Mark Smyth continued the trend of success for Irish athletes at the European Athletics Championships by progressing to the semi-finals of the 200m on Sunday morning.
The 25-year-old finished fourth in his heat and qualified as one of the 12 fastest runners overall to progress to the semi-finals later tonight.
It was a solid performance for Smyth, who was thrilled to set a season best time of 20.93 in his heat.
Immediately after his race, however, he would criticise European Athletics for the convoluted format of the 200m event.
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Mark Smyth criticises 200m qualification format
European Athletics has made a change to the 200m event for these championships. In past iterations, the top three from each round one heat would have progressed to the semi-finals, along with the next three fastest runners from across all heats.
However, for the 2024 event, the criteria has changed to see the 12 fastest overall times progressing to the semi-finals. They are then joined by the 12 highest ranked runner in the event, who received a bye for the first round of heats.
The change means that athletes now must treat their round one heats like flat-out races, rather than pacing themselves against the field of their respective heats.
Speaking to RTÉ's David Gillick after his heat on Sunday morning, Mark Smyth addressed the change, which has made each heat run like a 'final,' in the words of Gillick.
'It's a bit of gimmick to be honest. European Athletics are one step away from adding a golden snitch to this event' - Mark Smyth qualifies for the semi-finals after running a season's best in the 200m though criticises the qualification criteria #Roma2024 #IrishAthletics pic.twitter.com/K5LSVdF5hS
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 9, 2024
Smyth was not a fan of the change, suggesting that the organisers were unnecessarily meddling with the format. He would even make a tongue-in-cheek reference to the rules of Quidditch in Harry Potter to drive his point home.
It's a bit of a gimmick to be honest. I think European Athletics are one step away from adding a golden snitch to this event.
It's a bit ridiculous, slightly unfair.
We've got to do what we've got to do. They're just the circumstances, that's just championship running. We've got to put the foot down and see what we can do.
Despite his frustration with the format, it was an excellent run from Mark Smyth, especially given the difficult circumstances of his placement for the heat.
Smyth lined up in lane three, with the tightest curve of any runner in his heat. A late withdrawal for the runner in lane four also made things trickier for Smyth, with the Irishman telling Gillick that he was almost running blind.
I was really hoping the guy in lane four was going to be there but he pulled out. I was hoping that I could hold on to him.
I was kind of running solo out there in lane three. Tight and difficult. It probably won't be much easier now in the semis!
I was happy.
Mark Smyth will run in the 200m semi-finals on Sunday night. The 24 runners will be split into three separate races, with the semis getting underway at 8:39pm Irish time, live on RTÉ 2.
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