Cork athlete Michelle Finn finishes 7th in European 3000m Steeplechase final

Cork athlete Michelle Finn was the fastest of the three Irish women in the final of the 3000m steeplechase at the European Athletic Championships in Amsterdam today. After a very strong last lap, Michelle finished in 7th place in a new personal best time of 9m 43.19s. Sara Treacy was just behind in 7th with Kerry O'Flaherty in 12th. Just getting to a European final was a major achievement for the trio but finishing so high up is really something special.

Video of the race...


Interview with Will Downing...


Photo Credit : Kieran Carlin

Irish athletes through to finals in European Athletics Championships

Cork athlete Michelle Finn was in action today in the womens 3000m steeplchase race at the European Athletic Championships in Amsterdam. After staying out of trouble in the early stages, Michelle came though take fourth place in a seasons best time to qualify for the final on Sunday.

In the other heat, Sara Treacy and Kerry Flaherty both ran personal best times to get to the final as well.

The 3000m final is on Sunday at 3:15pm Irish time.

In the qualifying rounds of the womens 1500m, Ciara Mageean finished third to get through to the final on Sunday.

After getting boxed in during the race, she had a strong finish in the home straight.

Ciara who is from Portaferry in Co.Down is one of Ireland's best track athletes and the final of the 1500m is on Sunday at 3:45pm.

Michelle Finn from Cork on the left staying out of trouble in the women's 3000m Steeplechase

Will Downing interviews...

Ciara Mageean...


Michelle Finn...

Irish results from the World Championships...Mon 24th Aug 2015

Four Irish athletes were in action in the IAAF World Championships in Beijing on Monday the 24th of August.

In the womens 3000m Steeplechase, there were 45 athletes spread out evenly over three heats. Of the three Irish athletes, Michelle Finn from Cork recorded the high finishing position while Sara Treacy had the fastest time.

Heat 1
POS    BIB    ATHLETE    COUNTRY    MARK   
9    477    Michelle FINN    IRL IRL    9:55.27

Heat 2
POS    BIB    ATHLETE    COUNTRY    MARK   
13    481    Sara Louise TREACY    IRL IRL    9:48.24

Heat 3
POS    BIB    ATHLETE    COUNTRY    MARK   
13    478    Kerry O'FLAHERTY    IRL IRL    10:05.10

The slowest losing time that qualified for the final was 9:30.23 so all three were some way off that.

Post race interview with Michelle Finn...


Post race interview with Sara Treacy...

Pictured just left of centre is Kerry Flaherty. The unfortunate athlete who took a dip was Rolanda Bell of Panama

In the womens pole vault, Tori Pena went out in the qualifying rounds. At 4m 15cm, she failed her first attempt but cleared on the second one. At 4m 30cms, she sailed over first time. At 4m 45cms, Tori failed on her three attempts. A total of 28 athletes took part in the competition and only those that cleared 4m 55cms went through to the final.

Michelle Finn from Cork qualifies for 2016 Olympics in Rio

The Letterkenny International Track & Field Meeting in Donegal was held on Fri 10th of July. In the womens 3000m steeplechase race, no fewer than 3 Irish women were inside the qualifying time of 9m 45s for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. They were Kerry O'Flaherty, Michelle Finn and Sara Treacy.

Both Michelle and Kerry were also inside the qualifying standard of 9:44 for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing this year.

Michelle Finn is a member of Leevale AC in Cork and is a regular at local road races here. She was also a member of the Irish Cross Country team that won Bronze at the European Cross Country Championships in 2014. Her 3rd place time of 9:43.34 was also a PB and was a big improvement on her previous best of 9:49:00 set in May of this year.

Kerry O'Flaherty also recorded a new PB of 9:42.61 and her previous best was 9:51.64 set in June of 2015.


Sara Treacy was part of the Irish team that won Gold in the European Cross Country Championships in 2012. Her time of 9:44.14 was over 3 seconds faster than her previous best of 9:47.92 set in August of 2014.

