Cathal Doyle fulfilled his vow to give his all in the 1,500 metres repechage round, introduced for the first time at the Olympics, emerging victorious in the maiden race at the Stade de France on Saturday evening, thereby securing his spot in the Olympic semi-finals. Luke McCann and Andrew Coscoran, his Irish teammates, were also contesting their second consecutive race, having missed qualification in Friday’s preliminary heats.
This new round of repechage provides athletes with an extra chance to earn a place in the Sunday semi-finals, though it implies an additional run. Only the top three contestants from each race advanced. Doyle, the 26-year-old, accelerated at the final stretch to triumph in the initial race with a time of 3:34.92, surpassing Azeddine Habz of France’s 3:35.10 in second place.
“This was my championship’s objective, I treated each round as if it was an Olympic final,” expressed Doyle. Discovering better footing after an off day due to nerves and inexperience, he managed to rectify his past performance. Being at the forefront of the action when the race intensified, he strategically positioned himself to compete. With extra gears left in the final 100m, Doyle is eagerly anticipating tomorrow’s race.
Meanwhile, there was some disappointment ensued for Irish runners McCann and Coscoran. McCann concluded at the seventh position in the same race with a timing of 3:36.50, while Coscoran, misjudging the second repechage, came last in the twelfth position with a timing of 3:39.45.
Coscoran expressed his disappointment, remarking on his step back from his previous semi-final achievement in the Olympics due to certain uncontrollable factors such as injuries and sickness. The stage is set for his return in the 1500m semi-finals on Sunday, with an opportunity to progress to the Olympic final.
In a later session, the Dutch mixed 4x400m relay team took gold thanks to an impressive final stretch from Femke Bol, who led them from fourth place to victory. They finished with a time of 3:07.43, setting a European record and narrowly missing the world record set by the USA, who finished second on this occasion with a time of 3:07.74. Team Great Britain held their own and secured bronze with a national record time of 3:08.01, showing the rapid progression of the event.
The women’s 100m final also conveyed a similar unexpected outcome as Julien Alfred, who trains with Rhasidat Adeleke, provided St Lucia with its first athletics gold medal. The 23-year-old took the lead in a national record time of 10.72. USA’s champion from the previous year, Sha’Carri Richardson, ended up with a silver medal with a finishing time of 10.87, just ahead of fellow American Melissa Jefferson who came third. It’s notable that Alfred and Adeleke, both students at the University of Texas, have trained together for the past four years under the guidance of coach Edrick Floreal.