The biggest story in sport this week was not really a story about sport. At least, not on the surface.

It may be just coincidental that as parts of the country were battered by Lorenzo yesterday Ireland’s rugby players made unexpectedly heavy weather of beating Russia in the tremendous heat and draining humidity in Kobe’s sweatbox to keep the World Cup dream alive.

Healy – who missed a lot of the season through a broken foot – wasn’t able to move up after falling behind in the first half of the heat.

Thomas Barr has breezed through to the semi-finals of the men’s 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, as new European holder Karsten Warholm staked his claim to successfully defend his world title in Qatar.

We take a trip down memory lane and check out what happened on this day in years gone by by looking back at some Irish Examiner front pages and highlighting other events which went down in history across the world.

Mark English has declared his intent to qualify for next month’s World Athletics Championships in Doha following yesterday’s sensational 800m win at the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham.

Five talking points from last weekend’s Premier League action.

Manchester United hold the only 100% record, Tottenham and Arsenal both endured familiar frustrations, while West Ham, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace all lost again.

Ireland’s disappointing campaign at the World Athletics Championships drew to a close earlier than planned on Sunday with Alex Wright suffering disqualification in the men’s 20k walk, writes Will Downing in London.

Rob Heffernan’s final major event has seen the former world champion finish eighth in the men’s 50k walk at the World Athletics Championships in London, writes Will Downing.

Thomas Barr is through to tomorrow night’s semi-finals of the men’s 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in London.

Irish athletes face an uphill struggle at the World Athletics Championships, which kick off in London tomorrow. Fierce global competition and drugs are two obvious reasons but there are obstacles a lot closer to home, argues Brendan O’Brien.

Mark English has become the latest Irish athlete to qualify for August's World Athletics Championships in London.

Ciara Mageean has qualified for August’s World Athletics Championships in London, by dipping well inside the IAAF qualifying standard for the 1500m at tonight’s Golden Gala Diamond League meeting in Rome.

Fionnuala McCormack believes a failed drugs test for Kenya’s Olympic marathon champion Jemimah Sumgong shows the IAAF’s policies are working.

Thomas Barr’s heart was pounding on stage when he was awarded Athlete of the Year at the GloHealth National Athletics Awards at the Crowne Plaza in Santry yesterday.

China won their first gold medal of their home World Athletics Championships by sweeping a 1-2 finish in the women’s 20k walk in Beijing.

Usain Bolt stormed to the World Championship sprint double at the World Athletics Championships when a runaway segway proved more problematic than Justin Gatlin. Four days on from riding to the rescue of his beleaguered sport in the 100 metres, the Jamaican attempted to make it four successive half-lap world crowns in Beijing.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

Thomas Barr produced a time just six-hundredths of a second outside his Irish record, but still bowed out of the men’s 400m hurdles at the semi-final stage at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing.

Coe v Ovett. Unless you were hung up on some British class divide thing, or had a bit of a Brideshead Revisited phobia, you had to be a Coe man, didn’t you?

Thomas Barr is targeting a final berth in the 400m hurdles at his maiden World Athletics Championships in Beijing at the end of this month.

Olive Loughnane looks set to be upgraded to women's 20k walk world champion after the Russian Anti-doping Agency annulled the results of 2009 World Champion Olga Kaniskina.

The IAAF ethics commission is investigating “grave allegations” made by a German television documentary.

Doha has been awarded the right to host the 2019 World Championships after beating off competition from Eugene and Barcelona.

Fear of seeming friendless or single prevents many people, especially women, from socialising or travelling by themselves, but going solo has its advantages, says Caroline Allen.

I had no intention of writing about this topic until I saw a former basketball legend singing Happy Birthday to a North Korean dictator.

You could say he walked it! The man who won Ireland’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in 18 years has been crowned Cork Person of the Year.

A number of the country's leading sports stars took to social media to praise the excellence, excitement and sheer spectacle served up by Clare and Cork in yesterday's All-Ireland SHC final replay.

Paul Pollock has recorded the best ever position achieved by an Irish athlete in a World Athletics Championships men’s marathon.

Rob Heffernan will enjoy a double homecoming in Ireland today, after reaching the summit of his career at the World Athletics Championships.

Ireland's new world athletics champion, Rob Heffernan, is expected to arrive back at Dublin Airport later to a hero's welcome.

There is absolutely no doubt Rob Heffernan’s superb gold medal in the World Athletics Championships has propelled him to a whole new level in terms of public awareness and marketing appeal. This is, after all, our first gold medal since the great Sonia O’Sullivan’s victory in 1995.

Rob Heffernan has joined the list of Irish sporting greats by claiming Ireland’s third ever gold medal at a World Athletics Championships, becoming only the fifth person in all to medal, by winning the men’s 50k walk in Moscow this morning.

Rob Heffernan has claimed Ireland's third ever gold medal at a World Athletics Championship, winning the men's 50k walk in Moscow this morning.

Laura Reynolds expressed extreme disappointment in finishing 31st in the women’s 20k walk at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow.

Brian Gregan persevered but ultimately finished seventh in his 400m semi-final, bowing out of the World Athletics Championships in Moscow.

He felt he hadn’t done enough to qualify, but Brian Gregan is still through to the semi-finals of the 400m at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow.

A miserable opening day for Ireland at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow saw the three in action on the track miss out of qualifying for their respective semi-finals, while Irish interest in the women’s marathon ended after eight kilometres.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge could face tricky questions about Russia’s anti-gay laws when he makes an appearance on the eve of the World Athletics Championships in Moscow today.

Ireland’s double European Cross-Country Champion Fionnuala Britton will miss next month’s World Athletics Championships in Moscow after announcing she is to take an “extended break” from the sport.

Oscar Pistorius’s agent has said this summer’s World Athletics Championships is “on the radar” for the track runner after a judge said he could leave South Africa to compete in international events.

Ireland’s 4x400m relay women were officially confirmed as London 2012 Olympians by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) yesterday.

Ireland's Fionnuala Britton and Stephanie O'Reilly have failed to advance from the heats of the 3000m Steeplechase in the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.