Athletics

The European Cross Country Championship held at Santry was an opportunity for local athletes to rise to the occassion according to Ian O'Riordan's Irish Times article.

Athletics Ireland have announced their team for next month’s European Cross Country Championships, which takes place on December 13th in Santry Park, Dublin.

Ireland's Martin Fagan warmed up for the ING New York City Marathon in three weeks with a victory in the Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon.

David Gillick put in a fine performance in Berlin finnishing 6th in the 400m final. Gillick was the top European, beating Britain’s Michael Bingham and Leslie Djhone of France. A nice taster for next year’s European Championships.He now seems to have made the transition from European to World class level, and in his own words

Alistair Cragg, Eileen O’Keefe and Thomas Chamney all failed to get through qualifying at the World Championships in Berlin.

Journalists were mystified last night in Berlin as "Alistair Cragg, Eileen O'Keefe, and Thomas Chamney underperformed and failed to get through qualifying at the World Championships in Berlin"

A historic day in Irish athletics was capped off by the performance of Derval O’Rourke in the 100m hurdles final in Berlin, where the Cork woman ran a national record of 12.67secs to finish fourth in the world.

David Gillick, Paul Hession and Derval O'Rourke qualified for their respective semi finals but Deirdre Ryan in the high jump and Deirdre Byrne in the 1,500m did not progress.

Last summer in the heat of competition at the Olympics, Olive Loughnane left the track in Beijing as Ireland's best performer in the track and field events. She joined an elite group of Irish athletes becoming one of only eleven Irish athletes to register a top eight finish in an Olympic Games in track and field.

Jamie Costin , Robert Heffernan, Olive Loughnane are in Spala Poland preparing for the World Championships next week. Under a special agreement between the Olympic Council of Ireland and the Polish National Olympic Committee the athletes can prepare in an environment they know well and will be provided with the best possible support.

Athletics Ireland announced their team to travel to Berlin ahead of the World Championships (August 15th – 23rd).

Athletics Ireland athletes are currently in Montegordo, Portugal, on a 2 week training camp as preparation for the incoming season.