PROUD REID READY TO MAKE HISTORY

LEON REID says will give it everything to win a historic medal for Ireland at the European Championships in Berlin tonight. The 23-year-old reached the men’s 200m final after a brilliant international debut for his adopted nation last night. Reid was born and raised in England, but qualifies to represent Ireland as his mother was born in Belfast while his foster mother, who was in the stadium last night, is from Wexford. He waited two years to pull on an Irish vest, having applied to switch his allegiance from Britain in 2016, a process that was finally approved just days before he flew to Berlin. ‘When I put on this vest, it’s like putting on a super suit,’ said a delighted Reid, moments after he blasted to a swift time of 20.38 in his semi-final to finish a close runner-up to world champion Ramil Guliyev. Some in Irish athletics have not been supportive of his switch, but last night Reid said he wasn’t bothered by his critics. ‘I don’t let that sort of stuff get to me. The people that are counting on me, that’s who I deliver for. I don’t deliver for anyone else who sits behind screens tweeting me. I worry about my Mam, my coach, my Irish family — the people who matter to me.’ Reid will run in lane eight in tonight’s final at 8.05pm Irish time. Elsewhere, Marcus Lawler bowed out after finishing fifth in his 200m heat in 20.80, while in the 10,000m final Emma Mitchell finished 19th in 34:08.61.