Cathal Doyle delivered on his promise to leave nothing behind in the new repechage round of the 1,500 metres, winning the first of the two races in the Stade de France on Saturday night to book his place in the Olympic semi-finals.
Along with Luke McCann and Andrew Coscoran, the Irish trio were running their second race in consecutive days, having missed out in Friday morning’s heats.
The new repechage round is being introduced at the Olympics for the first time, offering them another shot at qualifying for Sunday’s semi-finals, but with an extra race in their legs. Only the top three in reach race progressed.
The 26-year-old Doyle kicked hard down the homestretch to win the first of them in 3:34.92, ahead of Azeddine Habz from France, second in 3:35.10.
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“This was the goal of my championships, every round was an Olympic final for me,” Doyle said. “So I treated it like any race today and ran it like I’ve done all season. I proved that yesterday was only a bit of an off day due to nerves and inexperience, I feel much better now.
“I did the basics there like I’ve been doing all season. I was at the business end when the race started to get going and I put myself in a good position. In that last 100m I felt that I had more gears, so I’m really excited for tomorrow.”
McCann finished seventh in the same race, running 3:36.50. There was also disappointment for Coscoran who was off his best in the second repechage. The Balbriggan man came home in 12th position in a time of 3:39.45.
“I’m devastated,” Coscoran said. “Last time I came to the Olympics I made a semi-final so it seems like I’ve taken a step backwards. The lead up wasn’t perfect I had a couple of that were out of my control; injuries and sickness.”
Doyle will return on Sunday night for the 1,500m semi-finals, with a chance to make the Olympic final.
Later in the session, a sensational anchor leg from Femke Bol moved the Dutch mixed 4x400m relay team from fourth to first, winning gold in 3:07.43, a European record and just off the 3:07.41 world record the USA had set in qualifying on Friday.
The USA had to settle for silver, clocking 3:07.74, with Great Britain holding on to win bronze in 3:08.01, also a national record, evidence again of how the event is fast moving on.
There was a similar upset in the women’s 100m final, when Julien Alfred, training partner of Rhasidat Adeleke, won a first athletics gold medal for St Lucia, the 23-year-old blowing away her rivals to win in a national record of 10.72 seconds.
Sha’Carri Richardson, last year’s world champion from the USA, had to settle for silver in 10.87, with her team-mate Melissa Jefferson third in 10.92.
Alfred has been training with Adeleke for the last four years, both attending the University of Texas, and coached by Edrick Floreal.
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