Limerick's Liam Reale finished a fantastic 8th place tonight in the men's 1500m in an as expected tactical final with France's Baala outsprinting the rest of the pack to take the title. Hopefully Liam's fine performance will serve as an inspiration to the many distance athletes competing tomorrow. Joanne Cuddihy was third in her semi-final with a new PB time of 51.09 ensuring that she progressed to tomorrow's final. This is the first time that an Irish female athlete has reached the final of the 400m at the European Championships since Maeve Kyle did so in 1962. Also having success in the sprints was Paul Hession who has qualified for tomorrow's semi-final with a time of 20.80. Unfortunately there was disappointment for Paul Brizzel and Gary Ryan. Paul who having progressed from round one, pulled up with what looked to be a hamstring injury in his second round heat of the 200m. While Gary failed to advance from round one of the 200m. Gary has since announced that he will retire from athletics competition. We wish him the best. Photos courtesy of Tim O'Dowd of the IrishRunner.com Click photos to see full size image.