RÓISIN McGETTIGAN promised a lot going into last night’s final of the women’s 3,000m steeplechase after her fine run in Friday’s heats but she finished last in a sensational race which saw Guinara Galkina-Samitova (Russia) take the gold medal in a new world record time of 8:58.81.

THOMAS CHAMNEY went to within 0.66 seconds of the Olympic ‘A’ standard for 800m in Lignano, Italy, at the weekend, when he finished fourth in a quality race in 1:44.66, and now the Clonmel man will take his quest for a place in Beijing to Lucerne tomorrow night.

JOANNE CUDDIHY took Irish women’s 400m running to a new level at the world championships in Osaka yesterday when she set the national record at a world class 50.73 secs and only narrowly missed out on a place in the final.