European Indoor Championships - Day Two - McGettigan 4th/Proper 7th

Rineanna

The other thread was getting a bit lengthy.

Live Feed: http://www.rte.ie/live/

Irish in action:
DAY TWO – Saturday 7th March
DAY 2 – 60M Round 1 (8.30) 9.30 – Niamh Whelan / Ailis McSweeney
DAY 2 – High Jump Quals (8.35) 9.35 – Deirdre Ryan
DAY 2 – 60M Round 1 (9.00) 10.00 – Paul Hession
DAY 2 – 3000M Round 1 (10.05) 11.05 – Deirdre Byrne / Mary Cullen
DAY 2 – 800M Semi-Final (15.30) 16.30 – David McCarthy
DAY 2 – Long Jump Final (15.40) 16.40 – Kelly Proper
DAY 2 – 60M Semi-final (15.45) 16.45 – Niamh Whelan / Ailis McSweeney
DAY 2 – 60M Semi-final (16.00) 17.00 – Paul Hession
DAY 2 – 1500M Final (16.35) 17.35 – Roisin McGettigan

Niamh Whelan equalled her PB of 7.49, but that won't be enough to progress unfortunately.

hurdler2009

Both girls 6th in their 60m heats. Niamh Whelan equaled her P.B to run 7.49 and Ailis McSweeney ran a 7.51.

Also just to note according to the BBC, the womens 3000m heats today have been canceled and there will be a straight final tomorrow instead!!

Rineanna

Hession 4th in his heat in 6.70. That should be enough to see him through as fastest loser, as the other heats' 3rd/4th athletes were slower than that.

helpisontheway

hurdler2009 wrote: »

Both girls 6th in their 60m heats. Niamh Whelan equaled her P.B to run 7.49 and Ailis McSweeney ran a 7.51.

Also just to note according to the BBC, the womens 3000m heats today have been canceled and there will be a straight final tomorrow instead!!

That will suit Alminova!:(

Rineanna

3000m heats back on!

Rineanna

Ryan out of HJ with three failures at 1.89m.

Byrne 5th in heat. Hopefully that'll be enough for a fastest loser spot.

thirtyfoot

Great run by Byrne, close to 9:00 and a PB. She ran a great tactical race, a lesson on how to run a heat when you have an outside chance of qualifying.

Rineanna

Cullen absolutely destroying the field...hope she doesn't knacker herself.

Stupid_Private

Rineanna wrote: »

Cullen absolutely destroying the field...hope she doesn't knacker herself.

Mary Cullen is great!

She should have loads in the tank after that - she ran the last 200m close on 40 seconds.

It'll be much harder for Byrne tomorrow having to race after a PB today - well done to the two of them though.

thirtyfoot

She looked the class act of that heat. When a medal contender thats how to to run a heat, totally dominant and laid down a marker. Was the Pole who dropped out a threat for medals?

Rineanna

Tingle wrote: »

She looked the class act of that heat. When a medal contender thats how to to run a heat, totally dominant and laid down a marker. Was the Pole who dropped out a threat for medals?

She was the reigning champion, but hasn't shown any sort of medal-winning form this season.

It'll be a tough final all the same, with Alminova, Bekele, Fernandez, Augusto, the other Russian and Cullen all in the mix.

Racing Flat

What time did Cullen do?

Thanks

Rineanna

8.55.01

Rineanna

Thank God for the RTÉ live streaming....the Beeb are just doing reviews of yesterday, interviews, talking about Dwain Chambers' book, etc while there are around four finals in progress.

Rineanna

6.32m opener for Proper.

runrunrun

david mccarthy i thought ran really well...maybe not as fast as he would've liked but he should be looking to break 1:46 outdoors...well done dave..you gave it a great go

hurdler2009

Rineanna wrote: »

6.32m opener for Proper.

Broke the second.
The lead is 6.78.
2nd & 3rd is 6.73

Pherekydes

Small improvement by Kelly in round 4.

Fair run by Hession: 5th in 6.66, SB. Chambers is in a completely different class.

Edit: Beat Rineanna on the dip!

