An hour before Katie Taylor edged closer to an Olympic dream in the Excel Arena, another Irish woman’s medal hopes were blown out over 144 miles away.

The absence of yachts from Dublin Bay on a bank holiday Monday in August was the first sign that it was no ordinary day for Ireland’s sailing community.

Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba failed to collect a fourth World Cross Country title today after being run out of the medals in Poland.

Belgium’s Jeroen D’Hoedt has won the men’s junior race this morning at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Santry Park, Dublin.

Substantial numbers of coalition troops were near the centre of Baghdad today and had no plans to pull back, a US Central Command spokesman said.