European Youth Olympic Festival
(EYOF) Belgrade, July 2007
Niamh Whelan, the 17 year old from
Waterford City's Ferrybank Athletic Club, sensationally won a bronze
medal today (Tuesday) at the European Youth Olympics in Belgrade.
This is by far and away the best performance by any Ferrybank AC
athlete in its history and it is heartening to see the effort put in
by athletes and coaches being rewarded in the most competitive of
environments.
Niamh opened yesterday with a win in
her heat (11.93) and later in the day finished second (12.11) behind
Elza Vildanova (11.92) of Russia to enter the final as the 4th
fastest qualifier. In the final she ran a personal best time of
11.87 to secure the bronze behind Vildanova (11.68) and Torema
Dorsett of GB (11.69) and ahead of Akinyemi of Norway
(11.91).
Niamh competes on Wednesday in the 200
meters along with clubmate Chris Russell who despite being the 5th
fastest semi finalist was eliminated at that stage although his
10.75 sec in the opening round will be of consolation to
him.