DEWHIRST AND NDUDI PROGRESS TO EUROPEAN FINALS

It was another superb opening session for Irish athletes on day 3 of the European U18 Championships in Israel this morning, with Elizabeth Ndudi (DSD AC) and Fintan Dewhirst (Tir Chonaill AC) securing places in their respective long jump and 400mH finals.

Ndudi was first of the Irish in action on day 3, making her third appearance of the week having already made it to the semi-final stage of the 100m. The DSD star secured her passage to the long jump final with her one and only jump of 6.21m securing the automatic qualifying mark of 6.10m. The women’s long jump final is set for tomorrow at 7.15am (Irish time).

Fintan Dewhirst ran a superb closing 100m in heat 2 of the 400mH, finishing fastest of all to cross in 4th place to secure one of the fast qualifier spots thanks to his 52.62 performance. Dewhirst will now return for his third outing of the week in tomorrow’s final which is set for 4.30pm (Irish time).

Sean Carmody also went in the 400mH semi-final, bowing at this stage with his 55.91 not quite enough to progress to tomorrow’s final. The Leevale star is sure to have benefited greatly from the experience in making it to a European semi-final.

Victoria Amiadamen (Dooneen AC) also took her place in the women’s 400mH and was very unlucky to DQ at the start. The Dooneen athlete will undoubtably be back in an Irish singlet for years to come and looks to have a bright future ahead.

Finn O’Neill (Lifford Strabane) began his busy two-day schedule in the decathlon this morning. O’Neill had a flying start to his competition, claiming second place in his 100m heat to claim 797 points. O’Neill has since gone on to complete the long jump (624 points) and shot put, securing a brilliant PB of 14.47m in the shot for 757 points. O’Neill has another two events to come this afternoon.

Ireland will have another 4 athletes taking to competition during this afternoon’s session including Niamh Murray (400m), Ava Rochford (High Jump), and Oisin Joyce (Javelin) who all take their places in their respective finals.

Day 3: Afternoon Session:

• Finn O’Neill Decathlon High Jump (3.00pm Irish Time)
• Niamh Murray 400m Final (5.07pm Irish Time)
• Ava Rochford High Jump Final (5.15pm Irish Time)
• Oisin Joyce Javelin Final (5.55pm Irish Time)
• Finn O’Neill Decathlon 400m  (6.55pm Irish Time)

Event Information:

    Full results and start lists: HERE

    Live Streams HERE