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Cathal Doyle produced a clinical performance to advance to the semi-finals of the Men’s 1500m on day eight of these Olympic Games in Paris. The 26-year-old Dubliner demonstrated all his tactical nous to stride clear to victory in his repechage of the event in a time of 3:34.92.
The Clonliffe Harriers clubman was delighted when speaking after the race, “This was the goal of my championships; every round was an Olympic final for me, so I treated like any race today and ran it like I’ve done all season. I proved that yesterday was only a bit of an off day due to nerves and inexperience, I feel much better now.
“I did the basics there like I’ve been doing all season. I was at the business end when the race started to get going and I put myself in a good position. In that last 100m I felt that I had more gears, so I’m really excited for tomorrow.”
Luke McCann finished seventh in the same race, running 3:36.50, and with only the top three advancing failed to qualify. Andrew Coscoran came home in 12th position in a time of 3:39.45, but did not progress.
Coscoran said, “I’m devastated. Last time I came to the Olympics I made a semi-final so it seems like I’ve taken a step backwards. The lead up wasn’t perfect I had a couple of things that were out of my control; injuries and sickness. I usually run better when I put the Irish vest on and unfortunately here, I just couldn’t perform.”
Cathal Doyle will return to the track tomorrow night for the 1500m semi-finals knowing it will take the race of his life to advance to an Olympic final.
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