Darragh McElhinney broke his own Irish U23 3000m record in Italy on Tuesday night at the Italian International Meet in Nembro.
The 21-year-old from Glengarriff in Cork, who represents UCD Athletics Club, knocked over a second off his previous lifetime best which was set at the Cork City Sports last month in front of a large home crowd.
McElhinney produced an astounding 53 second last lap to win the race on Tuesday night clocking a time of 7.42.86, moving away from Italian athlete Ossama Meslek in the final metres.
🚨NATIONAL U23 RECORD🚨
Darragh McElhinney (UCD AC) has SMASHED his 3000m U23 National Record to 7:42.86 at tonights Italian International Meet💥
McElhinney previously set the record (7:44.01) while competing in his native Cork last month
🔗https://t.co/wcOLcvOHfp #RecordAlert pic.twitter.com/TJR8pwmDwG— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 2, 2022
McElhinney looked comfortable sitting in the leading pack for the majority of the race before timing his move to perfection to claim victory.
The full race can be watched here:
Darragh McElhinney having season of his life
It has been an astonishing season for the Cork man who continues to show why he is one of the sports most talented prospects in this country.
Back in May at the IFAM Meeting in Oordegem, Belgium, McElhinney ran a time of 13.17.17 for 5000m to break the Irish U23 record for the distance and move to seventh on the Irish senior All-Time list.
In June at the Irish Life Health National Senior Track and Field Championships in Santry the UCD student won the 5000m running a blistering last lap.
He has also had success this year over the shorter distance of 1500m running a new personal best of 3.37.72 in the event at a meet in Copenhagen, Denmark in June.
This season follows on from his extraordinary run at the European Cross Country Championships in Abbottstown last December where he won a silver medal in the U23 race, leading the Irish to a team gold, on a memorable day at the National Sports Campus.
McElhinney and his coach Emmett Dunleavy will now set their sights on the upcoming European Championships in Munich which begin later this month. Having ran the automatic qualifying standard, it is expected that McElhinney will run in the 5000m.
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