Gothenburg was the venue recently, 31st May, where our very own hero Sean Tobin toed the line in yet another top-class field in his quest for more points towards automatic Olympic selection in the 5,000m.
The pace was fast from the start as the pacemakers went about their work in earnest ensuring a fast time and it was no surprise then to see the athletes in Indian file after the first lap.
The leaders went through the first 1,500m in 3 mins 44 secs! with Sean about two seconds off that in the chasing group. This pace was maintained relentlessly with top Aussie runner McSewyn (a 13 mins 5 secs time for 5000m) dropping out after eight laps. They were by now reeling off 63 second laps and it was no shock to see the first two runaway athletes finish under the Olympic qualifying time with their 13 mins 9 secs and 13 mins 10 secs respective performances.
Sean’s mighty effort saw him finish a highly creditable 8th out of the sixteen starters in 13 mins 36 secs –his second fastest ever for the distance. This performance was brilliant when you consider that on his previous run, he improved by nearly 20 seconds on his PB and there in Gothenburg he was only a few seconds off his PB.
This reinforces Sean’s current wellbeing following on from his Gateshead exploits and gives him the impetus to drive on with his Olympic odyssey and reach the heights that his talent and dedication so richly deserve.
He can now look forward with great confidence after these two brilliant efforts as he sets his sights on the 5000m race in Nice on June 12th.