Colm Cooper admitted he initially feared he would never play again after sustaining his season-ending cruciate injury last month.

FORGET Usain Bolt’s 100m and 200m nights, the first session to be sold out at this year’s world championships at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin was the women’s hammer final on Saturday night when Betty Heidler, one of Germany’s two defending champions, will command centre stage.

EILEEN O’KEEFFE made Irish athletics history when finishing sixth in the final of the hammer throw at the World Championships in Osaka two years ago.