Ireland’s fastest woman lived up to her billing with a brilliant performance at the Irish Universities Athletics Championships in Athlone on Saturday.

This was peak Fionnuala McCormack – fast, fluent and fighting to the bitter end.

To mark World Book Day, we asked Irish sports stars for their favourite reads.

When the dust has settled, the medals safely stowed away, the question is not so much about what Irish athletes achieved at last weekend’s European Indoor Championships, but how they did it.

A strong Irish team of 16 athletes have been selected for next month's European Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow.

Mid-December yet already the challenge of the old enemy Dublin is high on the mind of Meath manager Andy McEntee.

Former Meath captain Kevin Reilly rejects the resigned attitude of some players who left the panel this year and believes their decisions have cost the county.

As Dublin star Diarmuid Connolly looks set to head out to the US for the summer in the coming days, the allure of Gaelic football in Boston is proving extremely attractive, with a host of inter-county and elite club talent basing themselves there this summer.

Champions Na Piarsaigh remain unbeaten after two rounds of the Limerick SHC.

Meath boss Andy McEntee expressed a mixture of delight and relief after his team boosted their prospects of avoiding the drop to division three following this polished display against fellow strugglers Down at Pairc Tailteann yesterday.

Meath 1-19

Meath are eyeing up their first piece of silverware under Andy McEntee after cruising comfortably through to the last four of the Bord na Mona O’Byrne Cup.

Paul Robinson’s recent world best time of 4:17.9 for a mile run in sub-zero Antarctica recalled memories of a previous era when Ireland’s leading milers competed at elite level and helped to rewrite the record books.

She ran her heart out, just like always, but as has increasingly been the case for Fionnuala McCormack at the European Cross Country, it just wasn’t enough.

Team Ireland have enjoyed an impressive fifth place finish in the men's relay event at the European Cross Country Championships in Slovakia.

St Loman’s Mullingar 0-13 Simonstown Gaels 1-8: St Loman’s, Mullingar, came from seven points down to defeat Simonstown Gaels of Navan and reach their first ever Leinster Senior Club final at TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar, yesterday.

Less than two weeks out from the World Championships in London, this was always going to be a fact-finding mission for Ciara Mageean, Mark English, Brian Gregan, and Thomas Barr, and though each of them faced a test of differing degrees of difficulty, they all passed with flying colours.

Canada’s Crystal Emmanuel shone brightest at the 66th edition of the Cork City Sports last night, the 25-year-old blasting to a national record of 22.50 in a race in which Bandon’s Phil Healy broke new ground with a huge personal best of 23.32.

Brian Gregan stole Ciara Mageean’s thunder as he set a new personal best at the Morton games as Mageean missed the two-minute mark.

Ciara Mageean will bid to become the first Irish woman to break two minutes for 800m when she lines out at the Morton Games in Dublin this evening.

All-Ireland winner Patrick McBrearty showed all his big game experience with a dramatic 73rd minute winning point at Pairc Tailteann to send Donegal through to Round 4A of the qualifiers.

Graham Reilly crowned his first Championship game as Meath captain with a thrilling display to help secure a Leinster SFC semi-final clash with Kildare.

One of longest standing records in the history books could go today at the Irish Life Health/Munster Schools T&F at Cork IT if 16-year-old Darragh McElhinney maintains the brilliant form he has shown this season.

Meath 2-22 Wicklow 0-9: There was a honeymoon start for new Meath boss Andy McEntee in this O’Byrne Cup tie at Páirc Tailteann yesterday.

Meanwhile substitute Cian O’Brien was the hero for Meath as his late equaliser rescued a draw.

Meath 1-13 Cavan 1-20: The coalition Government weren’t the only ones facing meltdown over the weekend.

Meath 1-10 Armagh 0-8: On goes Meath’s winter of content.

The first half at Semple Stadium didn’t provide a great deal of entertainment, although the second was a distinct improvement.

Limerick 1-25 Laois 1-19

For the second year in a row, Offaly have brought an end to Limerick’s promotion aspirations in Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League.

Allianz FL Division 2 Round 2: Meath 0-13 Kilare 0-11: It was payback time for Meath footballers following a dismal performance in their opening round defeat to Galway and they delivered in front of their supporters at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday night.

Meath 1-17 Longford 1-09: Nine successive points at the start of the second-half set Meath on the road to victory at Páirc Tailteann last night.

Dublin became the first team to qualify for the Bord na Móna O'Byrne Cup semi-finals after a hard earned victory over Offaly, with wins also for Maynooth University, Kildare, UCD, Meath, Westmeath, Wexford and DIT tonight.

Cork manager Jimmy Barry Murphy has named an unchanged side for Sunday's Munster Hurling final clash with Limerick.