Nick Griggs produced a stunning performance to cap a historic day for Ireland at the European Cross Country Championships in Lagoa, Portugal on Sunday \u2013 the Tyrone athlete powering to victory in the men\u2019s U-23 race and leading his nation to team gold.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the Irish senior men\u2019s team claimed its first medal at the event for 25 years \u2013 a superb silver, led by Jack O\u2019Leary in fifth \u2013 and 16-year-old Emma Hickey announced her vast potential with a brilliant bronze in the women\u2019s U-20 race.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unreal,\u201d said Griggs. \u201cI haven\u2019t cried in a long time but there\u2019s been a few tears shed. I can\u2019t describe it. I\u2019ve wanted this for so long and for it to come together, it\u2019s so special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four days shy of his 21st birthday, Griggs has now amassed an astonishing eight medals at the European Cross Country but before this he had never previously won an individual gold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been dreaming of it for a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cI was a nearly man at these champs, but finally I\u2019m going to be at the top of the podium.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f\u201cI haven\u2019t cried in a long time but there\u2019s been a few tears shed already\u201d<\/p>\n
The Men\u2019s U23 team reflect on their historic run to claim the team title! \ud83e\udd47#irishathletics<\/a> #EuroCross<\/a> #Lagoa2025<\/a> @Ask123ie<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Y5BCzY2ktv<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n His performance was an utterly dominant one, Griggs quietly coasting into contention on the first of four laps in the 5960m race and changing gears in devastating fashion to power clear on the final lap. He put huge daylight between himself and the field in the closing kilometre and hit the line in 17:47, 12 seconds clear of Aur\u00e9lien Radja (17:59) of France, whose teammate Pierre Boudy took bronze in 18:03.<\/p>\n Griggs was backed up by training partner Callum Morgan in eighth, with Niall Murphy rounding out the Irish team scoring in 10th. That handed Ireland a comfortable team victory with just 19 points, with France second (33) and Spain third (43).<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just so proud of myself and the lads beside me,\u201d said Griggs. \u201cI train with two of them, two of my best mates. It\u2019s an unbelievable group of lads. They all put it together on the day and I\u2019m just so proud that we managed to come home with a historic double gold for Ireland.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0Morgan also had the race of his life back in eighth. \u201cIn my mind there was no doubt that Nick was going to win gold,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was just about us backing him up as a team.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In the senior men\u2019s race, Mullingar\u2019s Jack O\u2019Leary \u2013 nephew of Ryanair CEO Michael O\u2019Leary \u2013 also turned in a career-best performance to finish fifth, clocking 22:25. Gold went to Thierry Ndikumwenayo in 22:05, the Spaniard outkicking world 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier of France in a close finish.<\/p>\n Fay was the second Irishman home in 10th, equalling his previous position from 2021, while Cormac Dalton was just behind in 11th. In a remarkable show of depth, all five Irishmen cracked the top-20, with Darragh McElhinney 16th and Efrem Gidey 19th. That left Ireland with 26 points, with Spain taking victory with 16 and France third with 37.<\/p>\n \u201cWatching the U-23 lads was really inspirational,\u201d said O\u2019Leary. \u201cAll of us on the start line were absolutely raring to go. We had to just conserve the first bit as it was a very hard course and then just come through. It\u2019s great to be back on the podium and please God, we\u2019re going to stay up there for a very long time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f\u201cIt\u2019s an unbelievable result especially for Jack to come 5th in that field\u201d<\/p>\n The senior men react to Ireland first senior men\u2019s medal in 25 years! \ud83e\udd48#irishatletics<\/a> #EuroCross<\/a> #Lagoa2025<\/a> @Ask123ie<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/V1vrnim8RY<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) December 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Fay said the medal was \u201clong overdue\u201d and it was \u201conly upwards\u201d for Irish distance running, while Dalton said: \u201cIf I don\u2019t do much else in my career, it\u2019s pretty special to get a major championship medal. It means the world and for all the lads who contributed to this team over the years, all the lads coming through, for all our family and friends, it\u2019s class.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, Emma Hickey turned in a magnificent performance to win bronze in the U-20 women\u2019s race. The 16-year-old was among the youngest athletes at the championships, the Wexford native underage for this category for the next three years, but she turned in a run far beyond her years, hitting the line in 15:10 for the 4450m distance to win Ireland\u2019s first ever medal in that race.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting it at all,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted to do well but I didn\u2019t think it\u2019d be possible (to win a medal) because I\u2019m only 16. I didn\u2019t know if I\u2019d be able to hold it the whole time, but I managed to keep it [going]. It\u2019s my first proper season and it\u2019s great to finish it off like this, and hopefully I can go into next season even better and improve my times again.\u201d British star Innes Fitzgerald proved a class apart, hitting the line in 14:35, a whopping 32 seconds clear of runner-up Lucie Paturel of France. Ireland\u2019s Anna Gardiner turned in a fine performance to finish sixth in 15:17.<\/p>\n There was disappointment for the Irish in the mixed relay as their formidable quartet of Eimear Maher, Cian McPhillips, Laura Nicholson and Andrew Coscoran came home sixth, clocking 17:22 in a race won by Italy (17:12) ahead of Portugal (17:16) and Britain (17:17).<\/p>\n The Irish were firmly in medal contention up to halfway but a botched second exchange proved costly, McPhillips crashing into Nicholson while handing over the wristband, the Bandon woman crashing to the ground and losing a few seconds. Coscoran was simply left with too much to do on the anchor leg to get back in the medal hunt.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f\u201cAs long as my training translated into my race I was going to be happy\u201d<\/p>\n An unbelievable 10th place finish for Fiona Everard im the Senior Women\u2019s race! \ud83e\udd29#irishathletics<\/a> #EuroCross<\/a> #Lagoa2025<\/a>@Ask123ie<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/q1HuJVz2rH<\/a><\/p>\n