Shropshire Star

Bronze for Iris Downes after late drama

Shropshire has a new European Championship medallist after 800m runner Iris Downes claimed bronze in Israel.

Published

Shrewsbury Athletic Club’s starlet Downes, 16, was just pipped to gold and silver at the under-18s final in Jerusalem in a competitive and tight field.

She led the pack with 200m left but was overtaken by winner Malin Hoelsveen, of Norway, before a dramatic lunge on the line from German Jana Becker. Downes’ 2:09.56 was four-hundredths of a second from a silver medal.

The result is an early career highlight for the Shrewsbury School student, coached by Colin Lancaster.

Downes said of the race: “When we hit that final 200m I thought ‘it’s a final, I may as well take it on’. My legs felt great at that point until around 50m to go and the other girls caught up with me.”