World Champion Robert Heffernan is to be welcomed home to his native Cork tonight with an open top bus parade through St Patrick’s Street.

Coaches and teachers who have helped Rob Heffernan since he was a boy paid tribute to an athlete who started out in Togher and went all the way to the top of the world.

The Irish athletics community loved Robert Heffernan even before he struck gold yesterday. They feel he is one of them.

Robert Heffernan put on a masterclass of race walking to win his 15th national title but felt the atmosphere ‘dead’ on day one of the Woodie’s DIY National Indoor Championships in Athlone on Saturday.

The Woodie’s DIY AAI Games in the new Athlone IT indoor arena produced a long list of new personal bests and one new record.

Togher AC’s Rob Heffernan was named as the Athlete of the Year at the National Athletics Awards in association with Woodie’s DIY and Tipperary Crystal on Saturday night.

The Woodie’s DIY National Championships take place at the Morton Stadium, Santry this weekend.

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

The Irish women’s 4x400m relay team got a timely boost on the eve of the European championships when they dominated the women’s 400m in Nivelles, Belgium, at the weekend.

The Irish Olympic team has a new member with Maria McCambridge securing qualification for the London Games at the Rome Marathon yesterday.

Derval O’Rourke had a grin of satisfaction after reclaiming her 60m hurdles title at the Woodies DIY Irish indoor championships at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast yesterday in 8.21 secs — modest by her standards.

PAUL HESSION returned to the scene of his fastest run to claim his place in the 200m at next year’s Olympic Games in London.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN made a dramatic return to competition at the Woodies DIY National Senior Championships at Morton Stadium yesterday and retained his men’s 10,000m walk title in an impressive 40:1.64.

OLIVE LOUGHNANE expressed satisfaction with preparations for the World Championships in South Korea after covering the 3,000m walk in 12:52.85 — 15 seconds faster than last year.

OLIVE LOUGHNANE (Loughrea AC) had to settle for the silver medal in the 20km event at yesterday’s Athletics Ireland International Grand Prix of Race Walking in the Phoenix Park.

WORLD SILVER medallist, Olive Loughnane, faces her first big assignment of the year when she lines up for the European Cup Race Walking in Olhão on the Algarve on Saturday.

AILIS McSWEENEY (Leevale AC) stormed to a new personal best performance with a sensational 7.32 sec victory in the women’s 60m — just two hundredths of a second off the national record — at the Woodies DIY Irish Indoor championships at the Odyssey Arena yesterday.

Mary Cullen broke away from the field in the final 400 metres to win gold in the 1500 metres final at the Woodie's DIY Irish Indoor Championships in Belfast.

HIS sensational victory in last Saturday’s South Regional Cross-Country Championships in Hoover, Alabama will send Corkman Ciarán Ó Lionáird into Monday’s NCAAs among the medal favourites.

CIARÁN Ó LIONÁIRD (Leevale AC) finished a close-up fourth in the tough ACC Conference meet at Franklin Park, Boston, where less than four seconds separated the top four finishers.

DERVAL O’ROURKE bounced back from a disappointing disqualification in Barcelona on Friday night to claim her eighth 100m hurdles title and equal Susan Smith’s record at the Woodies DIY National senior championships at Morton Stadium yesterday.

PAUL HESSION will defend his Cork City Sports 200m title at the CIT on Saturday but is unlikely to double up at 100m.

DERVAL O’ROURKE will be back on one of her old stomping grounds on Sunday when she lines up for the 100m at the Leevale Open Sports at the Cork IT complex in Bishopstown.

Paul Hession, the big draw on the second and final day of the Woodie's DIY Senior Track and Field Championships in Santry, was forced to withdraw from the 100 metres today due to illness.

JASON SMYTH yesterday became the first Irish Paralympic athlete to qualify for a major able-bodied championship.

SPRINTERS Paul Hession (Athenry AC) and Derval O’Rourke (Leevale AC) will captain the Irish team to compete in the European Team championships in Slovakia this weekend.

Athletics Ireland has announced that double gold medallist David Gillick will defend his 400m European Indoor title in Italy next month.

Athletics Ireland has announced a 12-strong team to compete at the European Indoor Track and Field Championships in Turin, Italy next month.

ROISÍN McGETTIGAN, who broke one of Sonia O’Sullivan’s old records when she finished fourth in the Reebok Women’s Mile at the Boston indoor meeting on Saturday, has been included in the Irish team for next month’s European Indoor Championships in Turin.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN continued his sensational build-up to the Olympic Games by knocking 20 seconds off his national record for the 10,000m walk at the Woodies DIY national senior track and field championships yesterday.

ANDREW LEDWITH (Fr. Murphy’s) has been named on the Irish senior men’s team for the world cross-country championships at the end of the month in what could prove a very wise decision by the selectors.

KILKENNY’S Eileen O’Keeffe was the big winner at Saturday night’s inaugural Athletics Ireland National Athletics awards in Dublin.

ALAN O’SHEA, tipped as a star of the future, took a giant step in the right direction yesterday when easily winning the Cork City Marathon.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN will be looking for the performance of a lifetime when he faces double European champion, Francisco Fernandez, in the 5,000m walk at the Irish Indoor Championships at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast tomorrow, with Gillian O’Sullivan also looking for something special.

There were some top quality performances at the National Indoor Championships in Nenagh today with sprinters in particular, catching the eye.

MARTIN McCARTHY (Leevale) and Noel Berkeley (DSD) fought out a spectacular sprint finish ahead of a record field of close to 300 at the annual St. Stephen’s Day four-mile road race in Belgooly which was marred by tragedy.

IT WAS to be a day of celebration for Kerry’s Gillian O’Sullivan (Farranfore/Maine Valley) at the opening session of the indoor championships of Ireland.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN will miss the 20th IAAF World Cup for racewalking in Turin in two weeks time on account of injury. The Togher athlete is nursing a knee injury.