Mixed fortunes for the Irish on day three in Boras

There was heartbreak for Irish athletes Aaron Sexton, Davicia Patterson and Sommer Lecky on the third day of competition at the European U-20 Championships in Boras, Sweden, but there were better fortunes elsewhere as both 4x400m teams booked their place in Sunday’s finals.  

Sexton finished an agonising fourth in the men’s 200m final, the Bangor athlete clocking 21.18, the same time as the eventual bronze medallist. The race was won by Onyema Adigida of the Netherlands in 21.08.

Davicia Patterson also turned for home in contention in the women’s 400m final but the 18-year-old found her legs faltering towards the line as she faded to fourth in 52.72. The race was won by Polina Miller in 51.72.

In the women’s high jump final, Sommer Lecky produced a great clearance to soar over 1.84m and put herself into contention, but the Finn Valley athlete was unable to go any higher despite three decent efforts at 1.87m. She finished joint-fifth, with Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh taking gold with 1.92m.

Shay McEvoy was in action in the men’s 3000m final where he finished 14th in 8:38.03. In the women’s 400m hurdles Deirdre Murray bowed out after finishing seventh in 60.44.

In the 4x400m relays, the Irish teams produced outstanding performances to advance to Sunday’s finals.  The women’s quartet of Simone Lalor, Miriam Daly, Laura Nally and Rachel McCann smashed the Irish U20 record by three seconds when clocking 3:41.28 in their heat to finish fourth, enough to advance to the final on time.

The men’s quartet of Ciaran Carthy, Adam Hughes, Jack Raftery and David Ryan qualified for the final after finishing third in their heat in 3:13.72.

Earlier in the day Reality Osuoha bowed out of the men’s 200m after finishing seventh in his semi-final in 21.77. Ruby Millet narrowly missed a place in the long jump final, the St Abban’s athlete jumping a best of 6.09m and missing out by just 1cm.