Four of Ireland's athletes bow out in Beijing
By Will Downing, Beijing
Ireland’s four morning representatives have enjoyed no progress on Day 3 of the World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
Sara Treacy, Kerry O’Flaherty and Michelle Finn bowing out in the semi-finals of the women’s 3000m steeplechase, while Tori Peña succumbed in the pole vault.
Treacy recorded the fastest time on the track, while Finn had the higher placing with all three Irish steeplechasers placed into different semi-finals, with only the top three per semi and six fastest losers progressing.
Finn of Leevale AC was first up at 9:45am local time, coming home in 9:55.27, twelve seconds outside her lifetime best of 9:43.34 set last month in Letterkenny.
This was good enough for eleventh place, but with Jamaica’s former American Aisha Praught and Moroccan Hanane Ouhaddou both disqualified for lane infringements, Finn saw herself elevated to ninth place.
Ethiopian Hiwot Ayalew took the honours in Finn’s semi in 9:25.55.
“The experience was class. The time was not great. The position I’m happy enough with,” was Finn’s post-race assessment.
“I definitely thought I could have run faster.”
European Cross-Country team gold-medallist Treacy of Dunboyne AC was the fastest of the Irish trio in clocking 9:48.24, but with Habiba Ghribi of Tunisia claiming victory in 9:24.38, Treacy’s time put her 13th in her semi-final, a placing replicated by O’Flaherty in her semi-final, with a time of 10:05.17.
Treacy, now based in the English midlands, will be targeting a return to the Irish team for December’s European Cross-Country Championships in Toulon.
The 26-year-old is hoping to be grouped with the likes of fellow international medallists Fionnuala Britton, Mary Cullen and Lizzie Lee in their bid for another European team medal having won gold in Budapest in 2012 and silver in Samakov in the Bulgarian mountains last Christmas, where Treacy finished 12th in the individual.
Treacy said: “It’s my third-quickest time this summer but it wasn’t the best, I wanted quicker.
“I know I have quicker in me. I just didn’t seem to get it right today but I’ve got a lot to work on for next year because I have a lot that I can improve on, and I knew this coming into the competition.”
Despite the disappointment, the strength of Irish steeplechasing is likely to see more home-based races over the Championship distance in Irish events next year.
Tori Peña cleared her first two heights in the women’s pole vault qualifying, 4.15m and 4.30m – the latter at the first attempt – but missed her third height of 4.45m three times.
The automatic qualifying mark of 4.60 – matching Peña’s Irish record from 2013 - wasn’t reached by anybody this morning, and had Peña cleared 4.45, then she would have had a shot next time around at the actual qualifying mark of 4.55.
There are no Irish competitors in the evening session, where the finals of the women’s 100m, 10000m and triple jump and on the schedule along with the men’s 3000m steeplechase and pole vault.
