Disappointment for Power and Travers in Poland
By Daire Walsh
THERE was disappointment for Templeogue’s Nadia Power at Toruń in Poland on Saturday evening as she finished fourth in the semi-final of the women’s 800 metres at the European Indoor Championships.
With just two athletes in each of the three races advancing to Sunday’s final, this was unfortunately the end of the road for the Dublin City Harriers AC star.
Despite finding herself in pole position at the beginning of the final lap, Power finished behind Angelika Cichocka (Poland), Ellie Baker (Great Britain) and Sara Kuivisto (Finland) in a time of 2:04.04.
Power had booked her place in the semi-final with a strong run on Friday afternoon.
In Heat Five, she clocked a time of 2:03.16 to finish in second spot behind Anna Wielgosz of Poland.
Although she had her sights set on a 800m final spot, it has nevertheless been a year of progress for Power. Since the beginning of 2021, she has twice shattered the 800 metre Irish indoor record and recently claimed third at the World Indoor Tour – also held in Toruń.
That run of 2:00.98 makes her a virtual certainty for the Tokyo Olympics – should it go ahead as scheduled – and producing a strong showing in the Japanese capital remains her principle ambition for the year.
Meanwhile, there was frustration for Drimnagh native John Travers in the men’s 3,000 metres competition.
Despite lapping in fourth place for much of his heat, the Donore Harriers athlete ultimately finished eighth in a time of 8:05.96, which wasn’t enough to help him advance.