Athletes Ellis McHugh and Joe Burke both claimed bronze medals before gymnast Chester Enriquez won Ireland’s third medal of the day in the Boys’ Floor exercise.

Competing in the Girls’ 400m hurdles, Eilis McHugh came home in third place in this morning’s final, with a time of 59.25. Half an hour later, Joe Burke set a personal best time of 21.22, a new Irish record, to win bronze in the Boys’ 200m.

A bonus making the final

Reacting to her medal, McHugh described her race, saying:

“I actually think I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be initially coming out. I was thinking of everybody that ran before. I’m glad I even got here. It’s a bonus to be in the final, so I thought just don’t be nervous. Go out, do what I can. And I did that. I tried to do that anyway.

“I went out in my heat and I had a different kind of stride patterning, I’m assuming because of the adrenaline and the heat. It worked, but it worked out fine. So I was happy enough. So I kind of just hoped I could execute that again today, which I did. So it was fine. But it is completely about finding stride patterns in between the hurdles. It’s not like sprinting whatever works. It’s like getting the right hurdle, knowing when you’re going to hit it. But yeah, thankfully worked out.”

Bronze for Burke

Tipperary sprinter Joe Burke is no stranger to the podium, having won a bronze medal at last year’s European U18 Championships in this event, in a similar race. Reacting to his medal winning race, he said:

“Yeah, I don’t know what to say Joe. It’s the same situation as last year. Blanket finish across the line. Waiting I waiting. And then just hearing your name for third is just surreal. It’s a feeling you can’t explain or describe to anyone. It means so much to you as a person that you just can’t express.”

First Irish gymnastics medal at EYOF

Chester Enriquez won the third Irish medal of the day, with a phenomenal bronze medal in the Boys’ Floor exercise.

Going into the competition, the Origin Gymnastics athlete was ranked 7th, and his clean routine saw him score 13.566, pushing him into the bronze medal position. 

The gymnastics events are taking place in Osijek in Croatia, and speaking after receiving his medal, the 17-year-old reacted to winning Ireland’s first ever gymnastics medal at the EYOF:

“Today was an amazing experience, to say the least. Going out and doing what I’ve done is history in the making. It was just an amazing experience in general. The atmosphere was amazing.”

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In the qualifiers last Thursday, Edenderry’s Crampton threw a personal best on his first throw, achieving automatic qualification for the final.

His first throw in Saturday’s final was another personal best of 58.32m. This placed him in second place in the opening round of six throws. Over the following rounds, the Hungarian, Zsombor Dobo pushed him to third, and with two throws to go, Crampton dropped to fourth place, following a huge performance from David Jarolimek (CZE).

On his fifth throw, the Irish thrower moved back into the medal positions, throwing a metre further than his previous best, with 59.32m.

His final effort was disqualified, but he had done enough to secure the bronze medal, with France’s Samuel Conjungo-Taumhas taking gold.

Crampton said of the competition:

“I knew I had to go for it if I wanted anything, and I did, and I got the result I wanted. The last one that hit the cage I knew it would have gone out further, I could feel it, but it’s in the cage now anyway.”

Discussing his medal success, the second Ireland won at this edition of the EYOF, the Offaly native admitted:

“I’m ecstatic, to say the least. I knew I could do it all along, but going out and doing it is the hardest thing. I have seen in training that I can do those numbers and being able to do it in a competition is something else. To be able to do it for the whole Irish team and everyone else is just amazing.”

“I knew I had to do something to get it. I told my mother a few weeks ago that I would get a medal for her, and now I have, and I’ve made her very proud I think.”

Since 1991 Team Ireland has won 72 medals at the EYOF.

The next edition of the EYOF will be in Skopje, North Macedonia, in the summer of 2025.

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