It was a case of “deja vu” for Fionnuala Britton and part of a childhood ambition achieved for Ciaran O’Lionaird as they led a successful Irish team homecoming from the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg with their bronze medals in the 3,000 metres to a small but intimate crowd at the arrivals hall in Dublin airport yesterday evening.

JOE SWEENEY goes into tomorrow’s Woodies DIY national inter-county cross-country championships overwhelming favourite to retain the title he won in Derry last year.

MARTIN FAGAN is hoping a big performance in today’s Manchester Road Race in Connecticut will impress the Irish selectors ahead of next month’s European cross-country championships in Albufeira.

Police were using helicopters and dogs to search for three convicted murderers who escaped from a northwest Arizona prison, kidnapped two semi-truck drivers at gunpoint and used the big rig to flee.

KIM COLLINS will provide a formidable challenge for Paul Hession in the sprints when Cork City Sports relocates to the plush surroundings of the CIT Track in Bishopstown on Saturday week.

Thousands of people from all over the US marched on the Arizona state capital to protest at the state’s tough new crackdown on illegal immigration.

Anger was mounting throughout the US today regarding a law cracking down on illegal immigration in Arizona.

THE OFF-SEASON has been tough for some of the world’s leading race walking women – many of whom are already eyeing the final event of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in Beijing next September when a $30,000 cheque will await the winner.

ALISTAIR CRAGG will get his place on the Irish senior men’s team for the SPAR European cross-country championships if he proves his fitness in tomorrow’s 5k road race in San Jose.

MARY CULLEN underscored her medal potential, while Andrew Led with signalled his intentions for next month’s SPAR European Cross-Country Championships with sweeping victories in the Woodies DIY National Inter-Counties cross-country championships held over Kilbeggan Racecourse yesterday.

MARK HANRAHAN (Leevale) will be targeting a place on the Irish team for the SPAR European cross-country championships when he lines up in defence of his Cork senior crown at Clonakilty Showgrounds on Sunday.

MARTIN FAGAN is set to become the first Irishman to win the Great Ireland Run while European indoor bronze medallist, Mary Cullen, is aiming to complete an Irish double by landing the women’s title.

FOLLOWING his record-breaking run in Holland last weekend, Martin Fagan has returned to his training base at Flagstaff, Arizona, but he will be back in Ireland in two weeks when he will bid to become the first Irishman to win the Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park.

They wore badges and T-shirts proclaiming “Victory 2008”. They chanted their man’s name and, like the candidate they gathered to honour, projected optimism and faith.

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).

Two medical helicopters collided yesterday afternoon about a half-mile from a northern Arizona hospital, killing at least six people and critically injuring a nurse, a federal official said.

MARTIN FAGAN, Ireland’s newest Olympic qualifier, has obtained his US visa and is ready to return to the States on Monday.

ATHLETICS Ireland have been in touch with the Department of Foreign Affairs asking them for assistance in getting Martin Fagan’s status rectified so that he can re-enter the US and pursue his Olympic dream.

THE Olympic qualification hopes of athlete Martin Fagan suffered a major blow last night when he was refused re-entry into the US as he returned from Sunday’s European Cross-country Championships in Toro.

MARTIN FAGAN can’t wait to line up for Ireland at the European cross-country championships in Toro, Spain, on Sunday.

A 29-year-old man was today charged with starting one of two wildfires that merged to became the largest in Arizona’s history, destroyed more than 400 homes.

A man arrested for allegedly causing the first of two wildfires which merged into the blaze that destroyed more than 400 homes in eastern Arizona is to appear in court today.