Irish runner McElhinney out of European Indoors following Covid positive
Cork’s McElhinney was due to compete in the men’s 3000m in Poland. By Niall Kelly Wednesday 3 Mar 2021, 2:56 PM Mar 3rd 2021, 2:56 PM 3,840 Views 3 Comments
Disappointment: Darragh McElhinney will not compete in Poland this week (file photo).
Image: Bryan Keane/INPHO
Image: Bryan Keane/INPHO
IRISH RUNNER DARRAGH McElhinney has been ruled out of the European Indoor Championships after testing positive for Covid-19.
The Glengarriff youngster was slated to compete in the men’s 3000m which gets underway in Torun, Poland on Saturday morning.
“Unfortunately I’ve had to withdraw from the European Championships after getting a ‘weak positive’ Covid test,” McElhinney confirmed on Twitter on Wednesday.
Sport Journalist
Ireland s largest ever team for a major indoor championship will travel to Poland next week for the European Indoors, with 2019 medallists Mark English and Ciara Mageean carrying some of the best hopes of a medal among the 24-strong squad.
English is currently ranked seventh in Europe over 800 metres but he will bring vast experience to the task of potentially racing three-hard races in three days.
It s a refined skill to reach a six-man final in such a condensed schedule but his European Indoor medals from 2015 and 2019 are proof of his expertise in gauging how to put himself in position to challenge for a position on the rostrum.