IAAF Athletic Championships, Olympic Stadium, Berlin

In this magnificent sporting arena Irish athletics made its own piece of incredible history. We never had an athlete in the final of a sprint event in the Olympic Games or outdoor world championships and yet within the space of 30minutes one evening last week we had two athletes Derval O’Rourke and David Gillick qualify for finals. Dervals 4th place finish in the 100mts hurdles should go down as one of the great Irish sporting performances of all time. David Gillicks 6th place finish in the 400mts men’s final was also unbelievable. It certainly capped a great week in Berlin for Irish athletics where all of our 14 strong team performed to their absolute maximum. For a tiny country like ours to come back with a silver medal and three other top ten finishers is incredible. It was great to see our Berlin heroes in Croke Park on Sunday to help the GAA in their 125 year celebrations. It was wonderful for the mob who follow that sport to see real international athletes grace the hollowed turf of Croke Park with their presence. However I felt a bit sad that our athletes were paid to be there while the poor players who were playing in the football match were playing for free. (Running shoes)



On the local athletics scene one of the highlights of the year takes place on Saturday with the staging of the annual Warriors Run. This year a second field of nearly 1000 runners will toe the line in Strandhill for the annual race. This year sees a new departure with the race taking place on Saturday. The course is also altered a bit with the athletes making their way to the summit of the mountain via a different route. Most Sligo interest will centre on the performance of local athlete Emmett Dunleavy who will be bidding to win the €1000 winners prize. Emmett fresh from his magnificent silver medal in the steeplechase in the AAI national championships will go into the race as one of the favourites. Good luck to all those who take part.