Kelly Proper’s (Ferrybank AC) best jump of 6.29m, in the qualification rounds of the long jump was not enough to see her secure a place in the final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Doha this morning. Proper’s best jump came in her final leap having failed her first jump and having recorded 6.13m in her second jump. The Irish long jump record holder finished sixteen overall.

While Proper’s jumping was well off her best of 6.62m, all of the jumpers appeared to struggle with none of the athletes achieving the automatic qualification standard for the final. Qualification standard then reverted to the top eight qualifying jumps with Naide Gomes of Portugal recording the longest jump of 6.61m

The experience of competing on the World stage will no doubt stand to the multi-talented athlete when she competes in the European Championships Barcelona this Summer.

The Irish Men’s 4×400m relay team of Nick Hogan, Brian Gregan, Brian Murphy and Billy Ryan were also in action in this morning. The Irish team were in a stacked heat with USA, Jamaica, Domincia Republic and Great Britain. The quartet was never in contention and placed sixth in 3:13:00 minutes.

All eyes will be on David Gillick (DSD AC) when he lines up for the Men’s 400m final today at 15.05 Irish Time. Gillick qualified for the final yesterday when finishing second in his semi-final in 46.15 seconds. The battle for gold now looks to be between Gillick, a double European Indoor Champion and former World Champion and Olympic medallist, Bershawn Jackson of the USA.

Kelly Proper:

“Quite disappointed in my last jump. I was a bit behind the board but I thought it felt good but obviously not good enough because I needed 6.47 to get through. I came out here trying to get to the final and seeing what I could do there. I know it was well within my capabilities to make it to the final but it just wasn’t my day. All my preparation went great. I felt good today - felt great in the warm up.”

Brian Murphy:

” It was very hard out there but there will be something to take from it in the summer with a little more experience under our belt. The competition here was very hot (USA and Jamaica were 1-2 in Ireland’s heat - Britain were only 4th). Some countries brought their Olympic relay teams here, it’s been taken very very seriously.

Kelly McNeice-Reid

“I’d like to say I enjoyed the race but I didn’t to be honest. I just found it quite physical. The Ethiopian went down at around 700 to go and I nearly went down with her. By the time I gathered myself again I had lost 5 or 6 metres.

“It’s disappointing because I know I’m in so much better shape than that, but it was just a really hard race.

I felt good until the girl went down in front of me. It’s a learning curve and it won’t be my last championship.”