Reale joins lengthy list

Athletics News: Ireland's lengthy list of qualifiers for the European Championships in Gothenburg has been expanded further after Liam Reale's impressive run over 1,500 metres. The Limerick athlete, currently based in the US, clocked three minutes 38.65 seconds when finishing second at the Boston High Performance meeting, a time which easily beats the 3:41.0 necessary to get him to Gothenburg in just over two months time.

Reale becomes the 16th Irish athlete to qualify for the men's events, and with another 18 already qualified on the women's side, Ireland will easily be sending its biggest team in the history of the championships. It was a timely breakthrough for the 23-year-old, who has spent the last four years attending Providence College, where he is still coached by Ray Treacy - brother of John, the Olympic silver medallist.

It was over three seconds quicker than Reale's previous best of 3:42.33, and also moves him to 18th on the Irish all-time list, a time roughly equivalent to 3:56 for the mile. It's also the fastest outdoor Irish time of the season, and notably quicker than the 3:43.06 that James Nolan ran when finishing ninth in Hengelo in Holland on Sunday - although he's expected to run a lot better in Oslo this Friday.

With several more Irish athletes expected to qualify for Gothenburg, the final team is likely to number over 40. Among those certain to qualify in the coming weeks is Alistair Cragg, who is set to run his first 5,000 metres of the season in New York this weekend.