Men’s 1500m Round 1 (Heat 1) – 01:27 – Andrew Coscoran

At just before 09:30 in a wet, rainy Tokyo, Coscoran lined up to take part in a fast competitive 1500m heat.

The Irishman came into this race ranked 40th in the world for this event. He had high hopes of qualifying for the semi-final but faced a star studded line-up.

He would need to challenge with the world number two, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and number four, Kenya’s Ronald Musagala. The top six finishers would qualify automatically and the next six fastest from the three heats.

Coscoran started his race fast and sat in seventh after the first lap, tucking into the inside lane. He is considered to run courageously with all his heart.

With 800m left he was in the middle of the pack. The 25-year-old has a very strong finish and as he heard to bell for the final lap, he produced a quick turn of pace.

In the final 100m he managed to overtake three more athletes and he finished the race in eighth. Although he was outside the outside automatic qualification but scored a very good time.

Team GB’s Jake Heyward finished the race in first while Ethiopa’s Teddese Lemi narrowly getting second.

Even though he was two seconds off his season best, the conditions proved tricky with three athletes not finishing the race.

Coscoran will now run in the semi-final on the morning of Wednesday, 5th August.

#Athletics

Andrew Coscoran…has done it!!!

His time of 3:37.11 in 8th place is good enough for a time qualifier spot – on to the Semi-finals!#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/cJdhleOXhE

— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 3, 2021

Women’s 400m Round 1 (Heat 5) – 02:17 – Phil Healy

Less than an hour later and Phil Healy was at the starting line of her third event of the Olympics. She previously ran in the 4x400m mixed relay final and got a personal best in the 200m heats.

The track had dried up slightly as she prepared herself for what is one of her strongest events. She was ranked at 41st in the world before the start which put her as the fourth favourite.

The world number three, Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson was also in lane two.

Only the top three fastest in each race plus the six fastest of the six heats would qualify for the semi-finals tomorrow.

Healy started the race strong but started to look tired, this would be understandable as it was her fourth race of the week.

In the final 150m she pulled an amazing amount of energy out of nowhere to push into fourth place in a time of 51.98 seconds.

With one heat left to go the West Cork woman was in a the qualification places but it would come down to the wire. In the most dramatic fashion, Cyrus’ Eleni Artymata beat out Healy by seven one hundredths of a second in the final heat to take her place.

This is the second time in as many days that Healy has missed out on a semi-final by less than half a second but she remained in high spirits.

This is the end of her Olympic journey but she has made Irish history at this Games as well as her country proud.

#Athletics

Phil Healy finishes heat five of the Women’s 400m in a time of 51:98, missing the semi by 0.07 sec, and one spot.

Her first #Olympics and she qualified for the Games in three events #Paris2024 is just around the corner.#TeamIreland #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/ktBeFA2fAU

— Team Ireland (@TeamIreland) August 3, 2021

The post Olympic Athletics: Coscoran qualifies for semi, Healy loses out by 0.07 sec appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

An impressive finish brought the Irishman up to fourth in heat three and granted him a time of 49.02, behind only Norway’s Karsten Warholm – the athlete expected to win the heat.

The top four spots granted athletes automatic qualification into the semi-finals with Barr among them and guaranteed a decent starting spot in the race.

The Rio Olympics fourth placer qualified 11th-fastest in the heats on what is seen as a quick track but his second-place finish is the one that matters as they grant starting positions based on the latter.

The Irishman’s time bodes well for him as he looks set to fall into the pattern of progression throughout each round at previous championships.

His times from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Berlin 2018 showcase increased speed after every race.

The 29-year-old began Rio 2016 with a time of 48.93 and shaved almost a second of it by the time he crossed the line in the final race to take fourth – he ran a personal best of 47.97.

Berlin 2018 also followed a similar pattern, with his semi-final time being identical to his time in Rio – 48.39.

Earlier, three other Team Ireland athletes took the track – Nadia Power, Louise Shanahan and Siofra Cleirigh-Butler all finished seventh in their heats in their respective events.

Power ran the Women’s 800m in heat two in a time of 2:03.04 with Shanahan getting over the line half a second slower in the succeeding heat.

Cleirigh-Butler was a second behind the pair after her run in heat four, crossing the line after 2:04.62.

All the athletes ran in very humid conditions at the new Olympic Stadium, built on the same site as the old 1964 Olympic Stadium.

The Men’s 400m Hurdles semi-finals will take place on Sunday, August 1st with the first of three starting at the later time of 1:05 pm.

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