Nick Griggs placed second and captured a silver medal at the Under-23 SPAR European Cross Country Championships 2024 at Dokuma Park in Antalya, Turkey.
The County Tyrone middle-distance athlete kept himself highly placed throughout the race. He fought for the medals in the latter stages, going toe-to-toe with reigning champion Will Barnicote and fellow British runner David Stone.
Griggs temporarily struggled to keep up with the British duo as the final 300m stretch appeared. However, the two-time Under-20 medallist kicked into fifth gear and powered past Stone.
Nick Griggs powers home with an incredible performance to take silver medal at the Under-23 SPAR European Cross Country Championships 2024 in Turkey.
Watch live: https://t.co/8r55LhgRBk pic.twitter.com/qzUgprslWW— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) December 8, 2024
However, a gold medal was out of sight as a Barnicote had too much in the tank to be caught. While Griggs pushed him to the line, he had to settle for solid silver, finishing just one second behind the back-to-back winner of this event.
The individual silver tops off another remarkable year for Griggs, who trains under the guidance of Mark Kirk in Belfast. In July, he broke the Irish U-23 records by over 1500m (3:35.04), 3000m (7:36.59), and 5000m (13:13.07).
Speaking to Athletics Weekly, Griggs was slightly deflated by the result but took some positives from the race.
“Yeah, I’m happy, to be honest,” Griggs said.
“The aim was always to come out and get the win, but I’ve been a nearly man twice now,
Everyone wants to go out and win gold. I’m the nearly-man at these championships, having won two silvers and one bronze individually in the last three years, but I’m happy, and I think it’s something I’ll appreciate as I get older.
Griggs continued: “I love these championships, which are special to me. I always like to step up and perform at my best when I have the Irish vest on. I knew it was a long home straight and not to make any moves too early, but the best man won on the day, and one of these years, I will win these championships.”
🇮🇪 Nick Griggs of Ireland describes himself as the "nearly man again" after finishing runner-up to Will Barnicoat in the under-23 men's race at the European Cross Country Champs in Antalya.
"Still, I'm happy with that as I ran my best. I can't ask for much more."
🎥 Jasmine… pic.twitter.com/7QPoDFyG8J— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) December 8, 2024
In other events, Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen secured his third European championship gold medal in the men's senior race. Cormac Dalton was the best of the Irish, finishing 21st.
Nadia Battocletti took gold in the women's senior race, and it was a very creditable 11th-place finish for the best Irish contingent in Turkey via Niamh Allen.
