Candour Track Club’s Nick Griggs won a silver medal in the 3,000m at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Jerusalem.
Griggs clocked 8:45.69 in a brave defence of the 3,000m title he won two years ago.
The Tyrone native took the bell well positioned before unleashing a run for home with 300m to go. Swede Jonathan Grahn was the only athlete to stay on Griggs’ and both athletes rounded the final bend side by side. The Swede managed to pass the defending champion in the final 80 metres to cross in a winning time of 8:44.67. Briton Bradley Giblin claimed the bronze medal in 8:47.26.
Speaking after his silver medal win, Griggs said:
“This was driving me all season, to come here and defend my title, so I’m disappointed. I’ll take some time to reflect, and I’ll head to Budapest in ten days which I’m really excited about. I’ll go out there and give it a go, there’s no pressure on me so I can just go out and see what happens”.
Grigg will represent Ireland at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Budapest over 1500m.
