Erin Friel (Letterkenny AC) and Ben Sykes (Orangegrove AC) have won bronze medals for Ireland at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Skopje, North Macedonia in the opening two days of competition.
A determined performance from Donegal’s Erin Friel resulted in a phenomenal bronze medal win in the Girls 400m, in a personal best time of 54.02. In a fast race won by Slovenia’s Ziva Remic, the Irish runner eased her way into the medals, marking her talent in the strong pool of Irish 400m runners.
Speaking after the race that Friel has been targeting all year, she said,
“I felt so relaxed the whole week build up to this. As I was saying yesterday, I was waiting for the nerves to hit me and they never did. And especially today, I think I was even less nervous. I was just so excited to get out there and run, which normally I would feel more nervous for a race at home than I have here. But I think the whole build-up to this and everything has just been so exciting and the training has been going on for so long and I knew myself. I had all the work done. My coach (Kathryn McDevitt) had me so well prepared, so I knew I had nothing to be nervous about. I was going to come out here and it was going to be a fast race and I knew it was going to take a PB or match my PB to get up there and that’s what I did.”
Sprinter Ben Sykes stole the show on the opening day (Monday) of action for Team Ireland, winning a bronze medal in a time of 10.57. From Belfast, Sykes’ medal was the first for Ireland in the competition that will see thirty-five athletes compete across eight sports over the coming week.
A busy day for Sykes saw him cruise through his heats in the morning before setting a personal best of 10.56 in his semi-final. The sixteen-year-old stayed composed and mature throughout a gruelling day, where the final had to be restarted four times due to false starts. Unfazed by the tension and challenge, Sykes finished in third place with a time of 10.57, winning Ireland’s first medal of the Games.
Speaking after the final, Sykes was thrilled with his result,
“I was never expecting that. It’s absolutely incredible. After three false starts, three times I had the run about 60 meters. I’d probably run well over a hundred meters before the race even began, but I was so happy I got over and done with on that third place I was never going to expect in a million years. I am so happy. After I crossed the finish line there were so many thoughts going through my mind. I was waiting for my name to be called out and when it did, it was an incredible experience.”
Also in attendance was his coach, and mother, Gillian Sykes, who witnessed the emotional moment:
“I was nearly in tears. It’s such an emotional experience getting out there, run a time like that. It was just absolutely incredible. Just to be able to hug my parents after that was just amazing.”
Sykes’ medal came during a jam-packed day of competition on the track, with plenty of standout performances.
Emma Hickey (United Striders AC) finished fifth in the final of the 3000m, running a strong 9:38.17. The promising Wexford athlete was competing at this level for the first time, just weeks after sitting her Junior Cert.
Also making his championship debut, Lorcan Forde Dunne (Ace AC) placed 8th in the 1500m final with a time of 3:58.95.
Isaac Vickers (Farranfore Maine Valley AC), wearing the Irish vest for the first time, finished sixth in his heat of the Boys’ 800m in 1:56.14, just outside his personal best and narrowly missing out on a spot in the final. With temperatures in the mid-30s, it was not only his first international outing, but also his first time racing in such extreme heat. Starting in lane six, the Kerry runner reflected on the experience:
“I was happy with to start, in fairness, the lads inside of me went out fairly hard. I just slotted in behind them on like fifth or fourth, something like that, and just carried it through the way. Once they hit the bell, they started pulling away from me. The heat was just shocking. It was getting warmer and warmer every one hundred metres! It’s a major change to the weather home in Ireland. But yeah, I didn’t mind it until we got to the second lap though. In fairness, I’m happy with how I did. I’m a year younger than all these lads, so I’ll be back next year hopefully!”
High jumper Conor Penney (Craughwell AC) also progressed to the final, qualifying in eleventh place after the opening round.
It was a tough start to the championship for fifteen-year-old Destiny Lawal (Dooneen AC), who was disqualified from the Girls’ 100m for a false start. Her reaction time, just 0.095 seconds, was marginally outside the legal limit. The Limerick sprinter now switches her focus to the Medley Relay, where she’ll compete next Saturday.
Team Leader for athletics, Jacqui Freyne, emphasised Lawal’s potential and the learning opportunity this presents:
“It was a really unfortunate start. Destiny was our first athlete out on the first day. It was the first track event and she unfortunately false-started. Her reaction time was .95 which was just above the legal limit. I did question it with the head referee who confirmed it, and I was able to see it myself. So unfortunately, it’s a huge learning curve for her, but at 15 she has a long career ahead of her.”