Rineanna

6.66 SB for Hession, but just misses out on final by one place. Historic race to be part of!

Proper up to 6.37m

Edit: Pherekydes there before me !

NickDrake

runrunrun wrote: »

david mccarthy i thought ran really well...maybe not as fast as he would've liked but he should be looking to break 1:46 outdoors...well done dave..you gave it a great go

totally disgaree. He had a terrible run. what did he run 1.55?? He was last and off the back the whole way through.

How the hell did he get sent to the champs? There are pleanty of runners doing the same if not better times than him. All who you know with Athletics Ireland by the looks of thing still.

Rineanna

Proper will finish seventh with 6.18m in last round. Congrats to her on her performance at her first senior champs.

hurdler2009

Proper finishes in 7th with a best of 6.37! Fantastic achievement for her to reach the final in her 1st major championship.:D

EDIT: Sorry Rineanna bet me to it!

horsebox1977

Nick,
Runrunrun was claiming he might win a medal!

Anyway - Proper finished with 7th 6.37.
Id say the 6.59 took alot out of her. She still had a great championships..

Pherekydes

Rineanna wrote: »

Proper will finish seventh with 6.18m in last round. Congrats to her on her performance at her first senior champs.

Seconded. Great to see a field eventer acquitting herself well at this level. A trip to Berlin in August must be next on Kelly's to do list.

Rineanna

Wow! I guess I was wrong on McGettigan. She came 4th I think!

Pherekydes

4th for Róisin. Great performance.

NickDrake

Great run! Thats more like it!

hurdler2009

Well Done to Roisin thats a brilliant performance! Should really help her steeple in the summer!!
The next race on the track is going to be painful - mens 400m final!!

Rineanna

hurdler2009 wrote: »

Well Done to Roisin thats a brilliant performance! Should really help her steeple in the summer!!
The next race on the track is going to be painful - mens 400m final!!

Was just thinking the same thing Oh well.

Damn...the one thing I was hoping for was that the Romanian wouldn't win a medal.

thirtyfoot

Great run by Roisin, really ran well above herself. Another true competitor and racer as opposed to a time trial merchant. No slight on McCarthy but I thought he just didn't ever give himself a chance and was never in the hunt. Roisin got stuck in (just like Byrne in the 3k) and went for it. Championship racing lads, thats what its all about, feck your fast times in time trial style meets.

Proper did well too and its a stepping stone, her first champs. She looked nervous before hand but would have taken 7th a month ago when she didn't even know she'd be going.

Hession needed to run 6.66 and its all about the outdoors for him now.

This has been a great champs for us and who knows what Mary Teresa will do tomorrow!!!

thirtyfoot

David Gillick take note as that is how you run a 4 indoors. I'm still bitter about the tactics he employed yesterday.

Wissman dominated and going through in 21.4 meant he had the damage done as long as he didn't totally destruct in last 50.

Dodge

Tingle wrote: »

David Gillick take note as that is how you run a 4 indoors.

I think his 2 previous gold medals at this championship show he knows how to race indoors

He made a mistake but come on, people are being far too harsh here.

Fish'n'Chips

David Gillick take note as that is how you run a 4 indoors. I'm still bitter about the tactics he employed yesterday.

I think you're being a bit harsh there Tingle! It looked to me that Gillick had a plan to run the semi a particular way where he could conserve energy yet still get a good lane for the final. At the point just before Gillick ran into trouble you could see the momentum was with him and it looked like he would have passed Wissman and the Romanian over the final 100.

Wissman set a blistering pace (21.3) and maybe if Gillick had tried to go at that speed in a semi it could have taken that little bit extra out of him for the final.

Wissman tried the same tactics last year at the world indoors but it backfired on him - this time it worked. When Gillick won both his European titles he did not go eyeballs out and was in fact behind in the two races with 100 to go so I would guess he felt that was the best way for him to run it. Gillick ran 45.5 last time not going as hard as Wissman did today through the first 200. I just think Gillick made a mistake in trying to go around the guys on the bend rather than not going out hard enough.

thirtyfoot

FishnChips wrote: »

I think you're being a bit harsh there Tingle! It looked to me that Gillick had a plan to run the semi a particular way where he could conserve energy yet still get a good lane for the final. At the point just before Gillick ran into trouble you could see the momentum was with him and it looked like he would have passed Wissman and the Romanian over the final 100.

