St Leonards athlete stars at European Championships

The middle distance runner from St Leonards came sixth in the men’s 1,500m final in Amsterdam on Saturday night.

In a slow, tactical race, Emanuel was at the front of the pack for much of the third lap, but couldn’t quite stay with the leading athletes over the final 400m.

The 31-year-old crossed the line in a time of 3:47.57 - less than a second behind surprise winner Filip Ingebrigtsen (Norway) and just ahead of the other British finalist Jake Wightman, who faded over the closing stages.

He wrote on social media site Twitter afterwards: “6th at Euro Champs tonight. Should have and could have been more aggressive. But massive improvement in slow races.”

Emanuel, who spends the bulk of his time training in New Mexico, only qualified for the final after the winner of his heat last Thursday was disqualified, promoting him into third place with a time of 3:42.92.

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