanwhile, Paul O'Connell – the second interim head coach in the space of a year – was cobbling together a makeshift backroom team to take a squad of rookies to Tbilisi and Lisbon. Paul O'Connell has cobbled together a makeshift backroom team to take a squad of rookies to Tbilisi and Lisbon. Pic: INPHO/Matteo Ciambelli To the critics, it all seemed a bit chaotic and short-sighted. Irish ambitions had been left on the back burner while Farrell and Co focused all their energies on a fairly uninspiring Lions tour against a very limited Australian outfit. All this upheaval midway through a World Cup cycle. Really? Farrell has never struck us as someone who makes it up as he goes along. He has unfinished business when it comes to the World Cup. The class of 2023 felt they were going to do something special in France. If Jordie Barrett hadn't got his arm under Ronan Kelleher in the dying minutes of that frantic quarter-final loss to the All Blacks in Paris, Ireland could have made history at the tournament. Alas, a promising campaign fizzled out at a depressingly familiar juncture. A dejected Bundee Aki after Ireland were eliminated from the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Pic: INPHO/Billy Stickland Farrell wants to make amends in 2027. It's the reason why he signed a contract extension in December of 2023. There was a school of thought that the 50-year-old was going to call it a day when his previous contract expired in 2025. It was all seemingly laid out for a nice exit. Farrell, on the back of a stellar World Cup, would hand the reins over to Easterby and O'Connell before focusing his energies on the Lions. The fact he has a book coming out in a few months' time merely solidifies the theory that Farrell wasn't planning to be in charge of Ireland this autumn. But something changed in his thinking after the last World Cup. The chance to right some wrongs in Australia was a powerful motivator. Perhaps it changed the way he thought about the Lions as well. Rather than a disruptor of the World Cup masterplan, perhaps it could enhance Ireland's chances next time? It was all seemingly laid out for a nice exit with Farrell handing over the reins to Easterby and O'Connell. Pic: INPHO/Andrew Conan The man himself made that argument back in March when he confirmed his Ireland-heavy Lions coaching team. 'I understand why you are asking the question,' he said at the time when asked if this Lions project would come at at cost to the national team. 'But first and foremost, it gives me great pleasure that the IRFU are on the same thinking of where I'm at. They are proud and privileged that their coaches, some of them, get the opportunity to take this on board and put their Lions hat on. 'It's one of the reasons why I jumped at the chance as well, the fact that it's going to grow us all, every coach that's part of it, every part of the high-performance staff and up to 80 people that are going on the tour. It's going to make us all bigger, better, stronger for the future.'
The Irish Sun
43 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
RTE star enjoys ‘glorious weekend' as she jets off on holiday with telly pals and ‘shocks' fans
RTE star Miriam O'Callaghan has jetted over to Spain for a sun-soaked trip alongside some familiar TV faces. The Prime Time host has been enjoying a break away from presenting this week in the beautiful city of San Sebastian. 3 Miriam O'Callaghan soaked up the sun in San Sebastian with pals 3 Miriam shared snaps of her sunshine trip on social media 3 Miriam captured beautiful pictures of San Sebastian The popular presenter took to The 65-year-old looked sensational as she posed for a smiling selfie with her friend on the beach front. The glamorous star wore a blue linen bardot top and accessorised with a unique gold charm necklace. READ MORE IN RTE In another photo, Miriam and Steve beamed as they stood in for a snap with their pals right beside the sea. The Irish host also took a stunning picture of the golden coastline in San Sebastian as the blue skies loomed over. Later, the couples did some sightseeing around the city where they encountered old medieval buildings and jaw-dropping viewing points. To finish off their day on Sunday, Miriam and her husband did what any Irish couple would on holiday - watch the All-Ireland Final. Most read in News TV Unfortunately, the star noted how they had "searched high and low" for a pub or bar that would be showing the match on TV, but were unsuccessful. Instead, the pair opted to find a wine bar and streamed the match on their phone. Miriam O'Callaghan shares snaps from Paddy's Day celebrations Miriam shared a snap of their two wine glasses and Steve's iPhone balancing on the table. The presenter penned in her caption: "We improvised and watched it in all its glory! What a game. Congrats Tipp." 'THEY HAD ONE JOB' And fans were left shocked when the star told how there were no Irish bars showing the game. Avila wrote on Instagram: " Was it not on in any Irish bars?? That's shocking! #theyhadonejob." Marian said: "Perhaps you weren't meant to watch it, do I see a Cork jersey ?" While Simon joked: "The, 'We must find the hurling final!!!', drive is a perfect encapsulation of my internal being." And Annie added: "Can't believe they weren't showing it."
