Joanne Cuddihy made a confident start to her World Championship campaign in Osaka with a season's best in her 400 metres heat, but the Kilkenny woman will have it all to do to progress out of tomorrow's semi-finals.

KAREN SHINKINS, one of the athletes dumped on the scrapheap by the Irish Sports Council and left without any financial aid when they introduced their new carding scheme earlier this year, was the one athlete who saved Irish blushes on a dismal opening to the world championships in Helsinki.

Marion Jones kept her Olympic hopes alive by coming through long jump qualifying at the US track and field trials in California this morning.