Jenny Egan narrowly misses out on Ireland’s first European Games medal

Jenny Egan came within four hundreths of a second of taking a medal for Ireland at the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan today.

The 28-year-old, who took bronze in the K1 5,000 metres at the European Canoe Sprint Championships in May, could not quite catch Renata Csay of Hungary, who took the bronze medal right on the line.

Silver medallist Lani Belcher of Britain, was less than .7 of a second ahead of Egan in a photo finish. Maryna Litvinchuk of Belarus took gold.

“I’m really upset to be so close and not get a medal,” said Egan. She had a “fair idea” she hadn’t made it when she crossed the line. “I tried on the final turn to get past (Csay) but she held me off.”

Egan's main aim this season is to qualify the K1 200 or K1 500 for the Olympic Games, which she can do at the Canoe Sprint World Championship in Milan in August.

She said she was happy with her performances and had set new Irish records and personal best times in both. She finished 15th in the K1 500, and did not make it through the semi-finals of the K1 200, but said the competition was stronger than at the European Sprint Championships.

In the men's C1 200, Andrzej Jezierski finished fourth in the B Final, 13th overall in this Olympic-class event. Peter Egan finished 21st in the men's K1 5,000 metres.

Boxing

Matters fared better for the Irish in the boxing ring as flyweight Myles Casey defeated Belarussian Ivan Fihurenka and heavyweight Darren O'Neill saw off Romania's Ionut Jitaru.

However, Kurt Walker lost on a split decision in his bantamweight bout with Russian Bakhtovar Nazirov.

Derek Burnett is placed 12th overall after the first day of qualification in the men's trap shooting.