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
McCarthy injury being monitored as Hansen 'on track' ahead of second Test
Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy remain doubts for the British & Irish Lions ahead of Saturday's second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but Blair Kinghorn and Garry Ringrose have been cleared to face the First Nations & Pasifika XV on Tuesday night. Ireland wing Hansen was forced out of the selection mix for last Saturday's series opener with the Wallabies due to a foot injury sustained seven days earlier against an AUSNZ Invitational XV. Ringrose experienced delayed concussion symptoms following that game in Adelaide and was stood down for 12 days with both denied potential Test debuts for the Lions having been in contention for starts. With Tommy Freeman starting on the right wing and Huw Jones at outside centre the Lions forged a 27-19 victory at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, a game which saw Irish lock McCarthy removed on 42 minutes with plantar fasciitis, a painful inflammation of the fibrous tissues on the soles of one's feet. Neither Hansen nor McCarthy trained at the Lions' new training base at Melbourne's elite private school Xavier College on Monday following the squad's transfer from Brisbane and although assistant coach Simon Easterby was positive about their recoveries, the pair are running out of time to prove their fitness to be considered for selection ahead of Thursday's team announcement for the second Test. 'Joe is just recovering from that foot issue he had on the weekend, and that's just a wait and see type of injury,' Easterby said on Monday. 'Mack, it's just probably just a bit too soon in terms of playing tomorrow, but he's in good shape. 'He's certainly on track. It's probably one of those where we just have to get through the next 24-48 hours and then make a decision based on how he's recovering based on the stuff he's been doing over the last few days. 'Mack wasn't involved today… he's definitely on the right road to recovery, but tomorrow's game was probably slightly too soon for him. '(McCarthy) didn't train today, but there's no reason why later in the week... like anything, with those types of injuries, there's a little bit of grey around how long they take, and it's really the individual recovery that will allow us to decide whether it's right to pick him or not.' The more positive news came in Monday morning's team announcement for the final midweek game of the tour, at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, where the opposition will be a team comprised of indigenous Australian players and Pacific islanders, captained by 95-capped Wallabies fly-half Kurtley Beale a veteran of the 2013 series against the Lions. His opposite number will be another survivor of that Lions series win, Owen Farrell who gets his first start since replacing the injured Eliott Daly. Farrell has been named at inside centre with Ireland's Jamie Osborne as his midfield partner outside a half-back pairing of Fin Smith and scrum-half Ben White. There will be an-Scottish back three with Duhan van der Merwe and new arrival Darcy Graham on the wings while Blair Kinghorn makes his comeback at fly-half following a knee injury sustained 13 days earlier at the Brumbies. Graham and Osborne are two of seven players, four of them Scots, added to the tour party specifically for Tuesday's game. England's Jamie George starts at hooker, while the replacement front row of Scotland's Ewan Ashman and Rory Sutherland, and Ireland tighthead Thomas Clarkson, as well as Scottish lock Gregor Brown are on the bench. Like Kinghorn, Ringrose will be given time to stake his claim for a place named in the Lions 23 this Saturday after being named as the outside backs replacement. 'It is great to have those two back,' Easterby said of Kinghorn and Ringrose. 'Both unfortunate with their injuries, both on good form coming into the tour and both probably feel like they want to lay down a bit of a marker for the second and third Test. 'It's also great to have the guys coming in from Scotland Camp and adding and connecting in with us as well. 'It's been impressive out there, seeing everyone training who could train apart from Joe and Mack.' 'If it's as good as the week before the first Test, then it becomes really pivotal in terms of this stage of the tour, creating competition for places towards the back end.' BRITISH & IRISH LIONS (v First Nations & Pasifika): B Kinghorn (Scotland); D Graham (Scotland), J Osborne (Ireland), O Farrell (England) – captain, D van der Merwe (Scotland); F Smith (England), B White (Scotland); P Schoeman (Scotland), J George (England), F Bealham (Ireland); J Ryan (Ireland), S Cummings (Scotland); J Morgan (Wales), J van der Flier (Ireland), H Pollock (England). Replacements: E Ashman (Scotland), R Sutherland (Scotland), T Clarkson (Ireland), G Brown (Scotland), B Earl (England), A Mitchell (England), M Smith (England), G Ringrose (Ireland).
