European Athletics Championships 2018:

Stephen Scullion (Clonliffe Harriers / Stephen Haas) recorded 29:46.97 over 10,000m at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin tonight (Tuesday 7th August 2018).

This was enough to see the recently crowned AAI National 10,000m Champion secure 23rd place in a stacked field and in tough, hot conditions.

After the race, Stephen spoke openly to Athletics Ireland, saying “That was hard work, it was really humbling.  I thought I was a lot fitter than I was.  I think I just got caught out a little.”

He added, “I prepared honestly, really hard and tried to get as fit as I possibly could and showed up with no excuses.”

This afternoon, Brendan Boyce (Finn Valley AC / Robert Heffernan) clocked 4:02.14 for 19th place in the 50k Walk.  Brendan said, “Aerobically I was very fit but just missing some resistance training.”  He added, “I was looking at going after it positively and seeing what was possible.”

Earlier in the morning, Ulster Schools athlete Chris O’Donnell (North Sligo AC) ran a season’s best of 46.81 for 400m, finishing in 6th place.  Afterwards, the 20-year-old told Athletics Ireland, “I’m one of the youngest competitors here and this experience will stand to me in future championships to have an impact.”

Belfast’s long jumper Adam McMullen (Crusaders AC / Jonas Todoo) competed yesterday (Monday 6th August 2018) in the first field event.  The 28 year old athlete faced strong  competition with only 12 of some 30 athletes qualifying for Wednesday’s final.  Adam’s best jump was  7.47 metres which was insufficient for him to progress further.  Top qualifier was Tentoglou of Greece with a leap of 8.15 metres.

Note:  Article compiled for use by Athletics NI.