Paul Pollock produced a mature performance to finish 21st and second fastest European in a new personal best of 2:16:42 in the marathon at the World Track and Field Championship in Moscow on Saturday.

DERVAL O’ROURKE is hoping that one more race followed by some fine tuning will send her to Gothenburg in the shape of her life for the European Track & Field Championships.

KAREN SHINKINS, one of the athletes dumped on the scrapheap by the Irish Sports Council and left without any financial aid when they introduced their new carding scheme earlier this year, was the one athlete who saved Irish blushes on a dismal opening to the world championships in Helsinki.