You know what they say about making championship finals, and an utterly bold and astutely timed run by Andrew Coscoran earned him a place in the European 1,500-metre showdown, set for Wednesday night’s closing session inside the Stadio Olimpico.
Coscoran knew perfectly well nothing whatsoever can be left to chance in these 1,500 metres matters, the 27-year-old from Dublin hitting the front approaching the bell to ensure he steered clear of any trouble, and it’s just as well he did – a tangle of runners just after that 400 metres to go taking down five of his rivals, a reminder too of the potential carnage when qualifying is so tight.
Later, all five of those fallers were added to the final on appeal, now making it a 17-man showdown instead of the standard dozen. That might well be asking even more carnage.
“The opportunity presented itself, so I took it,” Coscoran said. “I had it in my head that if it was slower, it was nice to be in front. I was just trying to stay out of trouble . . . I must have made the move at the right time.”
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With only the top six from the two semi-finals automatically through, Coscoran held on to claim fifth in 3:38.52, Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway displaying his trademark coolness to come through late to win in 3:37.65.
Nick Griggs found himself part of an equally competitive race in the first heat, the 19-year-old from Tyrone having to settle for 14th place in 3:46.66, as less than .15 of a second separated the top six, Britain’s Neil Gourley taking the win in 3:44.05.
“I’m just not good enough to compete with these guys yet, that’s an honest assessment of where I’m at,” Griggs conceded. “It’s kind of frustrating because I always want to be at that level, competing against the best guys in Europe.”
Ingebrigtsen has already completed the first half of a potential third consecutive European 1,500 metres/5,000 metres double, winning the 5,000 metres with another masterclass of tactical running on Saturday, the 23-year-old easing away from the entire field from the bell, and it’s hard to see him losing on Wednesday.
After that, the race for the minor medals looks wide open. Coscoran is there amongst them.
Only it wasn’t to be for Thomas Barr in his quest to make another final of the 400-metre hurdles, finishing third in his semi-final in 49.61, just .04 off second spot and an automatic final berth.
For Barr, who turns 32 next month, an improvement of his season best of 49.31 set when winning his heat on Saturday was always likely to be required to see him through from the three semi-finals.
In the end, he was understandably a little fatigued from his gold medal-winning exploits in the mixed 4x400 metre relay, finishing just short of the Dutch runner Nick Smidt who nailed second in 49.57, the win going to Karston Warlholm from Norway, the world record holder, in 48.75.
At that point Barr was the fastest of the two non-automatic qualifiers, only for the two runners finishing third and fourth in the second semi-final to bump him out.
“I just don’t think I set up the race well enough, didn’t put myself far enough into the race,” Barr said, “lost touch a little bit on the top bend, my stride pattern hit a bit of stagnation for a second, then just didn’t have the same freshness coming home, didn’t set it up as well coming home.”
“Even though the time was a little bit slower, maybe the body wasn’t as fresh as I would have liked. If the clock came up with a 48-something I would have believed it, because it felt every bit as hard as that. Even still, it’s been an amazing championships.”
Earlier, Louise Shanahan found herself part of a highly competitive women’s 800-metre heat, won by Britain’s defending champion Keely Hodgkinson in 2:02.46, with Shanahan having to settle for sixth in her heat in 2:04.81 and will now look to focus on qualification for her second Olympic Games.
Phil Healy also missed out from progressing to the semi-final of the women’s 200 metre, by three places, finishing fifth in her heat in a time of 23.51, and she now turns her attention to the women’s 4x400 metre relay team who are set to take to the track on Tuesday.
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