SUZANNE HUET (Dundrum/South Dublin) achieved her qualifying standard for the European junior championships when she won the 5,000m in 16:52.67 at yesterday’s national junior and under-23 championships in Tullamore.

AFTER a weekend that has given much promise for the rest of the season, Derval O’Rourke will be back among the best 100m hurdlers in the world at the Grand Prix 1 meeting in Lausanne tonight.

PIERCE O’CALLAGHAN has become the third high-profile Irish sports administrator to move to Lausanne in Switzerland following his appointment to the post of director of communications with the European Athletics Association (EAA).

THE legendary Michael Johnson telephoned the organisers of the BUPA Cork City Sports during the week in a bid to get one of his proteges, Darold Williamson, into their July 1 showpiece at The Mardyke.

ALISTAIR CRAGG has conquered Europe and is ready to take on the world. The new European indoor 3,000m champion plans that assault in two weeks time when he renews rivalry with the double champion, Kenenisa Bekele, at the World cross-country championships in Saint-Etienne/Saint-Galmier.

SPORTS Minister John O’Donoghue is the only person who can save Ireland’s bid to hold the 2005 European Cross-country Championships in Cork, and last evening, Liam Hennessy, international secretary of the Athletics Association of Ireland, appealed to him to rescue the event.

THERE is no physical reason why Sonia O’Sullivan should not go to next year’s Olympic Games in Athens as a medal contender according to the world’s leading expert in long term player/athlete development.

IRELAND’S bid for the 2005 European cross-country championships will be taken a stage further next week when an evaluation committee from the European Athletics Association will visit Cork.

CORK is among the front-runners to host the European Cross-Country Championships in 2005 — the year the City will hold the status of European Capital of Culture.

ATHLETICS Ireland moved a step closer to lodging a bid for the European cross-country championships when a three-man delegation met with representatives of the EAA in Germany last week.

BUPA Cork City Sports has been awarded Euro Meeting status following a glowing report presented to a recent EAA

SONIA O’SULLIVAN will just have one shot at the defence of her 5,000m title at the European Championships in Munich and she will not have the forceful front running of Paula Radcliffe to contend with.