by Perri Williams
Four Irish athletes took part in the Diamond League in London today in front of a sellout audience of 60,000 spectators. Brian Fay and Nick Griggs competed in the 300m with Rhasidat Adeleke opting for the shorter distance of 200m and Andrew Coscoran the mile.
Femke Bol got the day off to a thrilling start as she took the top spot in the 400m hurdles with a new Diamond League record. It was British clean sweep in the ladies 800m with Keely Hodkingson kicking hard with 100m to go. Chased all the way by Jemma Rieke she pulled clear to finish one second ahead of her training partner in a new world lead of 1:54.61. Geogia Bell was 3rd. The men’s 100m Noah Lyles proved he was in unbelievable shape as he had a clear victory over Akani Simbine (South Africa) in a new personal best of 9.81 seconds.
First up for Ireland was Brian Fay (Raheny) and Nick Griggs (Candor) who were part of the very stacked 3000m race. Victory went to European 10,000m champion Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu (Switzerland) who outsprinted Grant Fisher (USA) to secure a meet record and the fastest time in the world this year. Brian Fay finished 7th in a new personal best of 7:34.48 a time which moved him to third on the Irish all-time list. For Nick Griggs there was yet another u23 record. He finished in 10th place in a time of 7:36.59 which smashes his own Irish record by five seconds. Griggs now moves into fourth place on the Irish all-time list. This is the third time this month that the Tyrone native has secured a new national record. At the Cork City Sports he first broke Darragh McIlhenny’s 3000m record with a time of 7:41.6. Then three days later he improved his personal best in the 5000m by 23 seconds to record a time of 13:13.07 at the Morton Games.
The Emsley Carr mile was won by Ollie Hoare (Australia) has he held off a strong challenge by the Norwegian World bronze medalist Narve Gilje Nordas. Taking victory by a meagre three hundredths of a second Hoare recorded 3:49.03. In the same race Andrew Coscoran improved his own time, when he clocked a new personal best of 3:50.49 to finish 8th. Coscoran now moved into third on the Irish all-time list behind Ray Flynn and Eamonn Coughlan with Flynn’s time coming ever so much closer to him. The race was not without its drama as three athletes took a tumble not long after starting.
The ladies 200m witnessed a thrilling finish from Gabby Thomas as she came from down the field with 60m to go to secure victory. Pushed all the way by Julianne Alfred, she edged ahead of the World Indoor 60m champion in the final stages to win in a new meeting record of 21.82. Rhasidat Adeleke finished 5th in a new season’s best of 22.35 just one hundredth of a second of her 2023 National record.
Coscoran, Adeleke and Fay now head to Paris with renewed confidence on the back of their excellent performances.