McGrath edged out of European final spot

It was a classic case of so near yet so for Kevin McGrath who narrowly missed out on a place in the final of the 800m at the European u-23 Championships in Estonia on Friday.

Like many of his counterparts who lined up to take part in heat three of the event getting to the starting blocks for the race was the culmination of years of toil and effort for the Bohermeen AC runner. The achievement of making the championships a kind of victory in its own right.

McGrath's race proved to be the mostly keenly fought of the heats as the rules stated only the first two over the line would qualify for the final and only the first two fastest losers overall. Those rules ensured competition would be fierce in the hunt for the remaining final slots.

As it turned out the heat was won in a blanket finish by Djoao Lobles of the Netherlands with runners from Great Britain, Belgium, Slovakia, Italy, Spain and Turkey taking up the next six positions.

McGrath turned out to be the ninth fastest from the three heats but unfortunately for him only the top eight progressed to the final. McGrath posted a time of 1.48.68 his second fastest 800m run in his career.

"Being back on the European stage is a fine reward for his efforts on the road back from many years of injury and hopefully this performance will be a stepping stone to greater days," commented Bohermeen AC's Stephen Ball.

"Despite his young age of 22 he is an old master on the international front having completed at the European Youth Olympics in 2015 where he won the 1,500m and reached the u-18 final of the 800m in 2014 and secured fourth place."