DERVAL O’ROURKE will be one of the stars in action when her club, Leevale AC, stages its Annual Sports at the CIT track, Bishopstown, on April 18.

DAVID GILLICK believes he is in with ‘a shout’ of a medal in today’s 400m final at the world indoor championships in Doha (3.05pm, Irish).

Deirdre Byrne failed to qualify from Heat 2 of the women’s 3,000m competition of the World Indoor Athletics Championships today.

THE Irish team have settled into their base in Doha in advance of the world indoor championships which get under way tomorrow morning.

THE surprise inclusion of a men’s 4 x 400m relay team alongside medal hopefuls, David Gillick and Derval O’Rourke, on the Irish team for the world indoor championships in Doha (March 12, 13, 14) is aimed at the future and, in particular, this year’s European outdoor championships in Barcelona, according to team manager Patsy McGonagle.

DERVAL O’ROURKE is in a medal-winning frame of mind according to the Irish coach, Patsy McGonagle.

DERVAL O’ROURKE, Leevale AC, produced a solid performance to win the 60m hurdles at the UK Indoor Championships in Sheffield yesterday.

DERVAL O’ROURKE goes to the World Indoor Championships in Doha next month looking for a repeat of Moscow four years ago when she turned in a succession of storming performances en route to the 60m hurdles title.

DERVAL O’ROURKE got her season off to a solid start at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast where she retained her indoor 60m hurdles title in 8.18 secs at the Woodies DIY indoor championships of Ireland.

MARY CULLEN underscored her medal potential, while Andrew Led with signalled his intentions for next month’s SPAR European Cross-Country Championships with sweeping victories in the Woodies DIY National Inter-Counties cross-country championships held over Kilbeggan Racecourse yesterday.

Mary Cullen has finished first in the senior women’s race at the Woodie’s DIY Inter County Cross Country Championships at Kilbeggan this afternoon.

DAVID GILLICK faces the most daunting if most exciting assignment of his career later today in the semi-finals of the men’s 400m at the World Championships in Berlin.

Irish champion Deirdre Byrne has failed to qualify from today's 1,500 metres heats at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

Some of Ireland's top athletes will be in action at the World Track and Field Championships in Berlin today, with Paul Hession first out of the blocks in the heats of the 200m at 9:05am (Irish time).

Dubliner Michelle Carey finished fifth in her heat of the 400m hurdles today at the World Track and Field Championships in Berlin, missing out on a place in the semi-final.

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.

PAUL HESSION may have lost his winning streak but he maintained his form in Lucerne last night where he finished fifth in the 200m in 20.75 secs.

LISBURN’s Ciara Mageean has put Irish women’s middle distance running back on the map with a silver medal yesterday in the World Youth Championships 800m final in Sudtirol, Italy.

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.

Ireland's Paul Hession is through to the semi-finals of the 60m event at the European Indoor Championships in Turin.

Team Ireland is facing another busy day at the European Indoor Championships in Turin today after Derval O'Rourke's bronze-medal performance in the 60m hurdles yesterday.

DAVID GILLICK’S hopes of making history by winning a third successive 400 metres title at the European Indoor Championships collapsed in his semi-final yesterday.

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.

DEIRDRE BYRNE came within one second of creating the first major upset of the year in athletics when she almost pipped one of Britain’s great medal hopes for the 2012 Olympics, Stephanie Twell, for the women’s title at the IAAF International Cross-Country challenge at the Greenmount Campus, in Antrim.

ROISÍN McGETTIGAN earned a deserved and timely boost in advance of the Olympic Games when she won the women’s steeplechase at the first session of the VIVA British Grand Prix at Crystal Palace last night.

Beijing-bound Roisin McGettigan claimed a notable victory in the 3,000 metres steeplechase at tonight's Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN has lashed the treatment meted out to 800m runner David Campbell in the selection of B standard athletes for the Olympic Games.

PAUL HESSION, who looks a serious contender for a place in the final of the 200m at next month’s Olympic Games, doubles up in the 100m and 200m at The Mardyke today.

PAUL HESSION ran the fastest ever 200m — unfortunately wind-assisted — by an Irishman when finishing third at last night’s international athletics meeting in Thessalonika.

The Irish team are in a positive mood despite two withdrawals ahead of this weekend's World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh.

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.

ALISTAIR CRAGG is favourite to win the Woodies DIY National Cross-Country Championships at his first attempt in Belfast this afternoon.

DEIRDRE BYRNE and Linda Byrne, who were among Ireland’s top finishers at the European cross-country championships in Spain, returned to action in the muddy Belfast international at the Stormont Estate on Saturday where they finished third and fifth, respectively.

MARTIN FAGAN and Mary Cullen are named in the Irish senior teams for the European cross-country championships in Toro, near Madrid, on Sunday week.

Athletics Ireland today announced a 36-strong team for the European Cross Country Championships which take place on December 9 in Toro, Spain.

LAST summer Gary Murray was told by the renowned Munich sports injury specialist, Dr Hans Mueller, that his back was in such bad shape that he should not be running at all.

DERVAL O’ROURKE put the perfect finishing touch to her preparations for the world championships with her fastest time of the season when she was second to the Dawn Harper of the USA in 12.88 secs in the 100m hurdles final at yesterday’s international track and field meeting in Wattinsheid.

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.

ALISTAIR CRAGG was yesterday basking in the glory of a new Irish record he set on Sunday when he smashed Mark Carroll’s national 10,000m mark with a 27:39.55 run at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational meeting in Stanford University, California.

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.

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.

KELLY HOLMES has pulled out of Saturday’s BUPA Cork City Sports at the Mardyke because of the Achilles tendon problem that forced her out of the European Cup the weekend before last.