From Letterkenny AC......"It was a night to remember for Irish womens athletics with the trio of Kerry O’Flaherty, Michelle Finn and Sara Treacy all securing qualification standards in the 3000m steeplechase for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games at the Letterkenny International Track & Field Meeting. O’Flaherty of Newcastle AC and Finn of Leevale AC also secured qualification standards for the World Athletics Championships in Beijing next month with times of 9:42.61 and 9:43.34 respectively. Dunboyne AC’s Treacy came agonisingly close to the World standard with 9:44.14, just 0.14 outside the standard."

Fast forward to ~50 secs...and again at 3:06...


Top Irish times in the 3000m steeplechase as of 11th July 2015

1 9:28.29    NR Roísín McGettigan 23 Aug 80 174/55 3    KBC-Nacht    Heusden    28 Jul 2007
2 9:37.60    Fionnuala Britton 24 Sep 84 158/45  5    adidas    New York NY    11 Jun 2011
3 9:42.91     Stephanie Reilly    23 Feb 78  7    adidas    New York NY    11 Jun 2011
4 9:42.61  Kerry O'Flaherty    15 Jul 81  2    Letterkenny    11 Jul 2015
5 9:43.34  Michele Finn    16 Dec 89  3    Letterkenny    11 Jul 2015
6 9:44.14 Sara Treacy    22 Jun 89 4        Letterkenny    11 Jul 2015
7 9:51.54     Una English        14 Aug 70  4    Spitzen    Luzern    16 Jul 2008

Irish team wins bronze at European Cross Championships in Bulgaria

The Irish senior womens team finished 3rd at the European Cross Country Championships in Bulgaria on Sunday the 14th of December 2014. The team finished on 87 points, just one ahead of France on 88.

L-R Siobhan O'Doherty, Sarah Treacy, Annmarie McGlynn, Michelle Finn, Laura Crowe and Fionnuala Britton

While Fionnuala Britton finished in 6th place, Sara Treacy and Michelle Finn finished a lot higher than their form might have suggested to held the Irish team secure bronze. In the end, it was all down to mere seconds. Sara Treacy was just 2 seconds ahead of a Spanish athlete while Michelle Finn of Leevale AC in Cork had the same time as a Danish athlete but finished just ahead of her.....fractions of a second but all important. The fourth scoring member of the team was the captain Annmarie McGlynn. Siobhan O'Doherty of Borrisokane AC in Tipp and Laura Crowe of An Rioght AC in Kerry made up the 6 in the bronze medal team.

The results of the senior womens race can be seen HERE

Full results of all race HERE

Post race interview of Fionnuala Britton...


The highlights are available to watch on the RTE player service for 3 weeks HERE

Photos...
1) James Veale of West Waterford AC has a large number of photos on the WWAC website....Junior men & women... U23 men & women... Senior men & women...

Photos from James Veale of West Waterford AC

Will Downing interviews Irish Gold Medal Cross Country team...

Irish sports commentator Will Downing has just uploaded his interview with the Irish team that won Gold at the recent European Cross Country Championships in Hungary.

Fionnuala Britton and Irish team take Gold in Euro X-Country Champs...Sun 9th Dec 2012

On a great day for Irish Athletics, Fionnuala Britton won the womens senior race in the European Cross Country Championships in Hungary. Having won the 2011 race in Slovenia, this is the first time that anyone has retained the title. After leading for most of the race, Fionnuala finishing kick was enough to keep her ahead of Dulce Félix of Portugal who put in a strong late challenge.

Rank    Athlete    Nation    Time         
1     BRITTON, Fionnuala     IRL        27:45         
2     FÉLIX, Dulce     POR        27:47         
3     HERZOG, Adriënne     NED        27:48

Not only did Fionnuala Britton take the individual title but she also helped the Irish team win the team prize!

Winning Irish Team...L to R...Lizzie Lee, Fionnuala Britton, Ava Hutchinson, Linda Byrne, Sara Treacy, Sarah McCormack

With the first four finishers to score, the Irish and French teams tied on 52 points!

However as the fourth member of the scoring team, Lizzie Lee from Cork finished in 23rd place and ahead of the fourth French woman Magali Bernard in 28th place. The Irish team won in count back as a result!

Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC proudly displaying her new European Cross Country Gold medal

The other two scoring members of the Irish team were Ava Hutchinson and Linda Byrne who both represented Ireland in the Marathon in the recent London Olympics.

Photos courtesy of James McCarthy of East Cork AC