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Israel Olatunde (file pic). Bryan Keane/INPHO

Disappointment for Israel Olatunde at European Indoors

The UCD AC athlete bowed out at the semi-final stage.

Updated at 16.22

IRELAND’S FASTEST MAN Israel Olatunde suffered disappointment at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul today.

The 20-year-old was hoping to build on excellent recent form that saw him break the Irish indoor 60m record with a 6.57 last month, but he missed out on a place in the final this afternoon, as a time of 6.69 saw him finish seventh in his semi.

Earlier, in his heat, Olatunde was among a trio of Irish athletes to progress.

Darragh McElhinney (3000m) and Sarah Lavin (60m hurdles) also advanced to the next rounds of their respective events on day three of the competition.

UCD AC athlete Olatunde had earned one of the automatic qualification spots for this afternoon’s semi-finals of the 60m with a time of 6.68, which saw him secure a fourth-place finish in the early morning heats.

Fellow UCD AC athlete McElhinney finished fourth in the men’s 3000m with a time of 7.51.11.

It means he will now compete in Sunday afternoon’s medal decider.

Meanwhile, world Indoor finalist Sarah Lavin (Emerald AC) booked her spot in tomorrow’s 60m hurdles semi-finals (7am) with an 8.03 performance, finishing second in the process.

There were some encouraging displays from Irish athletes on Friday too, with Kate O’Connor and Luke McCann securing top-10 finishes in their respective finals.

You can view the full results here and all Irish times here.

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