Disqualifications heap misery on disappointed Irish athletes
It was pain in the rain for Ireland on the penultimate night of the European Athletics Championships in Helsinki - both 4x400m relay squads were disqualified, while eighth place was the best return from the four Irish finalists.
Paul Hession finished eighth in his 200m final, having earned a reprieve in the semis due to disqualifications elsewhere.
His lane 1 draw meant he had the tightest bend of the lot, and his time of 21.27 reflected this.
Stephanie Reilly grabbed 12th spot in the women's 3000m steeplechase final, with marathon man Mark Kenneally and newcomer David Rooney 15th and 21st respectively in the men's 10000m final.
The men's 4x400m relay team - featuring David Gillick alongside Timmy Crowe, Brian Murphy and Jason Harvey - were disqualified for crossing inside the kerb into the infield, while after battling for second spot for a long time in their semi-final, the women's team were celebrating a fifth place finish when they learned they had been DQed also.
The red card for the talented squad of Claire Bergin, Joanne Cuddihy, Marian Heffernan and Michelle Carey came for "starting outside the takeover zone".
However, the women's team remain ranked 12th in the world and are set to be named in the sixteen Olympic qualifiers announced by the IOC and IAAF on Monday.
Turkey took a remarkable three gold medals on Saturday – by edging out two Belarussians, Nevin Yanit retained the 100 hurdles title that she won by pipping Derval O'Rourke in Barcelona two years ago, while Gulcan Mingir earned steeplechase glory and Polat Kemboi Arikan won a tight men's 10,000m.
There were 1-2s in the 200m for Ukraine's women and the Dutch men.
Churandy Martina had almost half a second to spare over Netherlands compatriot Patrick van Luik, as Mariya Ryemyen edged out team-mate Hrystyna Stuy into second, with Frenchwoman Myriam Soumaré preventing Viktoriya Pyatachenko from making it a Ukraine clean-sweep in the female finale.
Other highlights saw world champion Robert Harting of Germany ease aside Estonian Olympic champion Gerd Kanter to win the men's discus, while Ida Antoinette Nana Djimou proved the biggest name in the heptathlon, winning gold for France.
European cross-country champion Fionnuala Britton is the only Irish competitor in action tomorrow as she lines up in the women's 10,000m final.
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