Updated at 22.47
ISRAEL OLATUNDE tonight became the first Irish athlete to book a spot in the final of the 100m at the European Championships in Munich.
He then finished in sixth place in the final with a new national record of 10.17.
The UCD athlete was just 0.04 away from a medal.
Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy triumphed with a time of 9.95, while there was a double medal haul for Britain as Zharnel Hughes (9.99) and Jeremiah Azu (10.13) claimed silver and bronze respectively.
The 20-year-old Irish star, who earlier was running in the second of three semi-finals, produced a brilliant final 50 metres to clock a time of 10.20 to take second place and progress to the final as an automatic qualifier.
Olatunde’s stunning performance follows Ciara Mageean’s brilliant run to see her through to the final of the women’s 1,500m while teenage sensation Rhasidat Adeleke has also progressed to the 400m final.
Another superb top 10 finish for Brian Fay at a major European Championships with his trademark fast finish 🇮🇪🤩
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 16, 2022
Darragh McElhinney with a real show of ambition which took it's toll 👏
5,000m:
⏱️Fay 8th in 13.31.87
⏱️McElhinney 16th in 13:39.11
Result: https://t.co/AXDPUpCfYJ pic.twitter.com/sawez0q07h
Elsewhere, Ireland’s Brian Fay clocked a time of 13.31.87 to finish in eighth place in the men’s 5,000m, while Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen stormed to victory to defend his title. Darragh McElhinney was also in action for Ireland, coming home in 16th place in a time of 13:39.11.
'The Irish flag is draped around his shoulders, he's enjoying the moment' - Israel Olatunde reacts after a stunning performance and a new national record in the final of the European Championships #Munich2022 #rteasport pic.twitter.com/vmQPZw8Onc
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 16, 2022
“It’s amazing to be here in a European final… I’m just so grateful to be here,” a jubilant Olatunde told RTÉ after his heroics.
“I can’t believe it, this whole season has been such a blessing.
“I think just believing in myself and my faith [was key], believing in those people around me that’s got me to this point. It’s been a long journey to get here, I know I’m still young and have a long way to go but I’m just grateful for the journey I’ve been on to get to this point.
“I know this isn’t going to be the end.
“I had no idea I ran that fast, it was kind of a blur, I didn’t know what was going on, I just knew I crossed the line and was happy.”
'It's amazing to be here in a European final... I'm just so grateful to be here' - European finalist and new Irish record holder Israel Olatunde speaks to @DavidGillick after his stunning performance in Munich #rtesport #Munich2022 pic.twitter.com/6PxzriAKCE
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 16, 2022
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It’ll be good for Ireland if it does. Means more Irish players will be playing in the premier league.
He says, as he wipes his arse with a £100 note!
No it can’t.
It absolutely can – not right now – but if the money men keep backing
It, in perhaps 5-10
Years time. Lets be honest most of the top players in the prem right now (other than those from these isles) are there for money and to keep playing at a standard that will allow them to play internationally….. they dont have any more of a connection to West Ham/stoke than they do to shanghai – nor
Should they. They’re is no reason why more and more of them won’t go to china – as the wages get higher and higher. As they do the quality in the prem will slowly drop – more lads who now are only at championship level will have to be brought up to prem.
If the money stays in it for 5+ more years, the league could be very interesting – and begin to rival the prem for the Asian spend.
This assumes there aren’t rules in china about how many Chinese players have to play – if there are (and in a way to help Chinese football develop there should be), then the league will take a lot longer to get to top standard.
@Augustus hoop: as with everything, the money will go where the market is. And the market potential in China is exponentially bigger than England.
“These isles” because they have no interest in money lol
More because people from these isles seem less likely to be willing to go places that don’t speak English (some notable exceptions – Robbie, Sheridan, Roy o’donovan and o’dea)
@Augustus hoop: There are rules limiting non Chinese players. You can only have four foreigners plus one AFC player in your squad and each team can have only 3+1 foreigners on the pitch at any time. China currently sit bottom of their 6 team WC qualification group after 5 games and have already lost to Syria and Uzbekistan. So the native quality is severely lacking. The Chinese Super League are decades and decades off competing with even South American leagues in terms of overall quality.
It’s also never mentioned that it’s a one team league; Guangzhou have won the last 6 titles and despite Beijing running them close in 2014 and Shanghai pushing them in 2015, it was business as usual last year and they cruised to the title. Guangzhou also won two AFC champions leagues in the same period while no other Chinese team has even made the semi’ finals in the modern era. It remains to be seen if any other Chinese team can successfully balance their local and international recruitment.
Interesting – cheers.
But could he do it on a rainy night in Guangzhou?
This Chinese league is the same as the MLS in the 70′s. Making big claim and buying a handful of good player. It will eventually blow over.