Tyrone's Nick Griggs finishes eight despite losing shoe as Jackob Ingebrigtsen returns to winning form
Co Tyrone runner Nick Griggs managed to finish a solid eighth in the European 5000 metres championship in Birmingham despite losing a shoe a mile from the finish.
Running for the Republic of Ireland, the 21-year-old from Newmills finished in a time of 13:21.07, with Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen taking gold in 13:15.29.
Speaking after the race on Monday he told reporters: “I was in the stumble and someone clipped my shoe from the back and it came off. It would have been easy for me to drop out and give up, but I tried to keep fighting with the Irish vest on.
“Eighth with one shoe on is not too bad, but it’s frustrating because I’m thinking about what I could have done if I was ready to go with two or three laps remaining rather than that happening.
“No one is going to be happy coming eighth and losing a shoe, but it’s good progress and I know what I can do.”
Running for Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this month, Griggs recorded a finishing time of 13.25 for sixth position behind Kenya’s Matthew Kipsang who won in 13.23 in a tight finish.
It was an impressive performance for the former Mid Ulster Athletics Club member who was making his debut at the games.
Cookstown High School congratulated their former Head Boy.
“Competing against some of the best athletes in the Commonwealth, Nick produced the run of his season to finish 6th in the men’s 5,000m final, demonstrating the determination, resilience and talent that have become the hallmarks of his athletics career,” they said in a social media post.