IN TERMS of a first major international championship, this hasn’t been a bad one for Caoimhe Flannery.
The 18-year-old Castlehaven starlet came 13th in the 3,000m steeplechase at the European Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, over the weekend.
Fellow Irish runner Derbhla Allen finished 11th in the same event.
The Skibbereen Community School student qualified for the final after finishing with a personal best time of 10:30.33 in the heats, finishing ninth.
Reaching the final itself marked a personal milestone for the West Cork young gun as she finished with a time of 10:43.73.
‘I can’t quite believe it because my heat was so stacked,’ Flannery told Athlet
‘It’s so hard to know how many would come from each heat as the fastest qualifiers. So, I said I’d just give it my best and see what happened,
‘It’s a great bonus. To get a PB as well, I’m just so happy. I think I really executed my race plan how I wanted to because I have a habit of going out a bit too fast sometimes. I paced it a bit more evenly and I’m delighted with that.’
Caoimhe Flannery would have looked upon the European Athletics U20 Championships as an ideal learning experience and what it is like to compete on the international stage.
Not only did Flannery learn valuable lessons but performed admirably too. Her delight was evident when coming off the track.
‘I definitely found the early pace a little bit tough,’ Flannery said.
‘I just told myself to hang in there and hopefully a couple of the girls would drop of. That’s kind of what happened with the Spanish girl. I stuck with her and found myself going past her.
‘I decided once I was past her, I just had to go for it because I came in with the slowest ranked time. My goal was to beat one person at least. I did that, so I’m happy,’ Flannery said.
Here’s hoping Caoimhe Flannery can take this form and build on it over the coming years.
