Sligo’s Chris O’Donnell and the Ireland 4×400 metres mixed relay team have missed out on a place in the Olympic final.
Ireland, who won gold at the European Championships earlier this year, were without Rhasidat Adeleke (who’s concentrating on the individual 400m), and finished fifth in their semi-final heat on Friday evening in 3:12.67 but it was just outside the eight fastest qualifying times.
North Sligo AC’s O’Donnell led out the team on the opening leg in an impressive 45.70 seconds. – but in a hot semi, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France and Nigeria finished ahead of them.
The United States were the fastest qualifiers for Saturday’s final, setting a new world record for the event in the first semi-final, in a sparkling time of 3:07.41.
The final of the mixed relay is scheduled for Saturday evening at 7:55pm.
