ELITE Irish athletes including former world indoor champion, Derval O’Rourke, sprint sensation, Paul Hession, and two time European indoor champion, David Gillick, will compete in a unique sprint relay at Croke Park on August 23 as part of the GAA’s 125th Anniversary celebrations.

THE awesome presence of Olympic 400m champion, Christine Ohuruogu, will add an air of excitement to this weekend’s Woodies DIY Irish Indoor Championships at The Odyssey in Belfast, where she will begin the build-up to the defence of her world title in Berlin next August.

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

THE men’s 800m final could be the race of the weekend at the Woodies DIY national track and field championships at Morton Stadium.

ALISTER CRAGG will follow an unusual route this weekend in his bid to get back on track for the world championships when he competes in back-to-back 5,000m races in Belgium on Saturday and then at the national championships in the Morton Stadium on Sunday.

ALISTER CRAGG will follow an unusual route this weekend in his bid to get back on track for the world championships when he competes in back-to-back 5,000m races in Belgium on Saturday and then at the national championships in the Morton Stadium on Sunday.

DERVAL O’ROURKE renews rivalry with European indoor and outdoor hurdles champion Susanna Kallur at the European Cup in Vaasa, Finland this weekend on a crucial weekend for Irish athletics.

DERVAL O’ROURKE finished last of the seven competitors in her Golden League 100m hurdles race at the Bislett Games in Oslo last night, in a time of 13.19 secs.

DERVAL O’ROURKE and Paul Hession head to the first Golden League meeting of the year — the Bislett Games in Oslo tonight — hoping for better weather than that which greeted them at an international meeting in Stavanger, Norway on Wednesday night.

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.

AFTER some spectacular performances on the road over the past three months, racewalker Robert Heffernan (Togher AC) returns to the track on Friday night when he will compete in a 5k event at the Grand Prix meeting in Lille.

Golden boy David Gillick capped off what Irish team manager Patsy McGonagle described as "a crazy day" by becoming the first man to retain the European Indoor 400 metres title since Britain's Du'aine Ladejo did so in 1996.

Both Paul Hession and Anna Boyle have broken their Irish 60 metres records in their heats at the European Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

Thomas Chamney and David McCarthy both qualified for the 800 metres semi-finals at the European Indoor Athletics Championships today in Birmingham to complete a very satisfactory first day for the Irish team.

JUST when he found himself resigned to skipping the indoor season altogether, European indoor 400m champion David Gillick finds himself back in the mix as favourite to retain his title in Birmingham this weekend.

Paul Hession was the outstanding performer at the Irish Indoor Athletics Championships in the Odyssey.

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.

JOANNE CUDDIHY qualified for this evening’s women’s 400m semi-finals at the European championships in Gothenburg yesterday when she ran her second fastest time ever at 51.41 secs for second place behind gold medal favourite Olga Zaytseva of Russia, who ran 50.89 secs, in her first round heat.

ALISTAIR CRAGG has returned to Arkansas for treatment on his Achilles tendon following his mishap in the final of the 5,000m at the European track and field championships in Gothenburg.

The Irish Women’s 4x100 relay team has failed to qualify for the final at the Spar European Championships in Gottenburg, but did manage to set a new national record in a very competitive semi-final.

THE Spaniards tried to put down a marker but Alistair Cragg responded by throwing down the gauntlet in the semi-finals of the 5,000m at the European championships in Gothenburg last night where the Irish experienced a mixture of drama and heartbreak, as well as the promise of medal success.

Joanne Cuddihy finished last in a tonight’s European Championships 400 metres final.

LIAM REALE, in his first appearance at a major championship, qualified for the final of the men’s 1,500m with a never-say-die performance at the European Championships in Gothenburg last night, finishing eighth in 3:41.97 in a heat that produced all four fastest losers.

JOANNE CUDDIHY hopes to continue her impressive form in the first round heats of the Women’s 400m at the European championships in Gothenburg this morning.

Derval O'Rourke, Alistair Cragg and David Gillick are top of the pile in the 29-strong team chosen to represent Ireland at next month's European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.

Dubliner David Gillick won his first 400 metres outdoor title at the Woodie's DIY National Track and Field Championships today.

IRELAND’S new world champion Derval O’Rourke, fresh from her record run in Lausanne last week, and both European indoor champions, Alistair Cragg and David Gillick, will have a rare opportunity to parade their talents before the home fans when they line up for the Woodies DIY National Track & Field Championships at Morton Stadium over the weekend.

THREE Irish athletes produced superlative performances in Mannheim over the weekend to qualify for next month’s world junior championships in Beijing.

IRELAND’S medal hopes in the 4 x 400m relay at the European championships in Gothenburg in a months time suffered a severe setback at the weekend when Rob Daly, who also has an individual qualifying standard, tore a calf muscle at the BUPA Cork City Sports.

DERVAL O’ROURKE will kick off her outdoor season at The Mardyke on Saturday, where she claims star billing at the BUPA Cork City Sports.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN will present the awards when the Irish Milers Club stages 1,500m races for men and women in conjunction with the Kit Kat Irish Schools Track and Field Championships in Tullamore tomorrow.

LIMERICK man Liam Reale added his name to the growing list of qualifiers for the European championships when he finished second in the elite men’s 1,500m race at last weekend’s Boston High Performance meeting.

DAVID GILLICK, the European indoor 400m champion, will be included on the team for the world indoor championships when it is announced next week although the early indications are that he will not travel.

DERVAL O’ROURKE of Leevale achieved her second national record in eight days when she retained her 60 metres hurdles title in a sensational 7.90 seconds at the National Indoor championships at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena yesterday.

Ballymena woman Anna Boyle and Cork's Derval O'Rourke set new Irish senior records at the 2006 Irish Indoor Athletics Championships in Belfast this evening.

CIARA SHEEHY may skip the 200 metres in favour of the 400 metres at the All-Ireland indoor championships at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena next weekend, despite three world-class performances at the AAA indoor championships in Sheffield last weekend.

IRELAND picked up a fourth athletics medal on the final day of the World University Games in Turkey as the women’s squad finished third in the 4x100m relay.

Ireland are celebrating their first ever women's world relay medal after the women's 4x100 relay team scooped bronze at the World University Games in Izmir.

Ireland celebrated in style at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey tonight as Ailis McSweeney and Derval O'Rourke, both products of Cork's Leevale club, grabbed podium finishes.

DAVID GILLICK, the European indoor 400m champion, has been named on the Irish team for the world championships in Helsinki the weekend after next.

THE battle of the women sprinters took on a new dimension at the Woodies DIY National Senior Championships in Morton Stadium yesterday when hurdler Derval O’Rourke entered the fray and almost pulled off what would have been a sensational double.

National cross country champion Jolene Byrne came from third on the final bend to take the 1500 metres title at the Woodies DIY Irish Track and Field championships. But she almost surrendered the gold in the final strides at Morton Stadium, Santry.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN misses the Woodies DIY National senior track and field championships at Morton Stadium at the weekend.

Brendan Mooney