Isabelle Gaffney (West Waterford AC) won a hard-fought bronze medal in the Women’s 800m on the final day of the European Athletics U18 Championships in Rieti, Italy.
The 16-year-old executed her race plan to near perfection crossing the line in an equal personal best of 2:06.10. Gaffney found herself almost running in a race within a race such was the dominance of Živa Remic from Slovenia who went through 400 metres in 58 seconds before breaking the championship record with 2:03.77.
Gaffney remained composed however and with 300 metres to go began to make her move. Down the home straight herself and Magda Karall of Austria began to pull away from the chasers and ultimately the Waterford woman had nearly a second advantage on fourth place.
“I can’t even put into words how I’m feeling knowing that all the hard work, all the winter training paid off. My coach and I worked so hard to even get here and represent Ireland, to come home with a bronze medal I can’t put into words how happy I am,” Gaffney told Athletics Ireland.
“I was just pumping my arms going down the home straight and I happened to grab a medal. These are the things you dream of. I’ve been running since I was seven, this is my first Irish vest, and I couldn’t ask for more.
“Hopefully this will be the start of an amazing few years,” she added. “I want to continue running for Ireland. Knowing this was the last race of the day I wanted to make it count for all the team.”
Ireland also had two fourth place finishers on the last day of the championships. Elle-Kate McRae (400m Hurdles, Midleton AC) and Charlie O’Neill (1500m, Donore Harriers) produced exceptional performances but just came up short in their quest to make the podium.
McRae broke the Irish U18 record for the third successive day in her event clocking 58.61 seconds for fourth. This also saw her lower her own Irish U20 record.
“It’s always tough coming fourth but someone has to take it,” she told Athletics Ireland afterwards. “It’s my first major championships so I’ll have to take the positives from it but to be honest there’s nothing worse than being that close to a medal. I feel like it could’ve gone anyone’s way…It wasn’t my day today. I still got a new national U20 and U18 record, a PB is a PB but it’s really really tough.
Reflecting on her championship experience on the whole she added:
“I always had my mind on the U18 record but I didn’t even know I was eligible to break the U20 record so I was delighted to get that one. The records are amazing but it’s a medal that I wanted, hopefully next time…It was a great experience, I’m so grateful to be here. I’ve learned so much already and I’m excited to work towards next season.”
O’Neill found himself at the front in the Men’s 1500m as the athletes went through the first 800 metres in a pedestrian pace. Down the home straight the Dubliner was locked in a battle for a medal but ultimately just missed out by 0.16 of a second, however he was quickly able to take the positives.
“I’m a little bit disappointed but that’s way better than I was ranked,” he said. “It was a great race. I found myself at the front a little earlier than I wanted to, so I just tried to stay patient…it nearly paid off for me.
“This is U18’s there’s plenty more championships. There’s European U20’s next year, World U20’s the following year, this is fuel to the fire.”
Earlier, Leah O’Gara (Finn Valley AC) achieved a personal best and 16th-place finish in the 5000m Race Walk crossing the line in 24:44.70.
Ireland had two representatives in the Women’s 3000m final. Ava Colreavy (Sligo AC) was first home in seventh position in 9:37.25 while Freya Renton (Westport AC) crossed in 16th in 10:03.21.
The Men’s medley relay team narrowly missed out on a spot in the final. In tough qualifying conditions with only the winner of each heat getting through automatically to the decider the team of Harry McIlwaine (Letterkenny AC), Christopher Olatunde (Ratoath AC), Ethan Carr (Ballymena and Antrim AC) and Daniel Downey (Portlaoise AC) put in a strong effort but ultimately missed out by one place. Their time of 1:55.15 was a new national U18 record for the event. They finished ninth overall.
The women’s relay team of Tiffany Nwaedozie (Belgooly AC), Destiny Lawal (Dooneen AC), Aisling Shevlin (Ratoath AC) and Evelyn Kwik (Dundrum South Dublin AC) ran a strong race to finish third in their heat but were ultimately disqualified for a lane infringement.
Team Ireland finish this edition of the European Athletics U18 Championships with two silver and one bronze medal returning home. Lucie Cawley (2000m Steeplechase, Sligo AC), Emma Hickey (1500m, United Striders AC) and Isabelle Gaffney (800m, West Waterford AC) join an illustrious list of 11 other medal winners for Ireland at the championships which includes names such as Rhasidat Adeleke, Sarah Healy and Sophie O’Sullivan.
Team Ireland Results Summary
Day Four – Morning Session – Sunday July 19th
- Leah O’Gara – Women’s 5000m Race Walk – Final – 24:44.70 (16th)
- Ava Colreavy – Women’s 3000m – Final – 9:37.25 (7th)
- Freya Renton – Women’s 3000m – Final – 10:03.21 (16th)
- Women’s Medley Relay – Round One – Heat 2/3 – DQ
- Men’s Medley Relay – Round One – Heat 2/3 – 1:55.15 NU18R (2nd in heat, did not advance)
Day Four – Evening Session – Sunday July 19th
- Elle-Kate McRae – Women’s 400m Hurdles – Final – 58.61 NU18R & NU20R (4th)
- Charlie O’Neill – Men’s 1500m – Final – 3:57.86 (4th)
- Isabelle Gaffney – Women’s 800m – Final – 2:06.10 =PB (bronze)
- Results are HERE
- Interviews and updates available on Athletics Ireland social media channels
- Records subject to ratification
