from A.A.I David Gillick (Dundrum South Dublin AC) has made it into the tomorrow’s 400m Final at the World Indoor Championships in Doha after finishing second in his semi-final in 46.15 seconds.
The race was a real dual between the double European champion and Bershawn Jackson of the USA. Jackson was the clear leader at the break however he moved slightly wide at the 200m mark leaving a gap.
Gillick make a surge for this gap to claim the lead and the inside lane but it was closed quickly by the American. This resulted in Gillick almost completely coming to a halt as he tried to avoid running into the back of Jackson and to stay on his feet. The Dublin man however maintained his control and composure and drove for the finish off the final bend to close down on Jackson. With both athletes dipping for the line the American managed to get the better of the Irishman by a mere two hundreds of a second wining in 46.13.
After the race Gillick expressed his disappointment at not being able to clinch the win “I wanted to go out there and win. I am disappointed I didn’t as it is all about the lanes in the indoor’s and I will most likely end up with lane three or four for the final. I am a little frustrated as I know I had the beating of him but I know I am in good shape.” Both athletes have established themselves as clear gold medal favourites with the second heat won in a time of 46.64 by Chris Brown of Bahamas.
The lane draw for the final sees the DSD man in lane three.
Gillick qualified into the Men’s 400m semi-final by winning his heat this morning in 46.72. The Dublin man had a clear lead throughout but appeared to ease up a little too early in the home straight and had to make a surge to make sure of victory. However it transpires that this was due to an obstacle on the track: “We came around the final bend and a pole vault had been dropped and was sticking out into lane 1 and 2 so that’s why I went wide. That caught me off – everyone had to move out a bit – Then I eased up a little but I put in a little bit of a dip to make sure I got it (the win)” Gillick commented.
Brian Gregan of Clonliffe Harriers finished third in his 400m heat in 47.26; this unfortunately was not good enough to see him through to the semi-final. The 2009 Irish champion was ranked 15 out of 28 starters in the 400 metre event, with 12 progressing to the semi-finals. Gregan said: “I came here so I could put myself out there (in senior major competition for the first time). Hopefully people will take notice and I will start climbing those world rankings. Now I am going to focus on the relay and hope that will go well”.
Claire Brady of Celbridge AC had an excellent run in her 60m heat to make it into Sunday’s 60m semi-final. Brady finished fifth in her heat in 7.43 seconds and qualified as the best of the fastest losers.
Deirdre Byrne (Sli Chualann AC) put in a gallant effort in the women’s 3000m heat recording a personal best of 8.58.94 minutes to finish just two places outside the qualification spots. Although Byrne placed tenth in this heat it was the fastest heat with eight athletes qualified from it into the final. Jessica Augusto of Portugal had set the early pace to stretch the field. At the mid-way point of the race Bryne drifted to the back of the leading field but she fought hard to stay in contention and only fall off the pace in the final lap to finish tenth. “Crossing the line I didn’t feel like I had run that fast. It was really tough out there but I’m delighted to have at least broken 9 minutes (for the first time indoors) and set a personal best. Overall I suppose I am happy to have broken 9 minutes but I would love to be in the final as well.”
Hazel Murphy (DSD AC) finished ninth overall in 9:17:60 minutes in heat one. Murphy was with the leading group in the opening laps until Rene Kalmar of South Africa injected some pace and she faded to the back of the field.
In the women’s 1500m both Rose Anne Galligan (Newbridge AC) finished seventh in 4.17.04 in heat one. Kelly McNiece-Reid (City of Lisburn AC) also placed seventh in her heat in 4:16.26. Both athletes failed to progress to the final. McNiece-Reid commented “I just found it (the race) quite physical. The Ethiopian went down at around 700 to go and I nearly went down with her. By the time I gathered myself again I had lost 5 or 6 metres. It’s disappointing because I know I’m in so much better shape than that, but it was just a really hard race.”
Irish High Jump Record Holder, Deirdre Ryan (DSD AC) was also in action this morning. Ryan jumped 1.85m on her second attempt but failed at 1.89m and will not progress to the final.
In the Men’s 800m David McCarthy was eliminated, finishing fourth in his heat in 1.51.88 minutes. The heat was won by Kevin Hautcoeur of France in 1.50.61 in a slow heat, which saw all competitors bunched together with a lap to go. When the pace shifted down the back straight, McCarthy could not find that extra gear and the top three pulled away.
Irish Record Holder Kelly Proper (Waterford AC) will compete in the qualification rounds of the long jump tomorrow morning at 8:00 Irish Time. The men’s 4x 400m relay is in action at the same time on the track.