FLYING THE FLAG: Andrew Coscoran of Ireland celebrates with his bronze medal. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Green night in Birmingham. A second podium. Bronze to go with the earlier gold. Andrew Coscoran has added his name to this county’s decorated list of metric milers. He did so in sensational manner.
Just over 70 minutes after Kate O’Connor was crowned European heptathlon champion, Andrew Coscoran stormed to a brilliant and surprise 1,500m bronze.
Of his four previous European Championship final appearances – indoor and outdoor – the 30-year-old Balbriggan native had never managed better than sixth.
As the field bunched on the backstraight, and Coscoran boxed on the rail, he sat eighth. The leaders appeared to be moving on without him. It was impossible to see a medal materialising from this position.
He was seventh as the bunch spilled out onto the home straight. Somehow and from somewhere within the tiring madness, he found a gap and he hurtled through.
As Jake Hayward, Azeddine Habz, and World champion Isaac Nader went backwards, Coscoran grew and grew. He found something and he stayed going with it. Him and the Swede, Samuel Pihlström, were in lockstep. The finish line was their quickly departing bus home. They hurried in desperation.
The Netherlands’ Stefen Nillessen was out the gap for gold. He crossed in 3:35.70. Pihlström pipped the Irishman for silver. 3:36:16 as against 3:36.24. Coscoran covered the final 100m in 12.86.
The colour didn’t matter. The Dubliner was delirious. He soaked himself in the tricolour. He set off for the adulation of the thousands of Irish fans in the stand.
“This is the dream I have been working so hard for so long,” he said afterwards.
“That was unbelievable, that was so good. It is a long time coming. This is my third European outdoor final. I have been trying for a long time and eventually it has clicked, and I have managed to get into the medals.”
Last year, he raced four times over 5,000m. In 2026, he hasn’t once gone near that distance. Speed is his priority. Finishing speed, to be exact. He got his priorities perfectly right. Those greased wheels worked all the way down the finishing stretch.
“I have been working on the last 100m and trying to use that as my strength coming into these races. I knew if it was a bit more of a tactical race, whoever had a bit more in the chamber over the last 100m could potentially slip in the medals. That’s what I tried to do, and it has paid off.
“The 1,500m in Europe at the moment is so strong, so it is so hard. To come away with a medal here. I am absolutely chuffed. Race of my life. It has given me a new lease in the sport and we can kick on from here.”
A second medal of the night for Ireland. A fourth of these championships. That haul now equals the best ever European performance from two years ago in Rome.