European Athletics Championships: Coscoran into 1500m final, but disappointment for Barr, Shanahan, Griggs and Healy

It was a run that salvaged something from an otherwise bad morning for the Irish, with Phil Healy, Nick Griggs, Louise Shanahan and Thomas Barr all eliminated from their respective events.

Coscoran played a patient game in his 1500m heat, running wide and staying out of trouble for most of the race before surging to the front approaching the bell, a move which helped him avoid disaster as five athletes crashed to the track soon after, their chances evaporating in an instant.

Coscoran was passed by a cluster of athletes on the final turn but held on well up the home straight to secure one of the top six automatic spots, with Norwegian superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen taking the win in 3:37.65.

“I had it in my head that if it was slower, it was nice to be in front,” said Coscoran, who was unaware of what happened behind him during the race.

“The opportunity presented itself (to take the lead) so I took it. I was just trying to stay out of trouble and thankfully I did stay out of trouble – I must have made the move at the right time.”

Ahead of Wednesday night’s final, he said: “The only mentality going in is to be in the moment, run the race that presents itself in front of you, don’t force anything and if an opportunity arises, take it. The fitness is there. I’ll go with the flow, close fast and try to put myself in good positions.”

Barr went into the 400m hurdles semi-final knowing he’d need a big run to advance and the 31-year-old Waterford athlete wasn’t quite able to produce it, finishing third in 49.61.

He had clocked 49.31 to win his heat yesterday morning but try as he might, he couldn’t close down Nick Smidt of the Netherlands, the runner-up, to nail one of the two automatic qualifying spots.

He came up short by just four hundredths of a second with his time not quick enough to advance. Norwegian star Karsten Warholm took victory in the heat in 48.75.

“I just don’t think I set up the race well enough, didn’t put myself far enough into the race and lost touch a little bit on the top bend,” said Barr. “My stride pattern hit a bit of stagnation for a second, then just didn’t have the same freshness coming home.

“To be honest, it felt harder than yesterday, even though the time was a little bit slower, so maybe the body wasn’t as fresh as I would have liked. If the clock came up with a 48-something I would have believed it, because it felt every bit as hard as that.

“I’m disappointed I missed that Olympic qualification (48.70), but I do have two more races lined up for the end of next week to try and knock that out of the park. Even still, it’s been an amazing championships.”

Healy was below her best in the 200m heats, clocking 23.51 from a difficult inner lane draw. She finished fifth, her time not quick enough to advance and shy of her season’s best of 23.43.

“It is a little disappointing, I definitely wanted to run quicker than 23.5 – I know I’m in better shape than that,” she said.

“The girls got away from me a bit in that first 50 and that’s major championships; you can’t be doing those kinds of things. I did think I came through strong around the bend but the whole race has to be executed as one. I’ll focus everything now on the 4x400m tomorrow morning.”

Rising star Nick Griggs simply didn’t have the gears to contend with Europe’s best seniors when the pace ramped up in the last lap of his 1500m heat, the 19-year-old coming home a detached 14th in 3:46.66.

“There’s no sugar coating it, I’m just not good enough to compete with these guys yet – that’s an honest assessment of where I’m at,” he said. “It’s kind of frustrating because I always want to be at that level, competing against the best guys in Europe. I felt good going into it, felt fit, I just didn’t have the legs in the last lap. These lads were just too good for me on the day.”

Griggs is still hoping to secure Olympic qualification over 1500m and the next few weeks will be critical for securing sufficient ranking points. “I’m going to try give it my all for the Olympics and if I don’t get it, I don’t get it,” he said.

Shanahan was well off the pace in her heat of the women’s 800m, the Leevale athlete coming home seventh in 2:04.81 as British star Keely Hodgkinson coasted to victory in 2:02.46.

“I’ve had probably the best winter worth of training, I haven’t been injured, I haven’t been sick,” she said.

“I just can’t seem to get it to click on race day which is incredibly frustrating. I just haven’t got that extra spark, but who knows? It’s still early June and there’s plenty of time left this season.”

This evening the focus is on the women’s 400m final at 8.50pm Irish time, where Rhasidat Adeleke looks to have an outstanding chance of maintaining the gold rush for the Irish team and claiming her first major championship medal as an individual.

She will run in lane six in the final, with her chief rival Natalia Kaczmarek of Poland in the lane outside her, while Sharlene Mawdsley also has an outside chance of winning her first individual medal, the Newport sprinter drawn in lane four for the decider.

Adeleke is by far the better 200m runner so will likely turn for home with a lead over Kaczmarek, but the Pole – a world silver medallist last year – is a fast finisher and will be closing Adeleke down in the last 50m. There will likely be very little between them at the finish.

Rising star Nicola Tuthill will undoubtedly savour the experience of her first major championship final as a senior athlete, the 20-year-old Bandon thrower taking to the field for the hammer throw final at 8.33pm, having qualified in seventh place overall yesterday.

European Athletics Championships: Live, RTÉ Two, BBC Red Button

Irish in action today (all times Irish)

8.33pm: Nicola Tuthill, women’s hammer throw final

8.50pm: Rhasidat Adeleke, Sharlene Mawdsley, women’s 400m final