Cornyn makes the medal podium in the Balkans

Dunboyne athlete wins silver and bronze despite very hot conditions

Well-known masters athlete Michael Cornyn was on his travels recently and returned home with a haul of medals.

The Dunboyne AC runner competed in the 33rd Balkans Masters Championships and he returned home with an impressive haul of a silver and a bronze.

The picturesque town of Bar Montenegro is nestled between the high mountains and the Adriatic sea. The town has a population of around 55,000 people.

After summer when his entire outdoor track season was wiped out with a hamstring injury and on going hip injury Cornyn managed five weeks of decent training before heading to Bar.

On the Friday he finished second in the M60 800m to Salih Sonmez of Turkey who won in two minutes 37. 88.

In a very tight finish Cornyn held off Dumitru Sírbu of Romania to take the silver medal in two minutes 39.93. Sírbu's clocked up a time of two minutes 40.74.

On the Saturday morning it was onto the M60 400m. The winner was Marko Božiček 65.51sec (who turned the tables from 2022 when the Dunboyne athlete beat him into second place in Tessalonika).

Second in the race was Salih Sonmez from Turkey in 67.05 and Cornyn third in 68.28.

He then rounded off the Championship weekend by finishing fifth in the 200m on Sunday morning with his quickest run of the year of 29.81 seconds.

All competitions took place in very hot conditions. On the Friday temperatures hit 30 degrees and Saturday they hit 28 degrees.

"It was wonderfully organised event by the Montenegro Masters Association with over 1,000 athletes competing over the three days," added Cornyn.