By Damian Lawlor in Rieti
Once the starters signal was given Ethan Carr (Ballymena & Antrim) was out aggressively from his starting blocks in the fifth heat of the 400m. Ethan had the pedal firmly on the metal as he ran a lightning quick first two hundred metres that saw him eating up the stagger on Spain’s Mario Herrera who was in lane eight. In the second half of the race Ethan had to dig deep as the stagger began to even out and it was clear he’d have to fight all the way to the line to secure qualification. This he did as he held on for fifth.
When Ethan lined out in his heat here in Rieti he knew that he had to finish in the first four in his heat or be faster than 49.25 to make it through to the next round and clearly his drive to succeed was enough to keep him going in the final metres. As it turned out his time of 48.89 qualified him comfortably for the for the next round.