Darragh McElhinney sets new Irish record in under-20 5,000m run

Athlete also becomes first teenager to break 14-minute barrier at the distance

Darragh McElhinney set a new Irish record with his time of 13:54.10 in the    Under-20 5,000m event. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho
Darragh McElhinney set a new Irish record with his time of 13:54.10 in the Under-20 5,000m event. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho

The breaking of any Irish distance running record is a rare thing and Darragh McElhinney broke a notable barrier too when improving the Irish Under-20 5,000m record to 13:54.10.

Running at the Oordegem International in Belgium, McElhinney produced a brilliant 17-second improvement on his previous best, the Glengarriff athlete also becoming the first teenager to break the 14-minute barrier at the distance.

Impressive

The previous record of 14:02.30 had stood to Clare’s Kevin Mulcaire since 2015, McElhinney’s time the latest in a series of impressive runs, no doubt aided by his participation in the Under-20 at the World Cross Country in Denmark in March.

At the same meeting John Travers produced a personal best of 13:28.86, the fastest 5,000m fastest by an Irishman in eight years, and there was also European Under-20 Championship qualifying times for both the Irish men and women 4x400m relay teams, those championships set for Boras in Sweden in late July.

Ian O'Riordan

Ian O'Riordan

Ian O'Riordan is an Irish Times sports journalist writing on athletics