Sportswear giant Nike has divided opinion with claims that advanced technology can combine with training and talent to change the face of athletics. Mitch Phillips reports

It wasn’t what he wanted, but that says more about his mentality than his performance. Paul Pollock finished a respectable 32nd in the Olympic marathon yesterday, reaching the finish in Rio’s Sambodromo in 2:16:24.

For several of Ireland’s best marathoners, the door finally closed on Olympic qualification at the London Marathon yesterday, with the race to Rio de Janeiro now left in the hands of selectors ahead of next month’s deadline.

Wilson Kipsang of Kenya set a new world record as he powered to victory in today’s Berlin Marathon.

ASAFA POWELL laid down a challenge to his 100m rivals byclocking a wind-aided 9.75 seconds as the IAAF Diamond League got underway in Doha last night.

USAIN BOLT created yet another piece of athletics history last night with a sensational victory in the 200 metres at the World Championships in Berlin.

USAIN BOLT rallied against cold, wind and Asafa Powell to win the 100 meters in 9.77 seconds last night at the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels.

ALISTAIR CRAGG will have some exalted athletics company around him when he contests today’s Olympic 5000m final at the Bird’s Nest Stadium (1.10pm, Irish).

Alastair Cragg has finished sixth in his 5000m heat at the Beijing Olympics.

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele will bid to land a record sixth IAAF World Cross Country Championship title in Edinburgh on March 30.

The United States dominated the final day of the athletics World Championships with three more victories matching the team’s haul of 14 gold medals two years ago in Helsinki.

Meseret Defar broke the world 3,000 metres road running record in today's Newcastle/Gateshead meeting with a time of eight minutes 46.9 seconds.

Alistair Cragg finished just outside the medals in the final of the 3,000 metres at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow today.

ALISTAIR CRAGG has endured 12 months of injury and illness since he won the European indoor title over 3,000 metres in Madrid but, half a continent away from his greatest success, he showed in Moscow yesterday he was back to something approaching his best.

Alistair Cragg qualified for Sunday’s World Championships indoor final in Moscow but looked a shadow of the runner who won last year’s European indoor 3000 metres title.

Australian Craig Mottram, currently the world’s best non-African distance runner, bids to enhance his fast-growing reputation in the British Telecom 3,000 metres road race on Saturday.

JUSTIN GATLIN became only the second man in World Championship history to complete the 100m/200m sprint double in Helsinki last night when he outgunned the young pretenders to add the 200m title to the 100m crown he won on Sunday.

Ivan Heshko won a thrilling BUPA Great North Mile in Newcastle, England, this afternoon.

Hicham El Guerrouj completed a second golden double of the night as victory in the men’s 5,000metres final created his own piece of history.

Ireland's Alastair Cragg had a disappointing race in the men's 5000metres final, finishing 12th in a time of 13:43.06.

ALISTAIR CRAGG ends a 16-year barren spell in Irish men's athletics when he lines up for the 5,000m final in the Olympic Stadium tonight.

SONIA O'SULLIVAN will not run on the track again this season and could opt to retire after her disappointing display in the 5,000m final.

Twenty-four-year-old Alistair Cragg ran one of the races of his life as he came through his 5000m heat as a fastest loser, qualifying him for Saturday's 5000m final in just his first major track championship.

ELIUD KIPCHOGE of Kenya won a thrilling men’s 5,000 metres world final in Paris denying Hicham El Guerrouj a second title at the championships.