“I’m not finishing fourth,” was Fionnuala Britton’s mantra in the last three laps of the 3,000m final as the teak tough Wicklow woman won a fighting bronze medal yesterday.

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

IRISH Olympian Thomas Chamney admits he can understand the pressures Martin Fagan was under when he decided to inject himself with EPO.

CIARÁN Ó LIONÁIRD (Leevale), fresh from his sensational 1,500m run in Oordegem, Belgium, will contest the 800m at this weekend’s Woodies DIY national senior championships at Morton Stadium, Santry.

DESPITE winning only one medal, Irish team manager Patsy McGonagle was still pleased with the Irish team’s performance at the European championships in Barcelona.

DAVID GILLICK ran to within two hundredths of a second of his national record to win his semi-final in 44.79 secs and earn his place in tomorrow’s men’s 400m final which promises to be the race of the European championships.

Irish sprint sensation Jason Smyth was pleased with his efforts in Barcelona tonight, despite failing to qualify for the 100m final at the European Athletics Championships.

David Gillick cruised impressively into the European Championship 400 metre final at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium this evening.

OLIVE LOUGHNANE gets the programme under way in the women’s 20k walk at 7.05am (Irish time) when she faces a field of just 23 in her quest to add a European Championship medal to her world championship medal and only Sonia O’Sullivan and Eamonn Coghlan have done that in outdoor competition before.

COACH Nick Dakin is looking for a winning performance from David Gillick in this morning’s first-round heats of the 400m at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona to ensure a good lane draw for the semi-finals.

THOMAS CHAMNEY leaves for Barcelona today, on the last leg of a carefully planned mission that should eventually take him to the final of the 1,500m at the European Championships in two weeks’ time.

ROBERT Heffernan put weeks of frustration behind him when he retained his 10,000m walk title at the Woodies DIY National track and field championships at Morton Stadium yesterday where he beat his Olympic team mate, Jamie Costin, who claimed his 3,000m record in Cork a week earlier and, to cap it all, picked up the Athlete of the Meet Award and the €1,000 that went with it.

Hurdling star Derval O'Rourke warmed up for her Barcelona bid by securing her eighth national title in the 100m hurdles on the final day of the Woodie's DIY National Senior Track & Field Championships in Santry.

UNTIL last weekend, Robert Heffernan held every race walking record up to 50k. But along came his old training partner, Jamie Costin, who smashed his 3,000m time before his home fans at Cork City Sports.

DAVID GILLICK installed himself as the favourite for the gold medal in the 400m at the upcoming European championships when he posted the fastest time of the year by a European one-lap runner at 44.98 secs in the Swiss town of La Chaux-De-Fonds on Sunday.

THE stars turned up and performed and the others all exceeded what was expected of them as Ireland not only retained First League status but reinforced their position in the table at the European Team Championships in Budapest over the weekend.

Team manager Patsy McGonagle hailed the efforts of Ireland's top track and field stars as they finished a very credible eighth in the European Team Championships 1st League event in Budapest.

IRELAND’S top athletes will join forces this weekend in Budapest in an bid to retain First Division status at the European Team Championships.

SPEEDSTERS Derval O’Rourke and Paul Hession head up a strong Irish side to travel to Budapest for the second European Team Championships on June 19-20.

PAUL HESSION will open what he has described as his “big year” in an unusual setting for a sprinter when he lines up for the 100m at the Great City Games on a specially laid track on the streets of Manchester’s Deansgate on Sunday week.

DICK HOOPER, Ireland’s Marathon Man, will be at his old stomping ground, St Anne’s Park in Raheny, tomorrow to present the prizes for the Dublin City Council/BHAA road races when the programme will be comprised of a men’s four-mile race and women’s two mile race.

DERVAL O’ROURKE has been offered a lane in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Golden League meeting in Zurich next Friday night.

Eileen O’Keeffe was unable to secure a place in Saturday’s Hammer final after today’s qualification round.

Thomas Chamney's World Championships campaign is over after he disappointed in this morning's 800 metres heats at Berlin's Olympiastadion.

ALISTAIR CRAGG has been something of an enigma since first donning the Irish singlet.

ROBERT HEFFERNAN was stunned after failing to make the top 10 in the men’s 20k walk at the world championships on Saturday.

Thomas Chamney finished seventh in his heat of the 1500 metres tonight, as the first day of World Championships action came to a close in Berlin.

The 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships got off to a disappointing start for Ireland this morning as Wicklow's Roisin McGettigan failed to qualify from the 3000 metres Steeplechase heats.

IRISH team manager, Patsy McGonagle, is hoping Robert Heffernan can provide another inspirational performance in the 20k walk at the World Championships in Berlin today.

DAVID CAMPBELL makes a quick return to competitive running in Germany next Saturday when he lines up for an onslaught on the 1,000m.

THOMAS CHAMNEY is named on the Irish team in both the 800m and 1,500m for the world athletics championships in Berlin, ruling out arch rival David Campbell, who had been hoping for the 800m berth.

Paul Hession, the big draw on the second and final day of the Woodie's DIY Senior Track and Field Championships in Santry, was forced to withdraw from the 100 metres today due to illness.

David Gillick warmed up for the forthcoming World Championships by claiming the 200 metres title at the Woodie's DIY National Athletics Championships at Morton Stadium this afternoon.

MIDDLE distance fans could be in for a double treat at the Woodies DIY national track and field championships at Santry’s Morton Stadium tomorrow with the possibility of a head to head between Thomas Chamney and David Campbell in both the 800m and the 1,500m finals.

THE race may not have lived up to its billing but Ireland’s David Gillick won’t complain about that after finishing third behind the Olympic champion, LaShawn Merritt (USA) in the 400m at last night’s Super Grand Prix meeting in Monte Carlo.

SPRINTERS Paul Hession (Athenry AC) and Derval O’Rourke (Leevale AC) will captain the Irish team to compete in the European Team championships in Slovakia this weekend.

THOMAS CHAMNEY yesterday demanded a change of mindset in Irish athletics if the under-fire sport is to regain credibility.

Irish athletes Alistair Cragg and Thomas Chamney have blasted the state of athletics in Ireland.

Ireland's Thomas Chamney has failed to qualify for the next stage of the men's 800m event in Beijing.

OLIVE LOUGHNANE is ready for the race of her life in tomorrow morning’s women’s 20k walk in Beijing, according to coach Ray Flynn.

PAULINE CURLEY had long abandoned her hopes of ever fulfilling her dream of competing in the Olympic Games when she got a text message telling her she had been selected for Beijing.

JOANNE CUDDIHY has been given the all-clear to compete in the women’s 400m at the Olympic Games and gets her campaign underway on Saturday morning (5.10am Irish time).

SONIA O’SULLIVAN has lashed the treatment meted out to 800m runner David Campbell in the selection of B standard athletes for the Olympic Games.

Three further athletes - 400 metres hurdler Michelle Carey, marathon runner Pauline Curley and 800 metres specialist Thomas Chamney - have today been added to the Irish Olympic team for next month's Games in Beijing.