“I was thinking in my head if I have a perfect race, 3:59.9 was on the cards.”
Tyrone teenager Nick Griggs has been blazing through competitions, and yesterday in Dublin he set his third Irish under-20 record in a month.
Unbelievably the 17-year-old ran a mile in just 3:56.40 minutes and his time was also a European U20 record, smashing the 4:03.88 mark set by Lithuania’s Lukas Verzbicas in 2011.
This is 17-year-old Nick Griggs. Tonight he smashed the 4-min mile. 3:56:40 – incredible accomplishment – and a sound young man🙌🏻🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/VjMeuEftL1
— Thomas Niblock (@thomasniblock) March 10, 2022
Jim McGuinness from the north of Ireland holds the senior outdoor record of 3:55.00, a target that will surely be in Griggs’ sights for the upcoming season.
Griggs managed to put Olympic semi-finalist Andrew Coscoran, under huge pressure in the race and there is only more to come from the Balbriggan man.
“I don’t even have the words for it, my coach just said to stick behind Andy, the Olympic semi-finalist, and to even be racing with an Olympian is mad, something I never thought I would do.
A mile race for the ages at #NIALive with 🤯🤯 @AndrewCoscoran and @nickgriggs4321 battling it out to both go sub 4 🔥🔥🔥
Winning time 3:56:27 ⏱ @sportireland @IrishRunnerMag pic.twitter.com/Vgip1ZboFA
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) March 10, 2022
“I was thinking in my head if I have a perfect race, 3:59.9 was on the cards, and the plan went quite perfect, just went out hard, then Coscoran picked it up, and I just felt good on a whim.
“I felt really strong, and I managed to come home with a new PB, and a new u20 European record, which I’m absolutely buzzing about.”
