17-year-old Nick Griggs set a new European U20 record for the indoor mile at the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown on Thursday evening.
The Tyrone athlete ran an incredible 3:56.40 as he finished second behind Olympian Andrew Coscoran who ran 3:56.27.
Griggs also broke the Irish U20 record of 4.01.35, which had been set by Colin Costello in New York 15 years ago.
It is the third Irish U20 record which he has broken in recent weeks, adding to the indoor 1500m and 3000m marks which he set last month.
Nick Griggs European U20 mile record
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
"My coach just said to stick in behind Andy, an Olympic semi-finalist," Griggs, who only turned 17 in December, said in a video interview with the East Down AC Twitter account.
Nicholas Griggs post 3:56.40 Indoor Mile: pic.twitter.com/qx4YdBvgLZ
— East Down Youtube (@EDAC_Youtube) March 10, 2022
"To even be racing against an Olympian is mad, something I never thought I'd even be doing. I was thinking in my head that if I have a perfect race, 3:59.9 was on the cards.
"Andrew Coscoran, he just pulled me through. No way I could have got anything like that without him. The plan went pretty much perfect. Went out quite hard, and then Coscoran picked it up - I felt good, and went with him.
"I managed to come home with a new PB, a new European U20 record, which I'm absolutely buzzing about."
Asked if he still had homework to do when he gets home, the Mid Ulster AC runner replied: "Surprisingly enough, I do have my homework done! I've got two study periods tomorrow to get some geography work done."
The NIA Live meeting was streamed on the Athletics Ireland YouTube channel.
You can watch Nick Griggs and Andrew Coscoran battle it out from the 2:33.30 mark below.
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