Christie and Colvert in action at Euro finals

Two Mullingar athletes were among the Irish squad which featured at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona last week.Mullingar Harriers distance runner Mark Christie failed to qualify for the final of the 5,000m event, while 19 year old Mullingar native and UCD athlete Steven Colvert was a part of the Irish 4x400m relay team, who also missed out on making the cut in their semi-final.Christie clocked 14:12.68 in the second semi-final of the 5,000m on Thursday last, finishing 11th in a race which he later described as "a totally disgusting experience".The 25 year old Harriers runner missed out on qualifying for the final by just one second four years ago.Colvert, meanwhile, was a surprise addition to the starting line-up by Ireland's 4x400m relay bid, when 400m runner David Gillick pulled out of the heats on Saturday after his disappointing run in the 400m final on Friday night.With substitute David McCarthy unavailable due to personal reasons, the responsibility fell to the Mullingar man to run the final leg for the green singlets.But in the heel of the hunt, the team of Gordon Kennedy, Brian Murphy, Brian Gregan and Colvert finished sixth on a time of 3:07.21, which was well outside the automatic three qualification spots, and the two fastest loser times.Along with Paul Hession, Colvert also took part in the 200m heats on Thursday, finishing on a time of 21.14.All but one member of the Irish squad - 100m hurdler, Derval O'Rourke - came away empty handed from Barcelona, with O'Rourke claiming a memorable silver medal on Saturday.