WHEN Steven Colvert, a relative newcomer to the sport of athletics, develops the strength to see the race out, he is going to be a formidable force in 200m running.

Alistair Cragg had a nervous wait before his qualification for Saturday's 5000m final at the European Athletics Championships was confirmed.

DAVID McCARTHY and Ailís McSweeney qualified for the semi-finals of their respective 800m and 100m events on an exciting, and controversial, morning for Irish athletes at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona.

JASON SMYTH may have set three records in Barcelona last evening when he became the first Paralympic athlete to compete at the European Championships, becoming the first Irishman to make the semi-finals of the 100m and it is unlikely any other athlete could have spent so much time in the mixed zone doing media interviews.

Sudden fame such as that experienced by Susan Boyle can destroy a new star’s self-esteem if they are not given the right support, a leading psychiatrist said today.

Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld will meet in the quarter-finals of the Blue Square UK Open for a third successive year on Sunday.

Raymond Van Barneveld defeated Kevin McDine 8-2 to win the Blue Square UK Open Irish Regional Final at the Citywest Hotel.

The boss of a leading UK cake company was cast out of his job today, just six months after taking on the top position.

Jo Pavey endured a few difficult moments before winning yesterday’s SPAR European Cross Country trial in Liverpool.

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.

Inter Link Foods today said it expected to make more than 65 million mince pies in time for Christmas after installing one of the largest pie-making plants in Europe.

Mary Dundon, Political Reporter

A SPECIALIST in diabetes treatment has warned that more patients could die or suffer amputations if extra resources are not provided to tackle waiting lists.

Beaumont Hospital in Dublin has reportedly banned all new diabetes patients due to a 14-month waiting time for appointments.

Basketball results:

Brooktrout Technology, Inc., a leading provider of innovative hardware and software platforms that enable applications for the New Network(TM), today announced that its TruFax PCI intelligent fax boards are now available for use in an additional 25 countries as well as in the US and Canada.

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the World Cross Country Championships in Dublin has been named following the British Inter-Counties Championships in Nottingham on Saturday.

An estimated one million working hours could be lost by British industry in the next few months due to ‘‘winter blues,’’ a leading doctor warned today.