Athletics/European Championship: They don't stage the men's 5,000 metres at the climax of these European championships without good reason. Emil Zatopek, Vladimir Kuts, Michel Jazy, Brendan Foster, Thomas Wessinghage: just some of the great champions in the event that traditionally produces one of the best races of the week.
The 5,000 metres that unfolded here won't go down as a great race, not that it really matters now. For Alistair Cragg, every race he'd run in his career so far had been building up to this - and his quest to become the first Irishman to win a gold medal in the long history of these championships.
That his quest ended in failure, the pain in his left Achilles tendon becoming so bad he had to drop out, means Ireland's wait for that medal could extend long into the future. Cragg, still only 26, could well come back in four years' time, but it's unlikely he'll be in a better position to win than he was here.
With just under three and a half laps remaining he hit the front, exactly as agreed with his coach John McDonnell. Till then the pace had been pedestrian, but at his best Cragg would have had the legs to hold that lead - most likely all the way to the finish. Instead he stepped off the track having passed the marker that said three laps to go, and he watched in tears as Spain's Jesús España took gold in 13:44.70, ahead of Britain's Mo Farah (13:44.79) with another Spaniard, Juan Carlos Higuero, taking bronze in 13:46.48.
At the start of the summer Cragg ran 13:08.97.
"As it turned out I've no doubt he could have won that race, even with a kick," said McDonnell. "They didn't finish that fast. He wasn't going for a second. But that sudden drop from 64-second-lap running just finished off the injury. The plan was to run 29 seconds for the next 200 when he hit the front. But obviously the injury was a lot worse than he was telling us . . . he just kept saying he was fine.
"I know he was running those 1,500-metre races with a tight Achilles. And that's why he couldn't really sprint. I think maybe he should have come back to America, where he was used to. I might have been able to do more. All I can say now is that he'll be back, I know that."
So Cragg's quest to add gold to the silver Derval O'Rourke took from Friday's 100-metre hurdles ended, literally, in tears.
There was no joy either for the last Irish athletes in action, the 400-metre relay team of Paul McKee, Brian Doyle, David Gillick and David McCarthy posting ninth and last in their final - clocking 3:05.57.
Away from that and Cragg, however, there were some more exciting moments last night. And we've got to hand it to the Swedes - truly memorable hosts and the headline acts of these European championships.
Yesterday, however, the Russian women stole much of the show. They took three of the gold medals up for grabs, starting with the 1,500 metres, where Tatyana Tomashova raced passed her compatriot Yuliya Chizhenko to strike gold in a championship record of 3:56.91.
The Russian women then won both relays - the 400-metre version by almost three seconds, and the 100-metre version in 42.17 - again by a huge margin.
Russia also have the best male 800-metre runner in the world in Yuriy Borzakovskiy, although he's having a quiet summer. That helped clear the way for possibly the luckiest man on the track yesterday, Bram Som - who became The Netherlands' first ever winner of the event.
The Latvian Dmitrijs Milkevics attempted to win from gun to tape but tired on the home stretch, and Som managed to sneak through on the inside to win in 1:46.56 - despite taking two steps off the track.
Sweden, finally, were predicting six medals, and won six - including gold for Susanna Kallur in the 100-metre hurdles, Christian Olsson in the triple jump and Carolina Kluft in the heptathlon. An unforgettable week all round then.
GOTHENBURG DETAILS
YESTERDAY'S FINALS
Men's 800m: 1 Bram Som (Ned) 1:46.56, 2 David Fiegen (Lux) 1:46.59, 3 Sam Ellis (Gbr) 1:46.64.
5,000m: 1 Jesús Epaña (Spa) 13:44.70, 2 Mohammed Farah (Gbr) 13:44.79, 3 Juan Carlos Higuero (Spa) 13:46.48.
Marathon: 1 Stefano Baldini (Ita) 2:11:32, 2 Viktor Rothlin (Swi) 2:11:50, 3 Julio Rey (Spa) 2:12:37.
Pole vault: 1 Alex Averbukh (Isr) 5.70m, 2= Tim Lobinger (Ger) 5.65, 2= Romain Mesnil (Fra) 5.65.
4x100m: 1 Britain 38.91, 2 Poland 39.05, 3 France 39.07.
4x400m: 1 France 3:01.10, 2 Britain 3:01.63, 3 Poland 3:01.73.
Women's 1,500m: 1 Tatyana Tomashova (Rus) 3:56.91, 2 Yuliya Chizhenko (Rus) 3:57.61, 3 Daniela Yordanova (Bul) 3:59.3.
Javelin: 1 Steffi Nerius (Ger) 65.82m, 2 Barbora Spotakova (Cze) 65.64, 3 Merecedes Chilla (Spa) 61.98.
Long jump: 1 Lyudmila Kolchanova (Rus) 6.93m, 2 Naide Gomes (Por) 6.84, 3 Oksana Udmurtova (Rus) 6.69.
4x100m: 1 Russia 42.71secs, 2 Britain 43.51, 3 Belarus 43.6.
4x400m: 1 Russia 3:25.12, 2 Belarus 3:27.69, 3 Poland 3:27.77
HOW THE IRISH FARED
Men's 4x400m: heats, Paul McKee, Brian Boyle, David Gillick, David McCarthy, 4th, 3:04.59; final, 9th, 3:05.57.
Women's 4x100m: heats, Derval O'Rourke, Joanne Cuddihy, Ailis McSweeney, Anna Boyle, sixth, 44.38, national record, did not qualify.
Women's 5,000 metres final: Mary Cullen, 12th, 15:25.80, personal best; Marie Davenport, did not finish.
Men's 5,000 metres final: Alistair Cragg, did not finish.
