HEAD coach Billy Walsh was thanking his lucky stars the Irish team were amongst the first to arrive in Moscow for the European Senior Boxing championships, starting on Saturday.

Chris Boardman is "virtually certain" this summer's Tour de France will be the cleanest in history.

JOHN JOE NEVIN and Katie Taylor completed a fantastic season by claiming the top awards at the IABA Annual Awards ceremony at the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel in Dublin last night.

Middleweight Darren Sutherland will bid to become the third Irish boxer to make it through to the semi-finals of the 2008 Olympics Games at the Workers Indoor Arena in Beijing at around 1pm today.

The Irish men's heavyweight four of Alan Martin (NUIG), Sean Casey (Muckross), Cormac Folan (NUIG) and Sean O'Neill (St.Michael's) have sensationally qualified the boat for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing.

VICTORIA de los Angeles, a Spanish soprano whose career spanned five decades, has died at the age of 81.

Bernard Hopkins maintained his position as the undisputed middleweight champion of the world when becoming the first man to stop Oscar de la Hoya at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The rise of Russia as the biggest power in women’s tennis this year was confirmed this evening as Elena Dementieva reached the final of the US Open where she will meet her countrywoman Svetlana Kuznetsova.

IT IS 7am on St. Patrick’s Day and three young men climb out of their beds in a Dublin B&B. While the nation snoozes, taking advantage of the holiday for a lie-in, this trio is off to work.

Wimbledon hero Goran Ivanisevic removed his shirt as usual - then almost every other item of clothing - as he completed his dream 48 hours after his Wimbledon win with an emotional homecoming in Split last night.