Athletics

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.

Mary Cullen's bronze medal performance in the Final of the 3000m at the European Indoor Championships in Turin provided a bright finish to the Championship for Irish Athletics.

Hammer thrower Eileen O'Keeffe and sprinter Paul Hession were the class acts for the Irish at the European Athletics Cups on opposite ends of the continent at the weekend.

Derval O'Rourke took her biggest stride forward yet this season when she finished second in the 100 metres hurdles in Prague last night.

Paul Hession's excellent early season form continued as he was runner-up to Jeremy Warner in Ostrava last night while setting a new Irish 300m record of 32.47 seconds

The Olympic Council of Ireland has launched its Beijing Bursary programme with a grant of €10,000 to Martin Fagan, the marathon runner who achieved Olympic qualification last weekend in Dubai.