Erin lands brave 1500m bronze at Euro U23s – with Sarah fifth in steeplechase

Sunday 11th July 2021

Erin with her bronze medal in Tallinn (photo by Sarah Tait)

Tallinn’s Kadriorg Stadium in Estonia was the backdrop for the European U23 Champs – with five Scots involved in the GB and NI team.

And it proved a memorable location in the journey of emerging endurance athlete, Erin Wallace, as she landed a hard-earned bronze medal in an exciting Women’s 1500m final.

Erin had to lunge for the line in the final metres to cross in 4:14.85 and take third place by just two hundredths of second from Spaniard Agueda Munoz behind an Italian 1-2 led by Gaia Sabbatini.

It underlines the progress of Giffnock North AC athlete Erin and adds to the gold she won as a Team Scotland athlete at the Commonwealth Youth Games a number of years ago as well as Junior Triathlon success.

Well done to Erin, her family and coach Andy Young.

‘I thought I am not going to make it if I don’t throw myself at the line so that’s what I did and I am glad I did,’ said Erin.

‘It was worth it for the medal. I think I ran the race well although the last lap really hurt but I am so glad I made the podium. I saw a wee space at 200m so took my chance and then pushed on to the line.’

Erin secures bronze ?

A close finish but @erinwallace___ powers on and lunges forward to take third place with a time of 4:14.85 in the 1500m Final at #Tallinn2021 ?pic.twitter.com/njLlhCscsi

— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) July 11, 2021

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Sarah Tait finished fifth in the Women’s 300m steeplechase with two strong performances in three days.

The conditions were tough for the Saturday afternoon final, with temperatures touching 30 degrees in Estonia.

Nonetheless, Sarah ran a very strong race as she stayed with the main group of eight athletes before managing to push on for fifth over the last couple of laps with a run of 10.04.53.

That performance followed a controlled run in the heats where she made sure she claimed the fifth automatic place in the opening race, to leave nothing to chance (10:06.71). Sarah’s GB team-mate, Elise Thorner, was eighth in the final.

Sarah Tait and Erin Wallace in Estonia (with thanks to Sarah for the photo)

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Sprinters Georgina Adam and Alisha Rees both made it through their opening heats in the 200m and 100m respectively.

But they befell the same fate in similar circumstances in the semi-finals as both went close to places in the final – Georgina clocked 23.57 for third in her semi-final and Alisha was at 11.57 for fourth (in a photo) in her second race.

Georgina and Alisha were also involved in the Women’s 4x100m team who looked good in their heats as they progressed to the final but sadly that delivered a DNF situation – as Alisha suffered a hamstring injury during her leg.

It was such a shame for the Scot and the GB and NI quartet when a podium place had looked a real possibility.

David Melville had a tough time in his 10,000m final and came home in 19^th place in 31:11.42.