Joanne Cuddihy made a confident start to her World Championship campaign in Osaka with a season's best in her 400 metres heat, but the Kilkenny woman will have it all to do to progress out of tomorrow's semi-finals.

MARK CHRISTIE who was the victim of a harsh disqualification in the final of the 5,000m at the European under-23 championships in Debrecen on Thursday night was reinstated in the early hours of yesterday morning and the records now show that the Mullingar man finished sixth in 13 mins 58.83 secs.

A fully fit Paula Radcliffe will compete for the first time since her unforgettable Flora London Marathon success in April when she competes in theMonaco IAAF Golden League Meeting on July19.