Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran has stormed to a bronze medal finish in 1500m European final on the penultimate day of action at the European Athletics Championships.
The Dubliner ran a brave race, finishing in a time of 3:36.24 to take home his first major outdoor medal.
“Hard work eventually pays off,” he told RTÉ Sport after the race. “You bide your time, you wait. I’m absolutely buzzing.
“It all just clicked on the day. My preparation was really good. I have to thank my team of pacers over the last while. I’ve been going through a bit of a tough time with things and all the lads have been out on the bikes with me, pacing me and really helping me.
“What a bronze medal for Andrew Coscoran!”
The Irish runner came from behind in the last 200m of the 1500m final to secure Ireland’s fourth medal of the week at the European Championships.
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“That’s a product of a lot of work over the years. A lot of strength work, a lot of speed work. It eventually paid off. That’s class.
“I’ve been working so hard for this for so long.”
It was an enthralling contest all the way through with shocks aplenty, as Coscoran slipped back to seventh spot at one point in the final lap.
However he found an extra gear to record a podium finish alongside Stefan Nillessen who took the gold and Samuel Pihlstrom who won silver.
“A lot of the time it can open up,” Coscoran said of his thoughts in the final 200m which saw him jump up the standings. “It’s a split second decision in the back straight whether to go up the inside or go around the outside and it opened up on the inside and I made a split second decision to go. It’s a risk. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but today it did. I’m sitting here with a bronze medal.”
That makes it four memorable medals for Ireland, with more finals still to come.