RETIRED international athlete David Gillick realised something vital very early in his track and field career.

Mo Farah put a summer of speculation behind him to make it half a dozen global titles as he again proved unbeatable over 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Beijing.

I began running because I loved it and because I was pretty good at it.

A former boxing coach out in the Institute of Sport may be among the most invisible players in Irish sport, but he’s one of its most influential too, writes Kieran Shannon.

BEIJING BONUS

Last week I was in an audience listening to Sonia O’Sullivan discuss her Olympic silver medal.

Jamaican sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown has announced she has been cleared to race again by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Barcelona midfielders Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta should recognise their surroundings when they emerge from the tunnel for tonight’s Champions League last 16 first leg at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.

Two-time Olympic medallist Paddy Barnes edged a step closer to the medals at the AIBA World Elite Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan yesterday.

West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie has been labelled “a loose cannon” and urged to grow up if he is to get his career back on track.

Olympic boxing hero Kenny Egan will speak openly at a workshop in Cork today about his recovery from addiction to porn, booze, and escort girls.

In a time of downturn and gloom in Ireland, there are growth areas.

The Irish 2012 Olympic team and Katie Taylor scooped the top accolades at the Irish Amateur Boxing Association’s Annual Awards Night at the Green Isle Hotel in Dublin last night.

The International Olympic Committee has opened an investigation into Lance Armstrong, who could be stripped of the bronze medal he won at the Sydney Games in 2000.

Show jumper Denis Lynch yesterday said he had “learned an incredible amount” about himself and others as a result of the loss of his Olympic place and subsequent dismissal of his appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

An gymnast from Uzbekistan has been expelled from the London Olympics, after she failed a doping test.

Mark Cavendish began his bid to claim Great Britain’s first Olympic gold of the London 2012 Games today, while Irish hopes rested on Nicholas Roche, Daniel Martin and David McCann.

Show jumper Cian O’Connor’s bid for Olympic redemption hangs in the balance after Denis Lynch made a dramatic last-ditch bid to be reinstated in the Games.

When it comes to the phenomenon that is Katie Taylor, the key word is perspective.

As China’s flood-ravaged capital today dealt with the aftermath of the heaviest rain in six decades, including the deaths of 37 people, questions were being asked about whether the city’s push for modernisation came at the expense of basic infrastructure such as drainage networks.

A “devastated” and distraught Denis Lynch last night said he is considering an appeal against the decision yesterday by Horse Sport Ireland to withdraw his nomination for the Olympics.

SIXTY IRISH Olympic athletes will participate in London this summer.

No tickets for London’s big event? Get into the Olympic spirit on a tour with a sporting twist, says Sally Howard

Paddy Barnes joined David Oliver Joyce, Adam Nolan and Tommy McCarthy in the quarter-finals of the AIBA European Olympic qualifying event with an inside the distance win in Trabzon, Turkey yesterday.

European light-heavyweight champion Joe Ward got Ireland’s campaign off to a flying start on the opening day of the final Olympic qualifiers for European male boxers in Trabzon, Turkey yesterday.

SHOWJUMPER Denis Lynch has quit the Irish team and is considering the possibility of declaring for Germany, his long-time home.

The Argentinian Football Association have confirmed Sergio Batista as the head coach of the national team on a permanent basis.

Pablo Zabaleta sees no reason why Argentina caretaker boss Sergio Batista cannot be handed the reins on a permanent basis and go on to take them to the 2014 World Cup.

Argentina will use tomorrow night’s friendly with the Republic of Ireland to rid from their system their horrifying World Cup exit.

The Argentinian Football Association have announced they will not name a new coach to succeed Diego Maradona until October at the earliest.

Argentinian Football Association president Julio Grondona has confirmed there is no shortlist yet in place to succeed Diego Maradona as national team manager.

Ireland will be taking home one gold, one silver and three bronze medals from the 2010 European Senior Championships at the Ice Palace in Moscow.

Ireland's Olympic hero Ken Egan has been using the hills of Donegal as his inspiration ahead of his tilt at creating another piece of Irish boxing history.

Ken Egan and Willie McLaughlin both bowed out of the AIBA World Championships at the quarter final stage in Milan this afternoon.

Ken Egan is out of the 2009 European Union Championships after slipping to a surprise 7-6 defeat to Hungarian light heavyweight Imre Szello in Denmark today.

China warned Google and other popular web portals that they must do more to block pornographic material from reaching the country’s users.

Government minister John McGuinness today begins a three-day Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Turkey.

Reporting rules which were relaxed for foreign journalists ahead of the Beijing Olympics will not be extended, China said today.

Team Ireland received a rapturous reception after returning home from the 2008 Olympics via Dublin Airport today.

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt won gold in the 100m in Beijing in a world-record time of 9.69 seconds.

Tim Goodbody took 15th in Race 8 in the Finn class to place 21st overall in the 2008 Olympics sailing regatta today.

CHINA is finally beginning to feel some heat over its shameful silence on atrocities in Darfur. President Hu Jintao has been stirred to call on the Sudanese government to take steps toward peace.

Six Irish boxers will be going for gold medals in six finals at the European Union Championships in Cetniewo Poland this afternoon.

Horse Sport Ireland is delighted to confirm that the FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale) has today allotted Ireland a maximum of five places in Three Day Eventing for the 2008 Olympics at Hong Kong.