Ciaran O’Lionaird produced a sprint finish in tactical men’s 1500m heat to secure qualification for the semi-final at the World Championships in Daegu.
The Corkman finished sixth in heat three in a time of 3:40.41.
The first two laps weren’t particularly quick and O’Lionaird was positioned at the back of the field.
The pace quickened with 600metres to go and O’Lionaird worked through the field from the inside to qualify in 6th place in heat 3.
His semi-final takes place on Thursday at 11:55 Irish time.
Note: Ciarán O’Lionáird (Leevale AC) smashed his best time for 1,500m at a meet in Oordegem Belgium recently running 3.34.46, and the time was inside the Olympic standard for both the World championships in Daegu and the London 2012 Olympics.
Ciarán O’Lionáird’s time was a huge improvement on his previous best of 3:40.69 and follows on his fast times over 1 mile, 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m so far this year. It is the fourth fastest 1500m of all time for Ireland behind Ray Flynn (3:33.5), Marcus O Sullivan (3:33.61) and Frank O Mara (3:34.02)
In 2005 O’Lionáird won a bronze medal at the European Youth Olympics in Lignano Italy.
Olive Loughnane will be next in action in the Woman’s 20k Walk at 1am (Irish time) on Wednesday morning.
Loughnane won a silver medal two years at the Berlin World Championships.
