European Youth Olympic Festival 2019 (22nd to 26th July)
Oisin Lane just misses European honours
It was a very warm 27degC with humidity over 70% at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday evening 22nd July, making the 10,000m race walk a real test of endurance. At 6k, Oisin Lane was in the silver medal position but because he was given a third red card, he was stopped for a one minute time penalty. Normally with three red cards a race walker is disqualified but at this level the competitors are stopped for one minute, as the final warning before disqualification. When he resumed, Oisin was in fourth place and with his rhythm broken just couldn’t get back on terms and he finished in fourth place, just thirteen seconds off a medal. For Oisin to get one red card is rare enough, so to get three is unheard of and he would be right to question the justification behind the third card, which cost him a medal, but in his post-race interview he was very stoic about it and displayed a maturity beyond his years when discussing the race and the dubious decision. Well done to Oisin anyway on competing so well and accepting defeat with such grace, a credit to himself and coach Michael Lane.
Two days later, on a very hot and humid Wednesday morning 24th July, conditions much more to the liking of sprinters, Charles Okafor made his International debut, in the 200m. Charles was a year younger than most of the others and is still relatively new to the sport, certainly at this level, so the huge step up for him was too much this time though he still competed well but didn’t advance from the extremely competitive heats to the final. Two days later, on Friday evening 26th July, Charles made up for any disappointment in the 200m with a terrific run in the 200m leg of the medley relay (100m, 200m, 300m, 400m), helping Ireland win their heat in a new National record and qualify for the final. Unfortunately, Charles sustained a foot injury in the changeover to the 300m runner and he was unable to run in Saturday morning’s final, which was naturally a huge disappointment but it was the right decision not to run and he will be out of action for several weeks. Everyone at the Club wishes Charles a speedy recovery.
For Oisin and Charles, they will hold special memories of competing in Baku and the experience gained is sure to spur them on to even greater things. Now that Charles has run for Ireland, his name will be added to the International Roll of Honour in the Clubhouse.
