David Kenny and Oisín Lane were the first Irish competitors in action on the penultimate day of the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham when contesting the Men’s Half Marathon Walk which got underway at 7.30am.
Both Irishmen produced personal bests in the event, with Kenny finishing in sixth place in a time of 1:24.90, while Lane, from Mullingar Harriers, came home in 11th place in a time of 1:27.09.
The winner of the men’s half marathon walk was Paul McGrath of Spain. Born and raised in Barcelona, he has a Spanish mother, a Scottish father, and Irish grandparents
PB for O’Connor in Long Jump
Kate O’Connor, who was third after the opening day of the heptathlon, began Saturday with a PB in the long jump. Her opening effort of 6.55m bettered her previous best of 6.50m. Effort two was 6.26m, while the third jump was a foul.
With the Dundalk St Gerard’s AC athlete collecting 1,023 points in the long jump, she remains in third position, but is now only six points behind the new heptathlon leader, Annik Kalin (SUI), who has accumulated 4,955 points. Dutch woman Sofie Dokter is in the silver medal position with 4,955.
