Three years ago, Ciara Mageean was unable to run, beset with injuries and staring down the barrel of career-threatening surgery.

For Ciara Mageean, the road to Rio runs through Amsterdam, and the journey starts today. 

WHEN runner Sergiu Ciobanu landed in Ireland 10 years ago at the age of 22 he didn’t even know what language the people spoke. 

Five years ago, Ciara Mageean had the world at her feet, her rivals in the rear-view mirror, and a bright future looming on the horizon.

You probably heard about the Chinese women last week — the runners who beat Sonia O’Sullivan out of gold medals in the World Championships held back in 1993, the ones who supposedly subsisted on turtle blood to set astonishing records in distance running.

In terms of sport, it’s been a great year for John Travers, who finished seventh in the 1500m final at the European Indoor Championships in March. Off the track, though, the 24-year-old has endured a torrid time, with his father, Stephen, passing away after a long illness just a day before travers finished eighth in the 1500m final at the World University Games in July. He spoke to the ’Irish Examiner’ ahead of tomorrow’s Inter Clubs Cross Country Championships in Santry...

In recent times Kenyan distance runners have become regular visitors to Ireland where they run for local clubs and hoover up prizes on the road racing scene before returning to the Rift Valley.

Sergiu Ciobanu didn’t take long to understand the prestige and history of the Ballycotton ‘10’. Fresh off the plane from Moldova, Ciobanu quickly realised victory in East Cork would guarantee household status in local running circles.

IT was a return to Kenyan dominance at the SSE Dublin marathon yesterday but not without an Irish twist in the tale.

Running: The inception of the Dublin marathon in 1980 proved to be a catalyst for the original running boom in Ireland, and for Jerry Kiernan, it was a glorious time.

My husband is an Olympic sailor and occasionally he runs with me, but he isn’t much of a runner.

For a while there I was worried about those IRFU ads telling me that I lived in ‘rugby country.’ All those good looking people with faraway looks on their faces, standing around in pubs and on trawlers? No cauliflower ears or concussion? Were these my fellow citizens?

For a while there I was worried about those IRFU ads telling me that I lived in ‘rugby country.’

There are questions I asked, and questions I wish I’d asked. Over the years in sporting situations, some queries have materialised in the frontal lobes before being pushed to the back of the cranium, where they hang remain, spiky and unfulfilled.

Ireland Olympic team manager Patsy McGonagle has rejected the assertions made against Gaelic games and the GAA by Jerry Kiernan.

Sergiu Ciobanu of Clonliffe Harriers coasted to a comfortable victory in yesterday’s Ballycotton 10-mile in East Cork — the 37th edition of this famous road race classic.

Sergiu Ciobanu, the Moldovan native who runs with Clonliffe Harriers, will start favourite to win tomorrow’s annual Ballycotton 10 mile road race in East Cork — the 37th edition of this classic event.

By Will Downing

Seán Hehir and Maria McCambridge capitalised on the domestic entry at the 34th Airtricity Dublin Marathon yesterday to become the first joint Irish winners since 1993 in two exciting duels that ebbed and flowed as record numbers took to the streets for the classic distance.

Marathon legend Dick Hooper believes there is “a golden opportunity” for domestic winners of Monday’s Airtricity Dublin Marathon with no elite foreign entries toeing the line due to budgetary constraints.

Race-walking legend Olive Loughnane believes Robert Heffernan can use his fourth place finish at the London Olympics as a springboard to success at the upcoming World Track and Field Championships in Moscow.

Robert Heffernan was a frustrated figure after his ninth place finish in 1:23:26 over 20km at the European Cup of Race Walking in Dudince, Slovakia yesterday as he took a heavy fall at 12km when in contention.

I was tempted to follow the two women down the steps and into the tunnel under the Mackey Stand at half-time yesterday, but in the end, I didn’t.

Before the Off the Ball team went off the air, Jerry Kiernan went off the wall on the show.

When fatgate broke — Jerry Kiernan’s personal operation transformation for upholstered Gaelic football players — I could not be drawn into the barney.

SATURDAY

Former Irish Olympian Jerry Kiernan last night launched an astonishing broadside on the physical fitness levels of intercounty GAA players.

For 17 days in July and August, we didn’t look at London through a prism of begrudgery and snorting derision, because they only put on the damn best show anyone could remember. (Ireland should try it sometime ...) Here’s the top ten memories of Olympics 2012

1. Ailis McSweeney revealed Derval O’Rourke’s preparations in intimate detail: “She was in her own bed with her coaches in comfortable surroundings until two days ago.”

Derval O’Rourke’s participation in next month’s London Olympics is in doubt after she pulled out of yesterday’s defence of her 100m hurdles title at the Woodies DIY national championships in Morton Stadium.

The cliché is a vital component of any sporting occasion. You could even argue that it’s not actually an occasion at all until at least a few of these have been trotted out.

NEWLY crowned European Cross Country champion Fionnuala Britton arrived in Dublin Airport yesterday evening to a rapturous reception.

FIONNUALA BRITTON will line up as one of the medal favourites alongside Turkey’s Binniz Uslu and Portugal’s Ana Dulce Félix for the European cross-country championships in Velenje, Slovenia tomorrow.

EUROPE’S top cross-country runner, Fionnuala Britton will be one of the favourites for the gold medal when she leads the Irish women’s team into next month’s European cross-country championships in Slovenia.

JOE SWEENEY may have other things on his mind but his coach, Jerry Kiernan, won’t be surprised if he adds his name to the list of qualifiers for next year’s Olympics.

JOE SWEENEY strengthened his stranglehold on the domestic cross-country scene when he produced another powerful front-running display to retain his Woodies DIY inter-counties title at Sligo Racecourse yesterday.

JOE SWEENEY goes into tomorrow’s Woodies DIY national inter-county cross-country championships overwhelming favourite to retain the title he won in Derry last year.

MOLDOVAN Sergiu Ciobanu yesterday produced a personal best of 49 minutes 37 seconds to win the Ballycotton 10 mile road race in East Cork.

MARIAN HEFFERNAN has been added to the Irish team for next week’s European indoor championships in Paris.

MICHAEL MULHARE, North Laois AC, yesterday added the men’s senior title at the 42nd Rás na hEireann Cross-Country International to animpressive list of victories notched up over the past several weeks.