30 July 2018
DTC’s Adam Kirk Smith was a class apart from the rest of the field in successfully defending his 3000m steeplechase title at a cold and wet Morton Stadium in Dublin.
The London-based athlete crossed the finish line in 9:02.09 to take the gold medal comfortably ahead of the opposition.
Leon Reid completed the sprint double but faces an anxious wait to see if he can represent Ireland at next month’s European Championships.
The Bath-based sprinter was heartened to hear on Friday that the IAAF was lifting the embargo on transfers between national federations imposed in March of last year.
Reid had represented Great Britain at Junior and U23 level winning medals at European level before deciding to switch his allegiance to Ireland on the basis of his Belfast-born mother.
Unfortunately for him, Reid’s transfer was one of the first caught in the freeze meaning he has been in international limbo for almost 18 months although he was eligible to represent Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year winning a bronze medal in the 200m.
The new IAAF rules on Friday will allow the Birchfield Harrier to make that switch but it is unclear whether the paperwork can be done and processed in time to see Reid make his debut in an Ireland vest at the Euros which start on August 7.
The IAAF president, Lord Sebastian Coe, said after the meeting in Buenos Aires that those athletes who submitted applications before international transfers were halted will have to submit complete “new paperwork” and make a “declaration which will then go forward to the panel for approval or otherwise”. Whether this can be done in time for Reid to line-up in Berlin remains to be seen.
Reid opened his account on Saturday afternoon when he had to come back from two metres down at the bend to catch Marcus Lawler in a thrilling 200m race. Only five-hundredths of a second separated the pair at the line as Reid registered a 20.74 mark into a slight breeze.
He followed that up with an even more impressive performance yesterday when he won the 100m in cold conditions, and into a strong headwind (-2.1 m/s), in a brisk 10.42 seconds.
Northern athletes made their usual mark at the championships. Ciara Mageean ran a solid tactical race to win the women’s 800m in 2:07.93. The Portaferry woman was back on the track 75 minutes later for the 1500m that turned out to be a very tactical affair.
Newcastle’s Kerry O’Flaherty led until 200m to go when Mageean took control and comfortably held off a fast-finishing Amy O’Donoghue with QUB student Emma Mitchell taking the bronze medal. The winning time was only 4:22.47 but enough for UCD AC athlete to land the first women’s 800/1500m double since the great Sonia O’Sullivan in 2000.
Letterkenny’s Mark English showed a return to form after stepping off the track on the final bend of the 800m at the Morton Meeting in winning his fifth two lap title in 1:50.82. Bellaghy’s Adam McMullen retained his long jump title with a best effort of 7.68m.
Other Ulster winners on Saturday included Clonliffe Harrier Stephen Scullion (10,000m) and QUB AC’s Emma Mitchell (5000m).
Local track action centred on the Meadowbank Sports Arena in Magherafelt where Acorns AC hosted an excellent early morning meeting with 1500m and 3000m distances contested.
Both A races had close finishes with Matthew Neill seeing off Omagh neighbour Jack Moore to win the metric mile in 4:13.3 while Peter Gracey took third.
Newcomer Bernard McCullagh impressed in the top 3000m race sprinting away from accomplished athletes Eoin Hughes and Glenn Donnelly on the last lap to stop the clock at 9:02.4.
DTC athletes made their presence felt with John McQuade showing he was getting back to top form after a lay-off through injury. The Omagh man clocked 4:20.12 for fifth in the 1500m A race.
Cathal McLaughlin (4:40.52) and Conor (Big Dawg) McIlveen (4:50.99) finished 1-2 in the 1500m B race. Robert Bigger (4:53.19), Elaine Connor (5:11.40) and David Mellon (5:24.38) also recorded good marks.