Offaly athlete claims great bronze at European U-18 championships

A TALENTED young Offaly athlete claimed a fantastic bronze medal at the European U-18 Athletics Championships on Friday evening.

A delighted Cian Crampton was over the moon after capturing the bronze medal in the discus at the championships in Banska Bystrica in Slovakia.

A member of Edenderry Athletics Club, Cian Crampton comes from a well known Clonbullogue family – his father Tom was a multi talented sports man in the 1990s and 2000s, winning national senior boxing medals in the super heavyweight division as well as prospering as a footballer, playing underage and junior for Offaly and for Clonbullogue for years.

Cian Crampton's success was the first time an Irish athlete has won a field medal at these championships. He threw an Irish U18 record of 60.55m in the discus in the process.

He had been in fine form this year, qualifying for the championships with a season's best of 58.59m and then going past that when the pressure was at its most intense.

He won a European Youth Olympics bronze last year but this latest success bettered that for him

The gold and silver discus medals were won by Jakub Rodziak (Poland) 64.21m and Yaroslav Lystopad (Ukraine) in 60.93m.

Speaking after his win, an elated Crampton smiled: “I am just buzzing, I didn't think I would have any chance and would have been happy with top eight.

“I got a bronze medal last year and this is even better. There is something about the European U-18s, it makes it different.”

He was delighted to see friends on the track side clapping and chanting as he threw. “ It was amazing,” he reflected, thanking his coach Peter Collins and speaking about what the medal means to his club, Edenderry AC. He recalled the work he did with his coach when there was no competitions during the Covid years and how this paid off. “This makes it all worth it. It is savage,” he said.