DARRAGH McElhinney showed his class once more with a record-breaking performance at World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen.

The Bantry AC athlete smashed the Irish 5km record with a superb 13:22 to finish 16th in the men’s race.

McElhinney bettered the 13:26 set by Alistair Cragg in 2012, while also improving significantly on his own previous best of 13:33 from 2025.

The Glengarriff man’s performance came in a high-quality men’s 5km race won by Eritrea’s Dawit Seare in a national record of 12:56.

 ‘The national record of 13:26 was one of the main aims for me today. It was a little bit difficult as it was really windy out there and I think that affected all the times,’ McElhinney explained.

‘I probably had to race a little more conservatively than I would have liked, but I think I was pretty much running 2:40s the whole way.

‘With the wind in the first two-and-a-half kilometres, you were expending quite a lot of energy without having a lot to show for it on the clock, but I’m really proud of how I ran. I ran well, I was in decent company there, it was probably my best run of the summer. I was happy to finish the season on a high note.’

Brian Fay (Raheny Shamrock AC) was the second of the Irish pair home, crossing the finish line in 13:48, in 38th position.

Bandon AC’s Laura Nicholson and Sarah Healy were both in action in the women’s mile earlier in the day. Healy (UCD AC) led the Irish challenge in the opening race of the championships, finishing 13th in 4:32.98. Nicholson crossed in 4:36.64 to finish 21st. France’s Agathe Guillemot claimed the world title with a world-leading performance of 4:22.74.