JOANNE CUDDIHY qualified for this evening’s women’s 400m semi-finals at the European championships in Gothenburg yesterday when she ran her second fastest time ever at 51.41 secs for second place behind gold medal favourite Olga Zaytseva of Russia, who ran 50.89 secs, in her first round heat.

Joanne Cuddihy produced a lifetime best to guarantee herself a place in tomorrow night’s 400 metres final at the European Championships in Gothenburg.

Two Irish runners have reached the semi-finals of the men's 200m at the European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.

Liam Reale and Joanne Cuddihy have another chance to shine today at the European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.

Derval O'Rourke, Alistair Cragg and David Gillick are top of the pile in the 29-strong team chosen to represent Ireland at next month's European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.

DAVID GILLICK will go to the European championships in Gothenburg in two weeks’ time oozing confidence after his performance at the Woodies DIY national track and field championships in Morton Stadium yesterday.

Dubliner David Gillick won his first 400 metres outdoor title at the Woodie's DIY National Track and Field Championships today.

Kilkenny woman Joanne Cuddihy looks set to double up with both the 200 metres and 400 metres titles at the Woodies DIY National Track and Field Championships this weekend.

LIMERICK man Liam Reale added his name to the growing list of qualifiers for the European championships when he finished second in the elite men’s 1,500m race at last weekend’s Boston High Performance meeting.

Ballymena woman Anna Boyle and Cork's Derval O'Rourke set new Irish senior records at the 2006 Irish Indoor Athletics Championships in Belfast this evening.

Derval O’Rourke was not fazed by the atrocious weather at tonight’s World Championships as she secured a place in semi-finals of the 110 metres hurdles.

Kilkenny City Harrier Eileen O'Keeffe threw a new national record of 68.14 metres to claim hammer gold at the Woodies DIY Irish Track and Field Championships in Santry today.

THEY may have reclaimed their position in the top division but British athletics suffered a stunning blow at the European Cup match in Leiria, Portugal, yesterday, when Paula Radcliffe trailed in a remote second to Volha Krautsova from Belarus in the women’s 5,000m - a performance that must throw her plans for the world championships into turmoil.

IRISH HURDLER Peter Coghlan has quit athletics in protest at being omitted from the Irish Sport Council’s high-performance grant recipients.

The Republic of Ireland’s Ciara Sheehy ran a season’s best but missed out on a place in the 200 metres semi-finals at the European Indoor Championships in unusual circumstances.

Athletics Ireland have added a further two athletes to the team for the forthcoming European Indoor Championships in Madrid on March 4-6.

A further five athletes have been added to the team for the forthcoming European Indoor Championships in Madrid on March 4-6, making it the largest Irish team ever for these championships.

WITH places still up for grabs on the Irish team for next month’s European Indoor Championships in Madrid, interest will centre on the Nenagh Arena over the weekend when the National Senior Championships will be decided.

Brendan Mooney

CIARAN Ó LIONAIRD posted the qualifying standards for both the world youths championships in Marrakech and the European Youth Olympics, which had been his target, in one fell swoop when he won the junior 1,500m race in a sensational 3:50.86 at the Cardiff indoor international at the weekend.

Paul Brizzel became the fourth Irish track and field athlete to fail to make it out of the first round of their discipline at the Olympic stadium, but still managed a season's best of 21.00 seconds in his 200m heat.

THE tale of woe that has beset Irish race walkers continued in Athens yesterday when Olive Loughnane failed to finish the women’s 20km final.

WITH Athens looming, Irish athletics got another much-needed boost in advance of the Olympic Games when Mark Carroll finished second in the 3,000m at the Gugi Meeting in Linz on Monday night where Freda Davoren turned in another superb performance to finish third in the women’s 1,500m.

MARK CARROLL highlighted his well-being in advance of the Olympic Games by running away with the 5,000m and then winning an exciting sprint for third place behind Alistair Cragg and young Colin Costello in the 1,500m at the Woodies DIY National Championships at Morton Stadium yesterday.

SONIA O’SULLIVAN has been travelling a familiar path along the Olympic route and this weekend could see her repeat her Sydney 2000 strategy should she double up over 800m and 1,500m at the Woodies DIY National Championships at Morton Stadium.

1500m runner Gareth Turnbull's chances of making the Athens Olympic Games seem to be dashed after a poor run at the North Down Games in Bangor.

The rain fell relentlessly at the BUPA Ireland Cork City Sports at the Mardyke today and washed away the final opportunity for Irish athletes to qualify for the Olympic Games in Athens.

Ailis McSweeney was the first Irish athlete today to make an impact at the Cork City Sports as she was placed in the women's 100m

GARY RYAN has always found The Mardyke something of a happy hunting ground for fast times but he will be looking for something extra today in his Olympic qualifying standard quest at the BUPA Cork City Sports.

SOME of Ireland’s Olympic hopefuls have been going through a rough patch in recent days.

HIGH jump sensation Adrian O’Dwyer, was jumping for Olympic qualification in Algiers last week but on Saturday he will be jumping for joy at The Mardyke in Cork where he will again treat fans to the type of performance that saw him clear 2.30m and claim his place in Athens.

IRISH High Jump sensation Adrian O’Dwyer from Kilkenny yesterday became the 13th Irish athlete to achieve the Olympic A standard when he set an Irish record of 2.30m at a meeting in Algiers.

National sprint record-holder Paul Brizzel will lead Ireland’s challenge in this weekend’s Spar European Cup fixture in Reykjavik, Iceland.

GILLIAN O’SULLIVAN has skipped this weekend’s walking extravaganza in Krakow and, instead, is receiving treatment on the lower back problem that has been affecting her technique in recent times.

Celbridge sprint star David McCarthy missed out on his bid to make consecutive World Indoor finals this afternoon in Budapest, as he faded over the final lap to clock a poor 47.34s in fifth in the first 400m semi-final.

Ballymena sprinter Paul Brizzel is through to this evening’s 200m semi-finals at the World Indoor Championships in the Sportarena, Budapest, after placing second in his first round heat this morning.

IRISH ATHLETES will be looking for inspiration from past performances in Budapest when they go into action in the 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships at the Sportarena today.

IT’S never easy for an athlete to admit they got it wrong, but Marie McCambridge has done so just hours before she goes into action in at the World Indoor Championships which open here today.

ATHLETICS Ireland have named a team of nine for the world indoor championships in Budapest, but could add two more to the squad over the coming days.

DERVAL O’Rourke has overcome injury and will contest the 60m hurdles at this weekend’s All-Ireland Indoor championships at Belfast’s Odyssey.

IRISH sprinters had a sensational weekend at the British AAA indoor championships and world championships trials in Sheffield when they took eight of the 12 sprint medals.