Anika Thompson and Eimear Maher in the medals for Ireland at Euro U-23 Athletics Championships

Irish Independent

20-07-2025

It means Ireland secured five medals in total at the championships, having won a total of 10 medals across its 14 previous editions.
Spain's Maria Forero took 5,000m gold in convincing fashion in 15:43.44, with Germany's Vanessa Mikitenko next in 15:51.97, Thompson holding on gamely to win the battle for bronze, well clear of France's Julia David-Smith (16:00.62).
'I'm really happy,' said Thompson, who had won 10,000m gold on Friday. 'I love having a race where I give it my all and to be honest, that was one of the hardest I've run. Something that hurt me [after the 10K] was my lack of sleep, that's been really messed up, but I tried to control the things I could.
'Whether I win or lose, the greatest thing is that I'm healthy and anytime I get to hit the track healthy, I have a big smile on my face. I just have such pure joy for the sport. I love it. My goal today was to get double gold but I ended up with the bronze, and I'm pleased.'
On Friday, the University of Oregon student had turned in a superb performance to win the 10,000m, breaking her own Irish U-23 record to clock 32:31.47. Thompson was raised in Oregon but qualifies to represent Ireland through her Cork grandparents, competing for Leevale AC in national events.
Maher produced the run of her life to edge bronze in the women's 1500m, with gold going to Turkey's Dilek Kocak in 4:08.79 and silver to France's Adele Gay in 4:08.89, with Maher battling hard to hit the line in 4:09.54, three tenths of a second ahead of Britain's Mena Scatchard.
'I'm lost for words,' said the 21-year-old, who runs for Dundrum South Dublin. 'This was a big one. I'm absolutely delighted. I knew I was in the best shape of my life and I had to keep the cool and do what I did. I was vomiting before the heats, I was so nervous, but when the heats happened I was like, 'This isn't that big a deal. I worked for this, I want this.''
On Friday, Nicola Tuthill claimed silver in the hammer – the first ever medal for Ireland at this grade in a field event. The 21-year-old Cork athlete launched her leading throw of 70.90m in the fourth round, but had to settle for second behind Germany's Aileen Kuhn, who threw a PB of 72.53m.
Nick Griggs won silver in the men's 5,000m final on Saturday, the 20-year-old Tyrone athlete clocking 13:45.80 behind Dutch star Niels Laros.
Elsewhere, Rhasidat Adeleke clocked a season's best of 22.52 (-0.6m/s) to finish fourth over 200m at the London Diamond League, while Sarah Healy continued her fine form with a third-place finish in the mile in 4:16.25 and the Irish women's 4x100m quartet of Sarah Leahy, Lauren Roy, Ciara Neville and Sarah Lavin broke the national record with 43.73.
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'I was just trying to stay in contention the whole time, trying to focus on getting out and not get left behind in the blocks, which I kind of did,' said Adeleke. 'I was working my way back, but I'll take it.'
It was a step forward in what has been, for Adeleke, a mediocre season to date, the best of her three outings over 400m last month being the 50.42 she ran in Oslo, well down on her national record of 49.07. But her eyes remain fixed on the World Championships in September.
'Just making sure I can stay healthy and stay motivated and disciplined and just continue on the road to Tokyo,' she said of her goal for the coming weeks. 'It is about a month and a half away so just trying to make sure our eyes are focused on that, even though there's so many other things going on.'
Mark English consolidated his recent good form with another fast clocking over 800m, the Donegal athlete finishing seventh in 1:44.07, a race won by Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi in 1:42.00.
Elsewhere, Ryan Creech (Leevale AC) and Megan Ryan (Dundrum South Dublin) claimed the senior titles at the national 10-mile championships in the Phoenix Park, with Creech clocking 49:54 and Ryan 57:57.