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Ireland's Ciaran O’Lionard after finishing the Men's 1500m heats well down the field. INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Olympic hopes over for Ciaran O'Lionaird and Fionnuala Britton

The Cork native finished a disappointing second last in the 1500m this evening.

IRISH ATHLETE CIARAN O’Lionaird has missed out on a place in the 1500m semi-finals after a disappointing performance this evening.

There were doubts surrounding the Cork-born athlete’s fitness going into the race, and these fears appeared to be confirmed, with O’Lionaird failing to keep up with the chasing pack, and ultimately finishing second last.

The race was won by Nicholas Willis of New Zealand.

Meanwhile, there was disappointment too for Fionnuala Britton, who finished well behind the pack in the Women’s 10,000m Final and was ultimately lapped by eventual winner Tirunesh Dibaba among others before the finish.

Dibaba thus retains the same title she won four years earlier in Beijing.

There was better news for Ireland earlier today in athletics, with Joanne Cuddihy qualifying for the semi-finals of the 400m.

Read: LIVE: London 2012 Olympics, day seven>

Read: German rower quits over ‘neo-Nazi’ boyfriend>

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4 Comments
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    Mute tony duggan
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    Aug 3rd 2012, 9:42 PM

    Just saw his interview, very sad to see an athlete breakdown like that!
    Chin up Ciaran , an achievement alone getting there.

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Aug 3rd 2012, 10:21 PM

    I second that (for both C?aran and Fionnuala).

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Aug 3rd 2012, 10:39 PM

    Not sure if she was the 1st track and field winner, did Rte not show a polish lad winning the shotput whilst the women’s 10000m was being run?

    Am sure she will be back for the next Olympics

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    Mute Tony Stack
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    Aug 3rd 2012, 11:04 PM

    Rte don’t do field events, didn’t you know that?

    11
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