Nick Griggs 'buzzing' for Euro silver after leaving everything on the course
MEDAL MAN: Ireland’s Nick Griggs celebrates winning a silver medal in Antalya. Pic: Morgan Treacy, Inpho
Nick Griggs has long been known as an athlete replete with immense courage, and bundles of class, but at Sunday’s European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkiye, the Tyrone teenager showed off another important trait: consistency.
His silver medal in the men’s U-23 race marked his third straight individual podium finish at these championships, and given he has two more years to come in this age category, it’s likely more will follow. As he put it shortly after the race: “One of these years I’ll win at these championships.”
Still, Griggs had no reason to feel down about his silver. He had given it his all, emptied the tank and found only one athlete too good. On a day when the Irish largely struggled to make an impact, he proved the exception, a talent of vast promise and seemingly limitless potential.
He launched himself into contention early in the race, keeping a close eye on the big contenders, many of whom were two to three years older. Heading out on the final lap Griggs had just two British athletes for company: Will Barnicoat, who beat him to the U-20 title two years ago, and David Stone.
Barnicoat, the reigning U-23 champion, made his move on the final bend and Griggs was initially left trailing back in third, but when he hit the jets soon after he swiftly moved up to second and closed on Barnicoat approaching the line. But in the end it wasn’t enough, Barnicoat clocking 18:27 with Griggs just one second behind and Stone a further three seconds back.
“I’m buzzing,” said Griggs.
“Everyone wants to go out and win gold and I’m the nearly man at these championships, but I’m not going to complain about silver. You have to appreciate it. I put the best race together on the day that I could. Up the home straight, I knew it was long and I saw both of them go for it and I said: ‘Let’s go. It doesn’t matter how long is left, just absolutely go for it.’ I left it all out there. The best man won on the day.”
A potential U-23 team medal for Ireland never materialised, with Niall Murphy 23rd and Callum Morgan 29th, the Irish finishing fourth with 54 points, 12 points behind bronze medallists Denmark.
“I’m a bit gutted for the boys,” said Griggs. “They gave it their all and we knew we had a shot to medal, we gave it our best performances but it just wasn’t enough for us today. I think we can definitely be back on the podium next year.”
The individual silver caps another remarkable year for Griggs, who trains under the guidance of Mark Kirk in Belfast. On the track over the summer he also broke Irish U-23 records over 1500m (3:35.04), 3000m (7:36.59) and 5000m (13:13.07).
Elsewhere, Niamh Allen turned in an outstanding performance to finish 11th in the senior women’s race, the Leevale AC athlete working through the field with impressive guile on her debut at the event.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all – to come 11th is amazing,” said Allen, who gave birth to her daughter Lily just over three months ago.
“The tactic was to go out conservatively, I said I’d sit in and try to move up the pack and it seemed to work, luckily.”
It was otherwise a poor showing from the Irish team, which finished 10th. Italy’s Nadia Battocletti was an impressive winner, beating Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen by 11 seconds.
Cormac Dalton was again the leading Irish finisher in the senior men’s race, the Mullingar athlete coming home 21st in 23:03, with Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen coasting to his third senior title in 22:16. Efrem Gidey finished 26th, while the Irish team finished eighth.
"It’s an OK performance given I haven’t had the easiest of years in terms of consistency,” said Dalton.
“I was hoping for a little bit more, but I’m not a million miles off.”
In the women’s U-23 race, Laura Mooney made a bold bid to win a medal but faded to seventh on the final lap, with Emma McEvoy 13th, the Irish fifth in the team event.
“There was a saying going through my head the whole way: if you think the price of winning is too high, wait until you get the bill from regret,” said Mooney.
“I was not letting that happen. I went out there and ran free.”
Anna Gardiner led the Irish in the women’s U-20 race, finishing 19th with teammate Lucy Foster 20th, the Irish team sixth. Lughaidh Mallon was the first Irish athlete home in the men’s U-20 race in 26th, with Noah Harris 28th and Jonas Stafford 29th, the team finishing ninth.
1. Niels LAROS NED 2. George COUTTIE GBR 3. Andreas FJELD HALVORSEN NOR
1. Norway 2. Netherlands 3. France
Lughaidh Mallon (UCD AC) 26th; Jonas Stafford (UCD AC) 28th; Noah Harris (Parnell AC) 29th; Cormac Dixon (Tallaght AC) 34th; Sean Quinn (DSD AC) 40th; Frank McGrath (Lagan Valley AC) 62nd
1. Innes FITZGERALD GBR 2. Jess BAILEY GBR 3. Sofia THØGERSEN DEN
1. Great Britain & NI 2. France 3. Italy
19th Anna Gardiner (East Down AC); 20th Lucy Foster (Willowfield Harriers); 32nd Annabell Morrison (Enniskillen RC); 52nd Caitlin Hughes (Swinford AC); 66th Avril Millerick (Youghal AC); 86th Eva Bartlett (Lagan Valley AC)
Individual Medals 1. Will BARNICOAT GBR 2. Nick Griggs IRL 3. David Stone GBR
1. Great Britain & NI 2. France 3. Denmark
2nd Nick Griggs (CNDR Track Club); 23rd Niall Murphy (Ennis Track AC); 29th Callum Morgan (CNDR Track Club); 37th Cathal O’Reilly (Kilkenny City Harriers); 49th Matthew Lavery (North Belfast Harriers); 63rd Paul Hartnett (East Cork AC)
1. Phoebe ANDERSON GBR 2. Maria FORERO ESP 3. Ilona MONONEN FIN
1. Great Britain & NI 2. Türkiye 3. Germany
7th Laura Mooney (Tullamore Harriers); 13th Emma McEvoy (DSD AC); 37th Ava O’Connor (Tullamore Harriers); 45th Lucy Holmes (West Waterford AC); 50th Roise Roberts (CNDR Track Club); 54th Amy Greene (Finn Valley AC)
1. Nadia BATTOCLETTI ITA 2. Konstanze KLOSTERHALFEN GER 3. Yasemin CAN TUR
1. Italy 2. Great Britain & NI 3. Belgium
11th Niamh Allen (Leevale AC); 57th Cheryl Nolan (St Abbans AC); 62nd Ann-Marie McGlynn (Letterkenny AC); 66th Mary Mulhare (Portlaoise AC); 73rd Fiona Everard (Bandon AC); 74th Danielle Donegan (Tullamore Harriers)
1. Jakob INGEBRIGTSEN NOR 2. Yemaneberhan CRIPPA ITA 3. Thierry NDIKUMWENAYO ESP
1. Spain 2. Belgium 3. Great Britain & NI
1st Cormac Dalton (Mullingar Harriers); 26th Efrem Gidey (Clonliffe Harriers); 41st Pierre Murchan (Dublin City Harriers); 53rd Keelan Kilrehill (Mov Valley AC); 54th William Fitzgerald (Craughwell AC); 63rd Sean Tobin (Clonmel AC)
