Determined Donegal athlete pushes for Team Ireland’s second medal
A determined performance from Donegal’s Erin Friel resulted in a phenomenal bronze medal win in the Girls 400m, in a personal best time of 54.02. In a fast race won by Slovenia’s Ziva Remic, the Irish runner eased her way into the medals, marking her talent in the strong pool of Irish 400m runners. This brings the medal tally to two, after Ben Sykes won bronze in the Boys 100m yesterday.
Speaking after the race that Friel has been targeting all year, she said,
“I felt so relaxed the whole week build up to this. As I was saying yesterday, I was waiting for the nerves to hit me and they never did. And especially today, I think I was even less nervous. I was just so excited to get out there and run, which normally I would feel more nervous for a race at home than I have here. But I think the whole buildup to this and everything has just been so exciting and the training has been going on for so long and I knew myself. I had all the work done. My coach (Catherine McDevitt) had me so well prepared, so I knew I had nothing to be nervous about. I was going to come out here and it was going to be a fast race and I knew it was going to take a PB or match my PB to get up there and that’s what I did.”
Listen to the full interview here: here
The EYOF, which takes place in Skopje, North Macedonia, runs from 20 to 26 July 2025. Live coverage of the Games, including the Opening Ceremony, is available at https://eoctv.org/.
SCHEDULE DAY 2 – TUESDAY 22 JULY (NOTE TIMES COULD CHANGE DUE TO HEAT):
(All times are Irish times – North Macedonia is one hour ahead)
08:00 Badminton, Boys Singles, Luke Marks (IRL) V Georgi Ruptsov (BUL)
08:35 Athletics, Girls 400m Final, Erin Friel (TBC)
08:42 Swimming, Girls 400m Freestyle Heat 3, Julia Dziedzic (Lane 1)
08:55 Athletics, Girls 2000m SC Heat, Lucie Cawley
09:00 Cycling, Girls Time Trial, Emer Heverin, Aoife Craig, Katie Turner
09:05 Swimming, Boys 200m Butterfly Heat 1, Shea Mathers (Lane 1)
09:10 Swimming, Girls 200m Breastroke Heat 1, Anna Joyce (Lane 4)
09:35 Athletics, Girls 400m Hurdles Heat, Ellis McHugh
11:00 Cycling, Boys Time Trial, Tom Lane, Rian McCrystal, Caleb McGreevy
11:50 Table Tennis, Boys Singles, Peadar Sheridan (IRL) V Ughur Nazarli (AZE)
12:45 Gymnastics, Boys All Around, Chester Enriques, Robert Ward, Finlay Hazelton
13:00 Badminton, Boys Singles Group Play, Luke Marks (IRL) V Marko Surina (CRO)
15:30 Badminton, Girls Singles Group Play, Hannah Shochan (IRL) V Abiramy Kokilan (NOR)
17:30 Badminton, Boys Singles Group Play, Luke Marks (IRL) V Jakub Dulemba (POL)
18:20 Basketball, Girls 3×3 Group C Match 11, Ireland V Netherlands
19:30 Badminton, Girls Singles Group Play, Hannah Shochan (IRL) V Daria Gherasim (ROU)
TBC Basketball, Girls 3×3 Group C Match 4, Ireland V Romania