Usain Bolt crowned himself the new Czar of Russia as he lit up the World Track and Field Championships in Moscow last night by winning the 100m in 9.77 while Brian Gregan brought some welcome Irish cheer qualifying for the 400m semi-finals.

Usain Bolt lit up Moscow in the same manner as the real lightning bolts in the Russian skies as the mercurial Jamaican claimed his fourth global 100m title in the Luzhniki rain this evening.

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.

Athletics Ireland have announced a hugely inexperienced squad for the upcoming World Championships.

“I’m not finishing fourth,” was Fionnuala Britton’s mantra in the last three laps of the 3,000m final as the teak tough Wicklow woman won a fighting bronze medal yesterday.

Six years ago Sanita Puspure was working as a shop assistant in Dublin.

Sanita Puspure is the latest athlete to join Ireland’s Olympic Games tilt in the summer.

National champion and record holder Paul Hession claimed a brace of second place finishes at today’s 60th running of the Cork City Sports meeting.

DERVAL O’ROURKE and Leevale clubmate Ailis McSweeney were two very determined ladies walking out of Santry Stadium on Tuesday night, according to coach Sean Cahill.

JUST as the nation was celebrating the European Championships silver medal won by Cork runner, Derval O’Rourke, another Irish athlete gave Ireland something to cheer about at the weekend as part of a record-breaking rowing team.

AILIS McSWEENEY was chuffed when Derval O’Rourke arrived around with a bouquet of flowers on Thursday night.

STILL feeling the effects of a fall in Germany last week, Derval O’Rourke was left wondering if she’s ever going to win a race at Cork City Sports as she finished third after battling through the gale force winds that howled around the CIT Athletics Stadium on Saturday.

OLIVE LOUGHNANE is ready for the race of her life in tomorrow morning’s women’s 20k walk in Beijing, according to coach Ray Flynn.

THE ‘very fast’ track in Osaka where the world championship medals will be decided the week after next will throw up some surprises, according to Ireland’s double European indoor 400m champion, David Gillick.

DERVAL O’ROURKE will follow a familiar path when she concludes her preparations for the world championships in Germany over the weekend.

EILEEN O’KEEFFE launched herself into 13th position in the global rankings for the year when she took her national record to 73.21 metres en route to a seventh successive hammer throw title at the Woodies DIY National Track and Field Championships at Morton Stadium on Saturday.

DERVAL O’ROURKE runs in the Grand Prix meeting in Budapest tonight — lining up against a strong field for the 100m hurdles in better conditions than she experienced at The Mardyke last weekend.

DERVAL O’ROURKE, cautious rather than spectacular, eased her way into the semi-finals of the 100m hurdles at the European championships in Gothenburg with a performance that earned her a centre lane in this evening’s semi-finals — and an outstanding chance of making the final later on where she will be a contender for the bronze medal at least.

DATHAN RITZENHEIM plans a second big surprise when he defends his Belfast International Cross Country title at Stormont today.

But what a cap! Neville Furlong (he won a second) and Philip Rainey may not have worn the green jersey too often, but they have one thing in common - the experience of facing the All Blacks.

In the battle at the bottom, Waterford United will be hoping for their first win in 14 games when they take on Shamrock Rovers at the RSC.

SHE doesn’t have a coach, she doesn’t even have a proper place to train, but Eileen O’Keeffe will enter the circle at these world championships today alongside some of the best hammer throwers in the world with a big chance of making the final.

EIGHT sportspeople have been named in the Athletics Ireland’s World Class Panel, a key component of the Association’s new Performance Plan.

The record-breaking exploits of 20-year-old Dublin student Barry Murphy would seem to have gone unnoticed since this year’s international swim season began.

Friends and colleagues tonight paid glowing tribute to a young footballer who plunged to his death in an accident at his Longford home.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN’S Sports Council grant has been reinstated but the International Carding Scheme Appeals Committee have virtually retired a whole generation of Irish athletics by refusing their appeals, according to a leading athletics figure.

AILISH McSWEENEY will be the star attraction at the Munster indoor championships in Nenagh on Sunday as she attempts a double in the sprints.

Ireland's Athens track team has been reduced just 11 participants after discus thrower Nick Sweeney today pulled out through injury.

The wait is almost over for the 14 teams who will compete in the National Cup finals this weekend.

GILLIAN O’SULLIVAN’S silver medal in the 20k walk at the world championships in Paris and Paul Hession’s silver medal in the sprints at the World Student Games in Korea over the past week means Ireland has claimed a medal from all the track and field championships this year.

THE General Manager of Ireland’s newest sports facility, the 62 metre National Aquatic Centre, is convinced it will inspire Irish sportspersons to plunge into uncharted waters.

DERVAL O’ROURKE has set two national under-23 records in three meets so far this season, and should she maintain this type of improvement the Cork starlet could be faced with something of a dilemma come August when the World Student Games in Korea clash with the IAAF world championships in Paris.

MARK CARROLL had a new spring in his step when he went training at the UCC complex at the Mardyke yesterday morning having received confirmation from the AAI that he had been selected for the European championships.