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.

ALISTAIR CRAGG has his sights set firmly on the European Indoor Championships in Birmingham on March 2/3/4, when he will defend his 3,000m title.

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.

Ten Irish athletes are in action today at the European Athletics Championship in Gothenburg.

DERVAL O’ROURKE is hoping that one more race followed by some fine tuning will send her to Gothenburg in the shape of her life for the European Track & Field Championships.

LAST year David Campbell made what might have seemed a disastrous financial decision — particularly for someone with a Masters Degree in Finance — when he sold up all his possessions and went to South Africa to pursue a career in athletics.

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.

DERVAL O’ROURKE broke her national 100m hurdles record with a 12.92 secs run for fourth place at last night’s Grand Prix meeting in Lausanne with a promise of better to come at Friday night’s Golden Gala meeting in Rome.

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 has not run an indoor 400m since the European indoor championships final in Madrid a year ago, when he stormed home to win a treasured gold medal.

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.

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.

JER O’DONOGHUE (Leevale) returned to his native county to claim his qualifying standard for next year’s European track and field championships last night when An Riocht AC unveiled their magnificent new €1.8 million facility with the Lee Strand International at Castleisland.

Simon Lewis

JAMES NOLAN (1,500m) and Paul Hession (200m) were declared fit to compete at the world championships in Helsinki following Saturday’s Dublin International Meet at Morton Stadium.

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.

Kilkenny City Harrier Eileen O'Keeffe threw a new national record of 68.14 metres to claim hammer gold at the Woodies DIY Irish Track and Field Championships in Santry today.

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

There were two national records set at last night’s International Track and Field meeting in Bratislava where those competing in the sprint left the selectors with plenty of food for thought in advance of naming the team for the European Cup.

The Republic of Ireland’s Ciara Sheehy ran a season’s best but missed out on a place in the 200 metres semi-finals at the European Indoor Championships in unusual circumstances.

THE IRISH sprinters in action yesterday morning all made quick exits from the championships.

Athletics Ireland have added a further two athletes to the team for the forthcoming European Indoor Championships in Madrid on March 4-6.

A further five athletes have been added to the team for the forthcoming European Indoor Championships in Madrid on March 4-6, making it the largest Irish team ever for these championships.

THREE stadium records in quick succession — all from Leevale sprinters — provided fans with 25 minutes of sheer magic at the AAI Indoor championships in Nenagh yesterday when Jer O’Donoghue, Ailis McSweeney and hurdler Derval O’Rourke braved the bitter cold to return scintillating performances.

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

WITH places still up for grabs on the Irish team for next month’s European Indoor Championships in Madrid, interest will centre on the Nenagh Arena over the weekend when the National Senior Championships will be decided.

Brendan Mooney

CIARAN Ó LIONAIRD posted the qualifying standards for both the world youths championships in Marrakech and the European Youth Olympics, which had been his target, in one fell swoop when he won the junior 1,500m race in a sensational 3:50.86 at the Cardiff indoor international at the weekend.

DERVAL O’ROURKE ended an injury nightmare on Saturday with qualification for the European Indoor Championships in Madrid in March.

CIARA SHEEHY is all set to take on the pretender to her crown, Ailish McSweeney, at the AAI Indoor Games in Nenagh on Sunday.

AILISH McSWEENEY will be the star attraction at the Munster indoor championships in Nenagh on Sunday as she attempts a double in the sprints.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN has been travelling a familiar path along the Olympic route and this weekend could see her repeat her Sydney 2000 strategy should she double up over 800m and 1,500m at the Woodies DIY National Championships at Morton Stadium.

GARY RYAN’S Olympic qualification hopes were boosted yesterday when he was granted a place in the 200m in Saturday’s Meeting de Madrid 2004 - an IAAF Super Grand Prix - and then in Monday’s meet in Thessalonika.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN took another step along the now familiar path to major championship and Olympic engagements when she paraded her talents once again at the Mardyke on Saturday, and as they gave her the traditional send-off, she responded with an emphatic if not spectacular 5,000m victory in 15:15.95.

Ailis McSweeney was the first Irish athlete today to make an impact at the Cork City Sports as she was placed in the women's 100m

GARY RYAN has always found The Mardyke something of a happy hunting ground for fast times but he will be looking for something extra today in his Olympic qualifying standard quest at the BUPA Cork City Sports.

IRISH High Jump sensation Adrian O’Dwyer from Kilkenny yesterday became the 13th Irish athlete to achieve the Olympic A standard when he set an Irish record of 2.30m at a meeting in Algiers.

GILLIAN O’SULLIVAN has skipped this weekend’s walking extravaganza in Krakow and, instead, is receiving treatment on the lower back problem that has been affecting her technique in recent times.