August’s World Championships in Beijing may be the summer priority but Mark English has also earmarked the Monaco Diamond League meet in mid-July for a crack at David Matthews’ 20-year old Irish 800m record.

Emerald’s Ciara Neville announced herself as a star of the future at the GloHealth National Indoor Championships in Athlone as current stars Mark English and Kelly Proper continued their dominance.

Mark English wrapped up his preparations for Prague 2015 by taking the Glo Health national indoor 800 meter title in Athlone I.T today.

Kelly Proper bagged long-jump gold and her 17th national indoor title at day one of the Glo Health National Indoor Championships.

ATHLETICS: Mark English is in line to win the overall athlete of the year award at the 2014 National Athletics Awards in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Santry this afternoon, while Bandon’s Phil Healy is in contention for emerging athlete of the year.

Two new national records were set by Irish relay teams on the penultimate day of the European Athletics Championships in Zurich.

Robert Heffernan will face a stiff challenge to win the European 50km race walk title on the streets of Zurich this morning but his wife and coach, Marian, believes he’s in as good a shape as ever.

Kelly Proper and Christine McMahon bowed out in their respective semi-finals at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich – but Proper still scored a lifetime best in exiting the 200m.

Kelly Proper breezed into the semi-finals of the women’s 200m at the European Athletics Championships in Zurich this morning, taking an automatic qualifying spot by coming fourth in her first-round heat.

Phil Healy is an athlete in a hurry.

Rob Heffernan will lead an Irish team of 25 athlete’s to Zurich for next months Europeans, which take place from August 12 – 17.

Fionnuala Britton sprinted to the Women’s 5,000 metre title at today’s Glo Health Senior track and field championships in Santry stadium.

Home favourite Rob Heffernan finished fourth in the 3km walk at the Cork City Sports meet tonight, but was pleased to set a new personal best over the distance as he continues his preparations for the European Championships.

Athletics: Sarah Lavin was named female athlete of the meet at the Leevale T&F promotion at the Cork IT yesterday in unusual circumstances.

The opportunity to lay down early season markers and maybe achieve a qualifying performance for the various summer championships has seen a huge entry of over 200 athletes for the annual Leevale T&F meeting tomorrow.

Athletics Ireland and Forest Feast have have announced a new partnership to support grassroot athletics in Ireland through the Little Athletics programme.

Olympic decathlon champion Ashton Eaton broke the 60 meter stadium record at tonight’s Athlone IT Grand Prix.

Marcus Lawler and Kelly Proper saved the best until last at the Woodie’s DIY National Senior Indoor Championships in Athlone when they powered around their respective 200m races in record-breaking fashion while Amy Foster snaffled a world indoor qualifying time in the 60m, pipping Phil Healy in the process.

Amy Foster and Kelly Proper were the stand out performers at today’s Woodies DIY National Indoor Championships in Athlone IT.

Kelly Proper joined Rob Heffernan as Ireland's most decorated indoor champion at today’s Woodies DIY national indoor championships.

Sarah Lavin’s stock continued to rise yesterday at the British Athletics Indoor championships in Sheffield with a bronze medal over the 60m hurdles in 8.25 moving her to second on the Irish all-time record list.

Robert Heffernan crowned a fairytale season when he was named Athlete of the Year at the National Athletics Awards at the Crowne Plaza in Dublin yesterday.

Three of Ireland’s leading female athletes have rubbished suggestions that body image remains an issue for women in sport.

Cork’s Brian Murphy showed true grit in the men’s 400m to win his third national title in a row in 47.14, as Kelly Proper was laden with gold and four national titles in monsoon conditions at the 141st Woodie’s DIY National Track and Field Championships in Morton Stadium over the weekend.

Kelly Proper took athlete of the championships after taking four gold medals at the Woodies DIY national track and field championships.

Kelly Proper was the star of the Woodies DIY national track and field championships taking three gold medals in Santry Stadium.

Fionnuala Britton’s decision to skip the remainder of the outdoor season was taken with a longer-term view, admitted coach Chris Jones.

The surnames of Lawler and Healy, though not yet in lights, are inscribed above the 100m and 200m national junior records, while Lavin is our fastest ever junior over the hurdles, quicker even than Derval O’Rourke.

Now firmly settled in its new home at the CIT track in Bishopstown, the Cork City Sports International meet captured the partisan crowd’s attention last night as Robert Heffernan clocked a new national record in the 3,000m race walk.

American sprinter Cleo VanBuren is determined to write her name into the history books by becoming the first lady to break 11 seconds on Irish soil.

Derval O'Rourke and Fionnuala Britton will lead a weakened Irish team in the European Team championship next week.

Derval O’Rourke is the standout name of the athletes pre-selected for the European first league team championships at the end of the month.

An impressive double by 18-year-old Clonmel athlete Sean Tobin was the highlight of the 13th annual Leevale T&F meeting which took place at the Cork IT track in dry but windy conditions on Saturday.

With favourable weather forecast, some exciting performances are expected today when the Leevale club promote the first day of a two-day programme of athletics.

With grown men banging the blue-boarded track and a raucous crowd standing on their feet as John Travers broke eight minutes for the 3,000m, it truly was Super Sunday at the Woodie’s DIY National Indoor Championships in Athlone in a day to remember for Irish athletics aficionados.

Robert Heffernan put on a masterclass of race walking to win his 15th national title but felt the atmosphere ‘dead’ on day one of the Woodie’s DIY National Indoor Championships in Athlone on Saturday.

The Woodie’s DIY AAI Games in the new Athlone IT indoor arena produced a long list of new personal bests and one new record.

By Alan Smith

With several Olympians expected to take to the track, the women’s 400m race is shaping up to be the main attraction at the 61st Cork City International Sports at Cork Institute of Technology on Tuesday evening.

Strong wind at Santry Stadium played a telling factor on Day One of the 2012 Woodies DIY National Track and Field Championships today.

Cork City Sports chairman Tony O’Connell yesterday described the entry list for next month’s event as “shaping up to be the best” in the event’s history.

It may be the Olympics but don’t expect the world.

FIONNUALA BRITTON beat a quality field to notch up another victory in Saturday’s IAAF Grand Challenge Cross Country International over a rain-sodden course in Greenmount, Antrim.

FIONNUALA BRITTON beat a quality field to notch up another victory in Saturday’s IAAF Grand Challenge Cross Country International over a rain sodden course in Greenmount, Antrim.