Dec 09,2024
Nick Griggs raced down the home straight into second place to secure a silver medal at the Under-23 SPAR European Cross Country Championships 2024 at Dokuma Park in Antalya, Turkey.
The County Tyrone middle-distance athlete kept himself prominently placed throughout the race, and found himself in a battle for the medals in the latter stages, going toe-to-toe with reigning champion Will Barnicote and fellow British runner David Stone.
Griggs momentarily appeared to be struggling to keep with the British pair as the final 300m stretch came into view, however, the two-time Under-20 medallist kicked into gear and powered past Stone.
Barnicoat, however, had too much in the tank to be caught and while Griggs pushed him to the line, he had to settle for a solid silver finishing just one second behind the back-to-back gold medallist.
Speaking after the race, Griggs said: "Everyone wants to go out and win gold. I'm the nearly-man at these championships with two silvers and one bronze individually in the last three years, but I’m happy and I think it’s something I’ll appreciate as I get older."
Griggs continued: "I love these championships and it’s a special one for me. I always like to step up and perform at my best when I have the Irish vest on. I knew it was a long home straight and not to make any moves too early, but the best man won on the day and one of these years I will win at these championships."
Griggs, who missed out on this year's U20 grade by just two weeks, will enjoy two more years running at U23. Today’s performance continued a remarkable period for Ireland at European Cross Country, making it the fifth consecutive medal-winning- championship since Lisbon in 2019.
Nick Griggs powers home with an incredible performance to take silver medal at the Under-23 SPAR European Cross Country Championships 2024 in Turkey.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) December 8, 2024
Watch live: https://t.co/8r55LhgRBk pic.twitter.com/qzUgprslWW
The senior races were witness to another remarkable run from Niamh Allen who finished 11th on her European Cross Country debut, three months on from giving birth to her daughter Lily.
She led home a senior women's team who finished 10th overall with Cheryl Nolan the second Irish athlete across the finish in 57th, followed shortly after by national champion Ann-Marie McGlynn in 62nd. Nadia Battocletti took gold.
Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen secured his third European championships gold medal in the men's senior race. Cormac Dalton was the best of the Irish, finishing 21st.
