Smyth makes history and the semis

ATHLETICS:THESE CHAMPIONSHIPS may lack the big-time speed merchants such as Usain Bolt, but an unlikely substitute emerged here last night in the form of Derry sprinter Jason Smyth. He finished fourth in his 100-metre heat, in 10.43 seconds, to qualify for this evening's semi-finals – then promptly found himself in demand by practically every TV and radio crew on his way through the mixed zone.

The big deal, in case you haven’t heard, is that Smyth is the first Paralympic athlete to compete at a European Championships. Partially sighted due to the hereditary Stargardt’s disease, the 23-year-old is fast establishing himself as a world-class sprinter who happens to be a Paralympian, rather than the other way round.

In fact, Smyth also becomes the first Irish male sprinter to make the semi-finals of these championships, and he might not be too far off making the final.

“That’s what we wanted coming here, to make the semi-final,” said Smyth, handling his new-found fame with remarkable ease. “I had some injury problems recently, but a lot of credit has to go to my coach, Stephen Maguire.

“But I was here to perform. All this distraction didn’t stress me. The only real difference between here and the Paralympics is at the Paralympics I’m number one, expected to win. Here, the competition is so much harder that you get away with very little. You can’t slip up at all, because the quality of these guys will let you know about it.”

Smyth was up against some real quality. Winning his heat in 10.19 was the new great hope of sprinting, Christophe Lemaitre of France, who recently became the first white man to run 100m in under 10 seconds. Smyth has a best of 10.32, and if he matches that this evening could yet write another chapter in athletics history.

First up this evening, though, is David Gillick, who is looking to make some history of his own by becoming the first Irishman to make the European Championship 400m final. But not only does that suddenly look like the most competitive event at these championships, there’s no guarantee all the main contenders will even make that final.

“It’s going to be a dog-fight alright,” says Gillick, who at least looked relatively easy when making the three semi-finals. He should also progress from there to Friday’s final. That’s when things will get interesting. At least eight potential medallists emerged from yesterday’s heats, and Gillick wasn’t the most impressive.

He duly won heat three in 45.84, yet was only third-fastest qualifier overall. The Belgian Kevin Borlee (22) won the first heat in 45.71, Britain’s Michael Bingham won heat five in 45.49 – and perhaps the most impressive was the other Borlee twin, Jonathan, who won heat two in 45.91, with visible reserves.

Britain’s Martyn Rooney and the young Russian Vladimir Krasnov also looked pretty smooth, and the experienced Frenchman Leslie Djhone is sure to have a big say too.

In the meantime, Gillick did well in the semi-final draw, where only the top two from each race progress, plus the two fastest losers. Starting in lane six, his only real concern will be Bingham and the other Frenchman Teddy Venel, who qualified in 46.18.

But Gillick will want to win it to get himself a prime lane draw for the final.

“Today was about trying to conserve as much as possible,” he explained, “about getting the first one out of the way. I did what I needed to do. In the semi-finals you can’t wait around. You can’t look at anyone else. You’ve just got to put the blinkers on and off you go. It’s going to be tough, but we’ve a day off then before the final.”

It’s still a little too soon to say who will be the man to beat. Gillick probably has his suspicions, having kept one eye on the other heats.

Gordon Kennedy didn’t think he’d moved on from heat one, running 46.63 for sixth, but later realised he’d also made the semi-finals, progressing as one of the four fastest losers. He goes this evening in the third semi-final, drawn in lane one.

“I was saying to myself I’m feeling sexy, and I really did feel sexy at 200 metres,” he declared. “I pushed on, kept pumping. I gave myself the best possible chance.”

There was no such joy for 20-year-old Brian Gregan, who was eliminated from heat four when finishing fifth in 46.90. His mid-season hamstring injury clearly limited him.