Griggs sets new 3,000m PB at Diamond League

Griggs has regrouped from missing out on the Olympic Games by smashing his 3,000m and 5,000m personal bests over the past fortnight

County Tyrone athlete Nick Griggs secured a top-10 finish at the London Diamond League with another new Irish under-23 3,000m record.

The 19-year-old smashed his personal best by over five seconds with a time of 7:36.59.

It is the second time this month that Griggs has set a new personal best at the distance as he again bettered the previous Northern Ireland record set by Paul Lawther (7:49.10) in 1978.

Griggs had broken the Northern Ireland mark and Darragh McElhinney's previous Irish under-23 record in Cork on 9 July with a time of 7:41.68.

In between, he also improved his 5,000m personal best by over 23 seconds when clocking 13:13.07 at the Morton Games in Dublin.

The Tyrone talent's latest 3,000m performance moved him to fourth on the Irish all-time list - ahead of the legendary Eamonn Coghlan's 7:37.60 set a couple of weeks before the 1980 Olympics when he took victory at the Bislett Games.

Griggs' Diamond League run on Saturday came in a stacked men’s 3,000m which was ultimately won by Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu of Switzerland in a meeting record of 7:27.68.

In the same race, Dubliner Brian Fay crossed the line in seventh with a time of 7:34.48 which moved him to third in the Irish all-time list behind Mark Carroll's national record of 7:30.36 set 25 years ago and Alex Cragg's 7:32.47 clocking in 2007.

Elsewhere in London on Saturday, Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke posted a season best time of 22.35 in the women's 200m but, despite finishing just 0.01 seconds outside of her national record, came fifth in a race won by American Gabrielle Thomas in 21.82.

Andrew Coscoran finished eighth in the mile with his personal best of 3:50.49 seeing him jump to third on the all-time Irish list at the distance.