Wissman set a blistering pace (21.3) and maybe if Gillick had tried to go at that speed in a semi it could have taken that little bit extra out of him for the final.

Wissman tried the same tactics last year at the world indoors but it backfired on him - this time it worked. When Gillick won both his European titles he did not go eyeballs out and was in fact behind in the two races with 100 to go so I would guess he felt that was the best way for him to run it. Gillick ran 45.5 last time not going as hard as Wissman did today through the first 200. I just think Gillick made a mistake in trying to go around the guys on the bend rather than not going out hard enough.

Its frustration that he blew a great chance to make history (3 in a row) that is causing me to question his tactics. I agree he shouldn't made his move into the bend and should have sat and ripped off the bend, but he was in a great position coming off the bend into the bell at the first lap and didn't attack from there. The final was almost a virtual replay. The Italian was 3rd at the bell but he took the Romanian down the back straight which is something Gillick tried but couldn't take him. I agree that Wissman would always be first to the bell and I said last week here that Gillick would need to match him to have a chance.

I'm thinking his tactics were wrong in that he underestimated the semi and didn't treat as a final. He probably expected just Wissman coming off the bend and was shocked to see the Romanian and it was too late to react. I know he went through in 21.8 when he ran his 45.1 earlier this season so his breakdown is different to Wissman but he ran a super first 100m, great transition into the bend but then went through the break like it was an 800 break.

The fact that he was a double champion means he shouldn't have been in that situation. Lets not forget this nearly happened in Birmingham too and he was lucky the Brisish appeal failed then (as far as I remember). I'm disappointed because its not always we have an athlete who if he won would have been the star of the championships (or one of them).

Its over now I suppose. All he can do is move on and target the final in Berlin where there won't be any influence from other athletes.

VR46

runrunrun wrote: »

david mccarthy i thought ran really well...maybe not as fast as he would've liked but he should be looking to break 1:46 outdoors...well done dave..you gave it a great go

Are you basing this on his performance in these championships??
He showed absolutley no evidence that he is capable of breaking 1:46 outdoors.

His semi final was slow (57.5 for 1st 400m) I was thinking as a former 400m man that off a slow pace he might have the speed to sneak into the final.

But the truth is that David was an average 400m athlete and he is now a below average 800m athlete.
Maybe he should try the 600m

thirtyfoot

VR46 wrote: »

But the truth is that David was an average 400m athlete and he is now a below average 800m athlete.
Maybe he should try the 600m

I wouldn't say 46.05 is 'average' for 400 and he is a former world indoor finalist in the event.

Never understood why he moved up though, he seems too big.

Pherekydes

Tingle wrote: »

I wouldn't say 46.05 is 'average' for 400 and he is a former world indoor finalist in the event.

Never understood why he moved up though, he seems too big.

I'd say Alberto Juantorena was of similar size. His basic speed was a bit better, but where David falls down is his lack of endurance. A first lap of 57 is dawdling for him, but he couldn't take the others. He needs to concentrate on his aerobic capacity and aerobic power.

He has more than enough speed to cope.

Fish'n'Chips

Originally posted by Tingle.
Its over now I suppose. All he can do is move on and target the final in Berlin where there won't be any influence from other athletes.

Looking forward how do you think he'll get on in Berlin? Making a final there would be a way bigger achievement in my opinion than winning a European indoor title even though it probably wouldn't get the same media attention/appreciation from the general public.

Fish'n'Chips

Originally posted by Pherekydes.
He needs to concentrate on his aerobic capacity and aerobic power.

He more than likely needs to find himself a proven world class 800m specialist coach and/or group (who is willing to take him on) if he is ever going to break through to the next level. The athletes who put themselves in the more professional environment are generally the ones who succeed more.

thirtyfoot

FishnChips wrote: »

Looking forward how do you think he'll get on in Berlin?

I'd say he can go sub 45 and if he does he will be there or thereabouts for a final spot:) He is due a break and a bit of luck.